Chapter Text

In the end it did become apparent that Jimin was avoiding Yoongi and how the latter ended up with such a killer intent reflecting before his eyes that people started to ask him once again. It felt quite nostalgic at one point, Yoongi had to admit, because it felt like going back to the days when he first met Park Jimin.

It was Seokjin who asked him first, wondering whether the two of them were fighting with a kind voice, in which Yoongi answered with another raising tone of 'why don't you ask that brat instead of me?' Situation became a bit tensed between them because Yoongi did end up glaring whenever he came across Park Jimin, the said boy laughing along with Taehyung before he abruptly stopped and diverted his gaze to the floor.

He went home with Yujin almost every day since then, even during times when Yoongi was bringing his bicycles to the school. The girl sat at the backseat, expressing her worry about entrusting her life on Yoongi's hands. He put on a sly smile and rode the bicycle even faster, scaring her as she ended up yelling and punching Yoongi on the shoulder.

And oddly, even as he went back home, he couldn't stop his mind from comparing how lighter each pedal was and how wrong it felt.

It was that one time as he walked towards the school gate after the lesson was over, greeting Yujin who'd been waiting for him at her usual spot with a smile across her face, did he see Jimin at the other end of it with Taehyung beside him. A split second was all that it took, as Jimin glanced at him, accidentally making eye contact. It was only a split second and of course that despair in the boy's eyes followed soon after before those irises were once again out of sight. Yoongi didn't know why rage bubbled at the pit of his stomach right at that moment, his fist curled tight as Jimin ran away like he always did, dragging Taehyung behind him.

That Thursday the absence of Park Jimin on basketball wasn't something surprising anymore. The others didn't ask as well, though the curious look that the others kept on giving him certainly didn't make him feel any better.

In the end it was Hoseok who stuck his nose into this situation and asked him during his usual three-pointer drill, wondering once again whether he was having a problem with the missing Park.

"For christ sake, I don't!" he said in the middle of shooting. He wasn't surprised to find the ball missing its mark, bouncing of the newly-repaired ring instead (because the last one was broken from Namjoon's usual and unbelievable magic of destruction, as always).

Hoseok who stood closer to the ball managed to grab it with one swift movement before the ball drift off any further and passed it back to Yoongi. "Don't get me wrong, hyung, but you seem troubled by it."

Yoongi clicked his tongue, this time dribbling the ball a few times on the ground before shooting another three-pointer and failing miserably once again. The failure and the topic of conversation certainly didn't do any good to his mood.

"I'm not the one having a problem," he said again, this time running for the ball himself. Conversation in midst of heaving breath and concertration was definitely not his favorite. "Why don't you-," he ran back to his starting point before turning around with one swift motion and shot once again, "-ask the brat himself."

This time the ball did get through the hoop. One in three tries? That was bad for his standard.

"He's the one who come up to my face and said that he ing hated me," Yoongi said, wiping the sweats on his forehead, massaging his leg at the same time. The newly healed knee didn't feel quite the same as it used to be with how it was a bit aching after a few hours of contstant training and jumping right now. Either recovery was indeed a long winding path or he should have sued his doctor instead.

"Jimin did what?" Hoseok said, coming up to his face, being a good friend and passing him a water bottle.

"He came up to my face and just said that he ing hated my guts. The brat had been the one avoiding me ever since," he said, receiving the water bottle before splashing the content on his face instead of gulping it down his dry throat.

"Jimin hates you?"

"That's what he said."

"He hates you? Really?" Hoseok chuckled before continuing. "Half of the time I thought Jimin was in love with you or something."

Yoongi furrowed his brows. Yeah right, in love. What a big joke.

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know. You two are always together or at least Jimin used to look so happy around you," Hoseok answered.

Such an explanation, Yoongi thought sarcastically. And did the brat really look happy around him? He didn't even notice.

"And most of all, he didn't even look like he hated you at all, if that is the case."

Which was Yoongi's arguments exactly.

"You, on the other hand, hyung, had that face exactly," this time it was Namjoon who said it, joining their conversation abruptly, announcing his existence by slinging his arm across Yoongi's shoulder from behind. The man must be eavesdropping to their conversation.

"What?" he protested, this time throwing the basketball over his shoulder purposely to hit Namjoon on the head for his sudden interference. This was exactly what he hated as well, how people misunderstood him and easily made him the Maleficent when all he did was nothing but be the good fairy god mother or some like that. "I don't hate him or anything. He could hate me for all he cared and I wouldn't give a ."

That was when he decided that the combination of Namjoon's sly smile and Hoseok's playful yet annoying grin was one of the thing that he hated in this universe.

"You do give a , hyung," Namjoon said.

In the back of his mind he had to remind himself not to lift his fist and wipe that smile off of Namjoon's face. Then again if it wasn't Namjoon who spoke these words, he thought that he would do just that.

"You just don't want to admit it."

+.-.+

With September closing in, autumn was dawning upon them. Winter would follow soon after and before he knew it, January would come before Suneung threatened all the 3rd year student with a gun on their head. In Yoongi's case, the gun towards his temple was his father's words and each day the look that the older Min gave him became more and more obvious, he couldn't hide under the false pretense of not having any appetite on every dinner just to avoid what he would call 'the talk'. Yoongi was still persistent with his decision, going to Seoul and never looking back, even if that would mean running away from his family's house and being homeless for all he cared.

At least for once both him and his parents were occupied with the thought of Suneung, the biggest elephant in the room currently being cornered to make room for the upcoming exam that would drive any other students crazy.

Yet in the midst of studying and future concerns, he still got the time to sit in front of his opened journal every day, thinking about a certain boy who was being a complete and total . Jimin just stopped speaking to him altogether, sticking around with Taehyung and running away from him. One time he caught the boy laughing aloud with their group before the younger realized his presence and shut his mouth completely, as if laughing in front of him was a total crime of its own. When their groups hung out on their usual spot by the stairs, it was either Yoongi who was missing or Jimin. The two of them were never there at the same time.

To make matters worse, everyone thought that it was Yoongi who was having a problem with Jimin, not the other way around. Even as much as he had explained it, everyone would always think that he was the embodiment of maleficent or something close whereas Jimin would remain as the innocent damsel in distress. Taehyung would probably be his prince charming, since the two of them were conjoined at the hips right now.

"You should talk to him," was something that Yujin suddenly said as they walked back from school one day, the sky looking grey and somber. Summer rain was one of the thing that Yoongi loved the most, even with the sky looking dark and sad, he still found it beautiful. That was the reason why he could say that the sky was his one and only true love, for he could always love it in whichever state it was. Beautiful would always remain the adjective he used to describe it.

"What? Talk to who?" he asked, taking his gaze off the sky to glance at Yujin.

"To Jimin," she simply said.

It felt like being punched in the stomach, or at least he was weirded out by it, since how and why would the girl mention that name right now. If it were his group of friends who did, he wouldn't have any problem.

"Why?"

"You two are fighting, aren't you?" she said cautiously, being careful as if the topic was taboo or anything.

Yoongi sighed before ruffling his own hair. Not Yujin as well. Did the whole school know about their so-called 'fight' at this point? Did it even that big of a topic? Did he have a big flashing neon sign across his forehead that said 'look, i'm fighting with Park Jimin'? Most of all, was it that obvious, that indeed Jimin was avoiding him?

"No, we're not fighting," he said, though in the back of his mind he still didn't know what to put this all into. "And why are you even asking? No, wait a minute. Why the heck does everybody ask me about this? Do we look like we're fighting?"

"Well, if you did, it was indeed obvious," she said. Yoongi felt like facepalming his face right now. Here he was deciding not to give a and yet everyone kept on asking him about the same topic over and over again. "You two are always together. You used to come home everyday together and it's hard not to notice that you two just stopped."

Yujin let out a small smile, looking at the sombre sky in something that could only be categorized as sadness before she continued. "I mean, after all, if it weren't for you guys fighting, maybe i wouldn't be able to go home together with you."

Something churned in his stomach as Yujin said the words. It sounded wrong yet it was everything but the truth. That and also how Yujin did realize the fact. There was an apparent sadness flashing across her face before she swallowed it up again, replacing it with a big smile. "But I still wish that you guys would make up," she added as she turned her head towards Yoongi.

Jimin could have the rainy sky painted across his face and be obvious about it. Yujin could have the storm and lightning flashing and let the cloud clear it up under the false pretense of a sunny sky in seconds. Jimin was everything obvious about what he was feeling, yet Yujin controlled the weather as easy as a flipping the back of her hand. It was weird to find how the two of them were very different. It was weirder to find himself comparing the two together.

"He avoided me like the plague though," he said, remembering how Jimin always ran away from him almost all the time it started to annoy him indeed to such an extent.

"Well, it wouldn't stop you now, would it?" Yujin simply said with such a smile.

And at that moment, Yoongi could swear he see a glimpse of the blue sky in the midst of the grey. He just couldn't tell where he was seeing it from, whether it was from the sky hanging above his head or the reflection from two pair of irises, looking back at his.

+ .-. +

It was a Thursday and it was the last day of August, their group supposedly spending their time with basketball like always, not to mention with the dark sky looming above them. The sky was already dark, even as Yoongi walked out of his house in the morning, he started to wonder whether a storm would be coming. Everyone was just waiting for the rain to fall, hoping that it wouldn't before the school ended so that they could still run all the way home, tuck themselves under their blanket and have a good nap in such a nice weather. At least that was what Yoongi had in mind.

The first drops of rain fell a few minutes after the last bell rang, the students ended up running with their bag on top of their head. Some who already brought an umbrella before were lucky enough to walk leisurely, huddled together under the safety of it. Some just ran or ended up playing underneath the heavy rain just like they used to do as kids.

Yoongi should have been going to basketball practice with the others when he realized that he simply wasn’t in the mood for it, opting to just go back home as soon as the rain thinned out and passed out on top of his bed. Maybe he would simply wait until some of the other student have a spare umbrella to share for he wouldn't risk drenching his school uniform and all of his book in the process. Yujin had unfortunately went home with the other girls, thinking that Yoongi wouldn't leave the school until late after the practice as usual.

The school was almost empty as he walked towards the school gate, walking leisurely, letting the rhythmic sound of the rain played on his ear like a beautiful song that it was with eyes closed. Just like the melancholic person that he was, rain would definitely be one of the thing that he loved alongside the sky, the beating of the rain and the thrum of thunder at the far distance equaled to a brilliant music of nature that he wouldn't hope to compare.

The rain was an orchestra, the howling wind its violin and the thunder its timpani. The rain was its beat and the violin solo cut through the air before a crescendo took over. Yoongi opened his eyes at the forte and he realized that his eyes had been deceiving him, because there right at the end of the first movement, right by the side of the door just before the rain welcomed any passerby from the heaven's above, stood Park Jimin.

He was standing there with his back facing Yoongi, leaning to the wall with face focused on the rain as if waiting for it to stop. Even without seeing the face he knew it was Park Jimin indeed. He was simply there, not running away nor crying, and what Yujin said to him a few days ago echoed in his head.

Well, it wouldn't stop you now, would it?

"Jimin?"

It startled the boy, hearing his name being spoken aloud. It did even more so as he realized who was calling him as he turned around, looking at the person who stood right behind him. It was none other than Min Yoongi and his eyes turned wide.

What happened next had Yoongi opening his eyes in rage. It got him clenching his fist tight and gritting his teeth as Jimin just simply turned his head back again and darted off straight into the middle of the rain without saying another word. That boy just simply ran away as he realized Yoongi was standing there behind him, calling out his name and trying to make a conversation just like any other normal person would do ever since the boy avoided him.

Mad was what Yoongi certainly was feeling, because right at that moment he realized that he had enough of it. He had ing tried and Jimin was being such an unbearable little piece of , especially with him running away like now.

Just as simple as that Yoongi darted off into the rain as well, simply casting the fact aside that he was doing the exact opposite of what he told himself to do. He should be waiting until the rain stopped. He should not be giving any s whatsoever to the pathetic boy like Park Jimin whom at this point he despised so much. Whether it was his impulsiveness that he had to blame or Yujin's words that echoed even louder in his head, Yoongi cast his reason aside and focused on catching Jimin.

Yet as Jimin did his best to run away from him, even going as far as dashing through the rain, Yoongi ended up running after him from behind, calling out his name and doing his best to outrun him, praying to himself and to his newly healed leg to not disappoint him at this point. He had to thank himself for playing basketball for the past year for he managed to do just so, screaming Jimin's name as this time he ended up diving towards Jimin, sending the boy tumbling towards the ground.

Last time it was him who was on the ground. He simply returned the favor as Jimin fell face first on the ground and Yoongi followed from behind, his knees meeting the ground by some cruel fate, he had to held down a cry as his whole body tensed and his legs felt like it was breaking for the second time. He hauled Jimin's body up, forgetting his own pain, making sure that the younger wouldn't be able to run away, as he flipped him over and held him by the collar of his school uniform. Yoongi was practically on top of him, locking away his movement.

"What the is wrong with you, you little piece of !"he screamed at Jimin's face.

The rain was still pouring heavily atop of them and they were practically in the middle of the road but at this point Yoongi didn't care anymore. His knees were aching, his whole body was drenched. Even now he realized that Jimin's face was bleeding, he got cuts at the edge of his forehead and lips as his face met the ground from Yoongi's earlier dive. He didn't care. For all that the boy had done, he at least deserved that much.

"Do you have that much of a ing problem that you have to run through the ing rain to avoid me?" he said.

Because that was what Jimin did. He was simply waiting for the rain to stop, clearly not having any intention to drench his body just as much as Yoongi did before the latter show up and the initial plan was as much as forgotten, the rain served as very little cost to pay to reach his goal of avoiding the very existence of Min Yoongi.

"Let go of me, hyung," Jimin squeaked, though his hands and legs had stopped resisting.

With this much rain, Yoongi couldn't even tell whether Jimin was crying. The rain was still there, painting both of their faces, the droplets fell from the edge of Yoongi's bangs towards Jimin's cheek.

"No! Not until you tell me what your ing problem is!" he yelled.

He was definitely losing his cool. He shouldn't be giving any . He shouldn't be doing this. Jimin could hate him for all he cared. Jimin could stop walking home with him from school. Jimin could stop being his friend. It shouldn't mean anything to Yoongi at all.

( Their friendship shouldn't mean anything to him at all )

"I told you, I hate you, hyung," he whispered, loud enough for Yoongi to hear, even in the middle of the pouring rain.

"Bull!" he screamed.

Because everything that they did remonstrate that entirely. Who in the world would go home every single day with the person that they hate? Or invite the said person for a sleepover, or even stargazing, or practically every single thing that the had done together? Was Jimin playing with him all this time or the boy was simply some sort of a twisted psycho?

"You hate me? I don't believe any of that crap."

He knew what hate meant. Hate was what he had for this small town that was caging him inside. Hate was what he had for his father for restricting him for his dream. Hate was even what he had for what Jimin was doing right now, running away from something that Yoongi couldn't even understand. What he saw everyday on Jimin's eyes were nothing of those.

(Hate was seeing tears running down Jimin's cheek)

"Y-you don't understand, hyung," he said. Jimin's eyes were filled with sadness. It was pathetic and everything that Yoongi despised. It was longing and sadness and frustration. It was helplessness and defeat. The boy simply tried his best not to look at him back, avoiding his own eyes.

"Then tell me what I don't understand!"

He felt like punching Jimin on the face, felt like shaking him until he spill out words that would serve as an explanation enough to his ear. Instead, he was saying and doing everything that he shouldn't.

"I can't. You'll hate me, hyung."

"Do you think I'm such that low of a person that I would hate you without an explanation? it, Jimin, I'm already hating you right now for not letting me understand."

"You simply wouldn't, hyung. You're-,"

"Then make me! I'm your ing friend and-,"

"Exactly that!" Jimin screamed. He had been avoiding Yoongi's eyes and this time he finally looked back at his.

At that moment, as Jimin looked back into his eyes, he somehow could see the sky reflected on those irises. Jimin was not crying. His face was indeed wet, raindrops running down across his cheek as if he was crying. Yet there he could see the grey sky, the rain pouring out of it just like tears would. There in the boy's eyes he could see the sky.

"You're my friend, hyung," he said, his voice shaking. For the first time Jimin raised his hand. it wasn't an act of restricting, nor that he was trying to push him aside. He oddly raised his fingers and he touched Yoongi's cheek gently with the edge of his finger. It was a really odd gesture yet Yoongi didn't do anything, feeling how cold the tip of Jimin's fingers were instead.

"Because you're exactly my best friend-," Jimin said slowly, gulping down before he opened his lips again, "-that I can't say I love you."

Jimin wasn't crying. Even in the midst of it all he wasn't. He was just there, lying on the ground, his fingers cupping Yoongi's cheek gently as the older let the words seep in. He should be saying something, should be asking whether maybe it was a joke because it wasn't funny at all, should probably be laughing or ask for some explanation. But oddly he didn't. He just looked at Jimin, being dumbfounded, the words somehow robbing him from all the words that he had.

Yoongi loved all of his friends, of course, even though he didn't want to say it out loud. He knew that he loved Jimin as well to the extent of being such a nice friend. He could say that he loved his groups, though basketball, music and the sky would be another form of love that nobody and nothing could ever hope to compare.

Yet here he was, in the middle of the road with a Park Jimin who just simply said that he loved him, and Yoongi didn't have any other words to say, his brains shutting down and he just thought of nothing and looked at nothing but Jimin who was exactly there right in front of him.

"You love me?" he repeated the words that sounded so foreign even to his ear, the words spilling out slowly like a hushed whisper, he was finding it scary to say it aloud.

Jimin bit his own lips and made a small gesture of nodding. His fingers traced Yoongi cheeks slowly and he oddly didn't cast it aside at all.

"I love you just like Seokjin-hyung loves Minju-noona.”

Jimin hated him.

“I love you just like you love basketball.”

Jimin hated how he always went home with Yoongi right next to him.

“I love you just like you love music.”

Jimin hated riding the bicycles with Yoongi on his back.

“I love you just like you love the sky.”

Jimin hated sneaking out at the middle of the night to see the stars with him.

"A-and I know that it's wrong. I know that it's so wrong-,” only now did Yoongi notice that Jimin's voice wasn't the only one that was trembling. His fingers were as well. “-th-that i'm pathetic and disgusting," and Jimin finally took his fingers off of Yoongi's cheek.

Pathetic and disgusting, Jimin had said. Because both of them were boys. Both of them shouldn't be in love. That much Yoongi knew. That much Yoongi understood. And everything started to fall into place. Everything that they did, the reason he cried, why Jimin was afraid that he would hate him.

Jimin looked like he was in love with him most the time, Hoseok had said. Jimin left Seoul because of something that happened. Jimin cried in the classroom almost every day. And most of all Jimin hated him. Jimin really really hated him.

"And I'm sorry, hyung. I'm sorry," he whispered. Tears were pooling on Jimin's face but Yoongi could still see how the boy was indeed struggling, trying to keep it from pouring.

"I'm sorry that it's me ."

Don't say sorry, Yoongi wanted to say. He didn't like hearing the boy apologizing. Jimin wasn't doing anything wrong. Jimin didn't need to say sorry.

Jimin was going to break.

Jimin was going to cry.

Please stop, don't cry. Because that was the one thing he hated the most. That was the one thing he didn't want to see. He simply didn't want to see Jimin crying.

"So can you please, let me go, hyung?” he said, a mocking smile blooming across Jimin's face. “Do you understand, now? Do you hate me now?"

He wanted to say no. Wanted to keep Jimin there under his grip only for the boy to explain everything more to him. Yet was there anything else for Jimin to say? Was there anything left for him to explain? Jimin loved him. Everything was as simple as that.

"Can you please let me go because you're hurting me now and I need to cry," Jimin said, his words breaking.

Please don't let me break my promise, that was what Jimin's eyes said.

Everytime Jimin cried, Yoongi was going to hurt him so bad, the boy would stop crying, he said. That was their promise, and ever since then Jimin had never cried in front of him. The boy was trying his best not to right now, even in the middle of the rain because after everything, the least that the boy could do was to keep the promise th at he had made.

And oddly Yoongi just did, letting the boy's collar go without saying another word. His words died within his lips and his mind just went blank, just like that day as Jimin told him that he hated him. Because everything didn't make any sense to Yoongi, yet oddly it did. It made perfect sense now. Everything did.

Jimin slowly got up from the ground with shaky legs as Yoongi stood up and took another step backwards, ignoring the pain that was shooting through his knees with every little movement that he did, all the while having his eyes locked on Jimin. What should he say? What should he do? Why couldn't he do anything? Why couldn't he say anything?

Jimin just gathered himself up in front of him really slowly before he looked back on Yoongi's eyes one last time, whispering another sorry and turned around, not waiting for any word for him to utter and walk away.

Yoongi didn't know how long did he stand there, looking at Jimin's figure as the boy disappeared from his view. Not once did Jimin turn around to see him. Not once did he call out the boy's name either. He just stood there underneath the rain, the symphony playing all around him as more and more rain soaked him through, each melody cutting through him like a blade. Jimin loved him, the word ringing on his ear over and over again, the boy's expression and the scene played repeatedly on his head.

Even at the end of the day, the boy didn't shed any tears in front of him. Well, actually he didn't need to.

The sky had already cried in his place.