~ 2015 ~

Jimin's competition was fast approaching and he was training hard. There were only two weeks remaining and he was getting excited. It was early morning, the sunrise was still hours away and all he could think about was his coach's and father's words.

You aren't working hard enough! 

You think you will actually have a chance?

Punch harder!

He sat up from his bed and threw the blanket off of his body. He quickly got dressed and grabbed his bag and left the house. It was 3am by the time he got to the gym and nobody was there. He had his own key and he unlocked the door. He stepped inside and the lights flickered on. He dropped his bag by the door and went straight to the punching bag. 

He stared at the bag with raised fists and got into position. This time, he was going to try something different. Something he thought would make him stronger. He began to punch the bag with his own bare fists. No gloves, no protection, just his bare hands. 

Minutes past and he decided to take a quick breather. He winced in pain when he unclenched his fists. His knuckles were bleeding and he rolled his eyes, "." He said and grabbed some bandage to wrap his hands with. 

He returned in front of the punching bag and raised his fists ready to start again. He was determined. Determined to become stronger and prove his coach and father that he could win. He ignored the pain and began to punch again. He felt that, the more painful it was the harder he was working... And the better the outcome.. The better the feedback... The praise was what he yearned for.

The next day the boys were hanging out by their lockers at school, when Jimin arrived. They noticed his hands bandaged up right away and looked at him worriedly. He smiled at his friends and began to empty his books into his locker like nothing was wrong. They stared at him.

"What happened?" Tae Hyung asked.

Jimin knew what they were all staring at and shrugged it off, "I was training last night." He replied like it was normal to have his hands to be bandaged up. They had never seen his hands wrapped like they were, it was obvious that he was hiding what was underneath. 

He walked off and they let him go. They could see something was wrong, "I've never seen his hands bandaged up before.." Jeongguk said.

"Me too.." Nam Joon said, not taking his eyes off of Jimin's turned back as he disappeared through the students.

That night he trained again. Without the gloves of course, damaging his hands even further. That following night he ran on the treadmill, working on his leg muscles. A week passed by and it was finally Friday afternoon. 

School just finished and Ji