Jimin pressed his heel into the wall, one hand in his pocket and the other holding his mobile to his ear. After thirty seconds, the person on the other side finally picked up. The voice was sharp, but showed no sign of irritation. “What’d you want?”

He took a deep breath. “Shinae.”

“Jimin.”

He thought of how he was supposed to say this. “Can I ask you something.”

“… Uh, sure?”

“We’ve been friends for a long time now, and I feel that we’re at the point when there are no barriers between us anymore. I feel so comfortable around you. You may be a bit of a handful, but I know you’re someone who cares for who’s important to you. And I know I don’t show it, but I really appreciate you as a friend, Shin.”

Now she was irritated. “Where exactly are you going with this?”

“Shinae.”

“What?”

There was a pause, and Jimin sighed. “I don’t have anyone to walk home with.”

Shinae chortled. “Are you being serious right now?”

“Can you walk home with me? I don’t want to be on my own.” He quickly spurted out another “please”.

“No.”

“WHAT?”

“You asked me a question and I answered it.”

“But Shinae!”

“You’re such a -kisser. Just walk on your own, you’ll be fine.”

“Nearly over seventeen years of friendship and this is what I get,” he said, exasperated.

“See you tomorrow, and walk home safely.” And she hung up.

“What the—”

“Jimin?”

He straightened. “Oh. Hey, Hyunjung.” He put his mobile away into his pocket and walked towards her. “You alright?” he asked, the corners of his lips lifting. Hyunjung nodded.

“I was just about to go home, but I heard your conversation with Shinae. So…” she began, “I was wondering if it would be okay if I could accompany you?” Her eyes widened and she waved her hands in front of her when he didn’t say anything. “Of course, you don’t have to say yes – I was just wondering… because… well… you seem to not want to walk alone. And since we’re friends—?”

He smiled and slung a friendly arm over her shoulders and began to walk. Him dragging her with him as she stumbled to catch up with him. With each syllable he tightened his hold around her shoulders. “Aw Hyun—jung—ie...” He laughed and looked at her. “Thanks.”

There were many reasons why she enjoyed Jimin’s company. Whenever she did spend some time with him, they were never alone; it was almost always with a group of friends. Jimin was usually the chatty one who was teased by everyone else, but to be able to talk to him alone like this, was nice.

“Have you heard from Jungkook recently?” Jungkook and some other of the students at school were invited to a five-day event in Gwangju, gathering other students with similar abilities to compete with each other. If he hadn’t been told that it could increase his chances with that sports scholarship, he probably wouldn’t have gone.

“He called yesterday.” They were nearing the park, and both decided to stop by here. A young girl and boy were chasing each other and running around, their laughs breathless as they circled a tree. Jimin and Hyunjung sat down at a bench, and they both watched the two children play.

“Jungkook’s been working non-stop since the start of the school year,” Jimin said, “As soon as he comes back, he’s resuming back to training with the team.”

Hyunjung looked down and nodded. “He has. He really wants that scholarship.”

Jimin’s silence confirmed that even he knew that was true. He interlocked his fingers together and rested them at the back of his head, pursing his lips shut. Regardless of Jungkook’s carefree and easy-going persona, he was a hard worker—without a doubt. Jungkook knew what he wanted, would think of how to get it, and when he got it would only aim higher. As an elementary student, Jungkook was an overachiever, and even now, he was still an overachiever. Jimin would watch him award after award, distinction after distinction. He was never envious though, because he knew how Jungkook would hide the difficulties he faced. Everyone would think Jungkook as the guy who was just born lucky; he was one of the lucky ones who could excel at anything because they had natural talent. But Jimin knew this wasn’t the case. Natural talent only served a small purpose, the rest was definitely not natural ability. But when he succeeded in something, he would hang desperately onto it.

But how long would it be until Jungkook reached the ceiling? Whenever you succeed at something, you’ll aim to go higher next time. But what would happen if you couldn’t climb any higher? That was what Jimin was afraid of. Because Jungkook was always climbing.

Jimin nudged her knee with his when she spaced out. “You know what Jungkook’s like.”

She swallowed and nodded uncertainly, her knees together and her hands folded on top of them. She stared at the knuckles, tightening them a little and watching them whiten. “I know.”

“You seem down. Do you want to talk about it?” was what Jimin wanted to say, but he decided not to. Instead, he stretched his legs out to take his phone out of his pocket, typing in the passcode and then handing it over to her. Jimin nodded at her. “Call him.”

She blinked. “But he might be busy.”

Jimin shrugged. “He might not be, you never know.” Hyunjung was still hesitant, and he placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder, giving her a small and encouraging smile. “Just try.”

She went to Jimin’s contacts. Searching his name wasn’t necessary; Jungkook was already listed on his favourites which came before the other contacts, and she was surprised to find her own number marked in the same category as Jungkook, Shinae, and his other close friends. Her thumb hovered over his name for a brief second until she finally selected it, and an icon photo of Jungkook appeared on the screen. She brought the phone to her ear as she waited.

It didn’t take him long to answer. “Jimin?”

Even if he had called her yesterday, hearing his voice again still clogged her chest. “Hi.”

“Oh! Hey! You’re using Jimin’s phone?” His voice was cheerful and alive.

“He’s just letting me borrow it,” she replied.

“Ah, I see. How are you? Everything good?”

“Yeah. But what about you?”

“I’ve been doing alright. There are so many other talented students here though. Fun, but it’s tiring.”

“Are you busy right now?”

“Not really, I’m on break right now.”

“Oh, I see.” She knew she didn’t have much time to talk to him, and she didn’t want to take up Jungkook’s break either. She looked up at Jimin who was mouthing something at her. It took her a while to figure it out, but in the end it was obvious what he was trying to say: just say it. What he meant, she didn’t know, but Hyunjung said what she had wanted to say ever since Jungkook had gone. “I really miss you.”

His answer was instant. “I really miss you too.” She could hear the rise and fall of his breaths. “Listen, Hyunjung. I’m really sorry for not being around much. Trust me, I’ve wanted to. But—”

“You don’t have to apologise, I understand.” She did understand, but that was the problem. She heard someone calling Jungkook to hurry up. “I think you’d better go now,” she said.

“Okay.”

“Bye,” she said, her voice quiet.

“Bye. Lo—um. I’ll see you soon, Hyunjung.”

“Good luck.”

“See you.” Both of them lingered for a while, until Jungkook finally hung up first.

Hyunjung handed Jimin his phone back, and thanked him for letting her use it. “No problem,” he told her. “Is Jungkook alright?”

She nodded. “Yeah, but he’s tired. I hope he’s sleeping well.”

Jimin smiled at her. “Hey, don’t worry about him.”

“I’m trying.”      

They sat there for a few more minutes, and by then the two children from earlier had already started to go back home. Jimin stood up and Hyunjung looked at him as held his hand out. “Come on, let’s go.” Hyunjung smiled and took a hold of his hand.

“Alright.”

But it was probably the saddest reply Jimin had ever heard.