Chapter Text

Yoongi was actually right. That day as he made up with Jimin was indeed the last day of summer. It was weird to say that, considering they didn't have an actual date to mark their calendar with although Yoongi could feel it in his bone already , how the blue of summer had left the sky and the green of the trees was slowly replaced by a burning yellow. All of them could tell that summer was already passed them, the airy feeling and the laughter echoing away in the air, going further and further away from his grasp like a dream long forgotten . Summer felt like a magical land, a place without worry where he could forget about everything.

It was already the third week of September and a utumn was bringing its own demon. Suneung was coming at the end of November and school started to weigh on them in ways Yoongi thought it never would. But then again, going to a small school in some little forsaken town meant scoring high wasn't really a goal their teacher was looking forward to. Even for the Min s , him continuing the workshop downtown was a more probable choice rather than going to a high-ranking university. Yoongi was interested in n either of the two.

Soon enough he was faced with another dreaded future, one that he kept at the back of his mind as the problem with Jimin acquired most of his attention. Now he realized that he needed to make an option, facing a problem that he had been running away from. Would Seoul be nothing but a childish dream of his, or would he dare take a step out of this confining town, just like he promised himself he would?

For once Yoongi was looking forward to his Thursday again, having basketball at the end of the day to keep his mind away from the trouble of thinking too much. After all, he got to play with Jimin again, something that felt like it hadn't happened in years. It would be great to have everything returning back to normal, the seven of them fooling around without having to care about anything else.

Everything would be just the way it used to be.

Nothing needed to change.

(Why would anything need to change, anyway?)

+.-.+

The first thing that Mrs. Oh did on History that Thursday was to shoot Yoongi another look of dismay, it got Yujin flashing him an apologetic smile just before the lesson started. Being the object of dislike by the said teacher wasn't anything new that Yoongi kind of forgot what mistake he hadcomitted this time. Breathing alone was probably already one.

It wasn't until the middle of the lesson, Yoongi trying his best to keep his eyes opened and mouth shut, not attracting any other unwanted attention from their teacher, when the said monster just casually slipped his name into the lecture, saying something about staying in the classroom after the lesson ended. If it weren't for the eyes of his fellow classmates turning towards him, Yoongi wouldn't probably even notice, eyes already half closed and soul venturing out of his bod y.

“What?” he said, not sure that he had heard her right or that she even mentioned his name at the first place.

“Yeah, Mr. Min, I'm talking to you,” she said, answering his disbelief in a rather amused way, though that flat tone never really left her speech. “Detention, after school.”

Yoongi furrowed his eyebrow, annoyance started to bubble at the pit of his stomach.

“What? I didn't do anything wrong,” he protested, though he knew that the probability of such thing being wrong was small. Either he had forgotten about it completely or Mrs. Oh was punishing him for something he didn't do. He had been doing nothing throughout the lesson but breath. If breathing alone was punishable, then Yoongi would certainly stand up to that demonic teacher of his.

“Oh yeah you did, Mr. Min,” she said, looking at him with an expression that Yoongi described as 'punchable' before she returned her gaze towards the textbook, leaving a still oblivious Min Yoongi dumbfounded over the punishment that befell him. “Now, if we talked about role of Japan expansion during the World War-,”

It was simply the way she dismissed his words as easy as that, returning to her tedious lecture and disregarding his very existence that irked him for real. “I've only been sitting here today listening to your boring lecture and you're giving me detention?!” Yoongi said, raising his tone. He would stand from his seat as well just to make his point clear, smashing his palm on top of the wooden desk if he was anywhere near being angry. At least not yet. Him talking back to the teacher wasn't something surprising since Min Yoongi was the type to do exactly that. The other students were having their eyes towards the two of them, as if a battle was pursuing in the classroom, one that at least got everybody opening their eyes instead of drooling on their textbook. In a way, the whole classroom got Yoongi to thank for.

This time Mrs. Oh took her time, taking her gaze off of the textbook towards Yoongi in a slow manner, the same annoying expression painting her face, Yoongi would love to have a basketball in his hand only to knock her down with it. Teachers had stopped being scary to him for a long time, annoying taking its place easily to his eyes.

“Oh you certainly did, Mr. Min,” she said. “Yesterday, when you stormed out of the classroom and now for talking back to me, so maybe I would make that detention into a whole week long instead of just today,” she continued, a hint of smile painting her face already.

Two things happened at the same time. First one was how Yoongi felt like slapping his own face right there and then, a small 'oh' sounding in his head, reminding him of a crime that he did commit, one that he forgot almost too easily. Yujin did speak to him about it yesterday and he should have known it coming. This was simply a big irony and joke, history being the only lesson in which he had to receive some sort of epiphany from a higher being that got him bolting out of the classroom with no reason other than his own gut instinct telling him to do so. Second of all , Yoongi still felt like punching Mrs. Oh's face because she seemed so proud and satisfied for what she had done, especially seeing Yoongi's own reaction towards it. Either way, even though he had to admit that he was the one at fault, his teacher still looked like she needed a horse smeared across her face.

Yoongi slowly sat back down on his own chair, feeling defeat weighing on top of him, cursing under his own breath how he had to stay longer at school for at least the next seven days. Of course t his had to happen just when he was looking forward to basketball.

That was the only thing that would happen in history, he thought. He could fall asleep for all he cared right now or stormed out of the classroom yet again. Him being humiliated in the middle of the classroom was the only thing that would happen in the lesson alone that day, when the third thing followed soon after, proving him to be wrong.

It was a slam to the desk right behind him, something that was certainly missing from Yoongi's earlier stance. Once again all of the students turned their eyes towards the noise, this time Yoongi raising his eyebrows, following the crowd's gesture. He turned his head around, only to see Park Jimin standing from his seat, fist resting on top of his desk.

“W-well, I think Yoongi's r-right,” he said, voice shaking and face slowly turning red.

From his own seat, Yoongi was searching for Jimin 's eyes , trying to mouth a 'what the are you doing?' to the younger who dismissed his look altogether, eyes fixed towards Mrs. Oh with something that seemed like determination mixed together with a hint of uncertainty (if such thing was even possible).

Mrs. Oh sighed this time, turning her face towards Jimin. “And what do you want to say this time, Mr. Park?” she said to the second disturbance in her lesson.

Yoongi bet that at least to the whole classroom, this was the most interactive and interesting history lesson that they got in their whole third year.

Jimin gulped, still having his eyes fixed on their teacher. At one part he looked as if he was going to say something really important before somehow cowardice flashed on his eyes , his lips bit and fist shaking. Yoongi certainly didn't know what Jimin was trying to pull, this timewhispering a 'just sit the down' to the boy which he of course ignored.

“I-i just want t-to say-,”

And Jimin turned his look towards Yoongi just for a fleeting second, as if asking for permission, giving him a message that he couldn't understand. Yet at that moment all his uncertainty was gone, the Park gulped, clenching his fist tighter and turned his attention back towards their teacher before opening his mouth and pretty much committing suicide right there and then.

“I just want to say that Yoongi's right,” he said, the stutter disappearing from his speech. “Your lesson is nothing but utter crap,” he continued.

Yoongi's eyes weren't the only thing that was opened wide as those words left Jimin's lips, the whole class had practically gasped, finding the timid Park Jimin uttering such words to their teacher. Yoongi was a delinquent already, no one would be surprised if it was him standing right now, insulting their teacher. But this was Park Jimin, Park ing Jimin who was a ball of timid sunshine and beautiful tiny flowers. Mrs. Oh looked equally surprised, hurt, even .

“What did you just say?” she said.

Jimin gulped again, looking back at Yoongi, mimicking a smirk that painted his face too very often.

“I just said that your lesson is boring as , I feel like sleeping through it, especially while looking at your ugly face,” he said, still looking at Yoongi, his smirk growing bigger into a smile.

And Yoongi didn't know why Jimin did it. Maybe it was a late rebellious phase, maybe it was him trying to make a new image. But somehow at that moment he found his mouth curving into a smile alongside his best friend.

“Park Jimin, are you asking for a detention as well?!” Mrs. Oh said, raising her tone with her finger pointed towards Jimin, chest heaving with rage.

But of course it clicked. Yoongi wasn't stupid. He knew exactly why Jimin was doing this and he didn't need to be baffled like the rest of their classmates to figure out the reason why. Jimin turned his head back towards their teacher before delivering the final blow. He was certain that this moment would be something that the whole class wouldn't ever forget. The day where Park Jimin insulted a teacher in public. The day where someone finally spoke out the truth to their horrible history teacher. The day where Park Jimin deliberately asked for a detention, only to have his time spent with Yoongi.

“And I also want to say that the cheapest razor cost less than 1000 won at the nearest store, because you desperately need it for your mustache, seonsaeng-nim, they've been getting pretty thick lately, I can't help but to break the news for you.”

+.-.+

Both of them ended up on cleaning duty, staying late at school to clean the disgusting toilet stall at the first floor. They were on detention not only for a whole week or a month , but for two. Two freaking months . He completely blamed it all on Jimin's last words, because he had certainly insulted Mrs. Oh to such extent that her face turned red with steam coming out of her ear. They had to skip basketball for two months , cleaning duty probably wouldn't be the only thing that they ended up with. Either way Yoongi didn't know whether he had to be angry or relieved as he squat by the edge of the toilet seat with a scrub on his hand, looking at the Park Jimin who was closing his eyes in disgust as he poked the drainage with his glove-covered hand.

“Why do you even have to mention her mustache? You know that she's super sensitive about it,” Yoongi said, wiping the sweat on his forehead with his arm.

“I don't know, the words just slipped out,” Jimin said as he took out a bundle of disgusting hair out of the drainage. “Eww, this is disgusting. This is the men's toilet, right? How could there be so much hair, long ones to be exact,” he commented as he quickly threw it away to the plastic bin.

Yoongi went back to scrubbing, his mind racing towards his friends, spending time in the gym. This detention would go on for yet two more months . At one point he sure was annoyed with the idea of spending his free time after school doing such troublesome duties. But then again he was somehow glad to have Jimin here, knowing that he didn't have to do this all alone.

(But of course this detention wouldn't be a month long torture if it wasn't for the stupid boy)

“I don't know, maybe this place is haunted after all,” Yoongi said with a flat tone.

He had indeed heard something about it before, some underclassmen telling stories of crying voices and haunted spirit. Yoongi wasn't one to believe in such thing because each school always came up with their own stories. It was simply too mainstream that it wasn't even believable anymore.

“Hey, don't talk about that!” Jimin said, his voice sounding scared.

“Someone's afraid, eh?” Yoongi smirked. “I once heard that at the first floor bathroom there was a-,”

“Oh my god, stop it, hyung!” Jimin said, screaming before he could finish his own sentence. “It's not funny at all!”

Yoongi chuckled. At this point he realized that scrubbing the toilet to porcelain-clean would be something simply impossible.

“Well, ending up in a two months detention isn't funny as well,” he said back, his tone wasn't indicating that he was salty or angry about it. It was just another normal Yoongi tone, one that had sadly always been misunderstood by people.

Jimin's silence was cue enough for Yoongi to correct his words, afraid that it would lead to another misunderstanding.

“But she did deserve the mustache talk. At least we gave her some important dating tip. The future Mr. Oh should be thanking us,” Yoongi quickly said.

This time Jimin chuckled and Yoongi was a bit relieved that at least the boy didn't think he was mad at him.

“We? Don't you mean me?” Jimin said back.

Yoongi turned around to see Jimin smirking once again, this time standing by the sink, one hand resting on top of it, looking back at Yoongi who was still squatting beside the toilet at one of the stall with a smug expression .

“Okay then, Park Jimin, you're clearly the man. The savior of every gentleman out there from a facial haired beast,” he joked.

It was somewhere close to five and he still didn't know how long would they be confined in that disgusting toilet. Going home late from school wasn't that big of a problem for Yoongi since he had been doing that since forever. One of the good part of doing this detention was having a legit reason to stay away from home as long as it took.

They fell to a silent routine, Jimin still cleaning each drainage with an occasional voice of disgust, only to be responded by Yoongi's grunt as he found a certain mysterious spot that refused to be cleaned even after a furious scrub.

It wasn't until six that they were relieved from their duty, Mrs. Oh swinging by after she was finished grading paper, satisfied with the sight of the two of them, still where they were supposed to be. She gave them yet another small lecture about responsibility and respecting the elders before they could finally leave the school building somewhere close to seven, with the sky already dark and Yoongi's back sore from all the squatting and bending down.

“I bet I smell like toilet,” Jimin murmured as the two of them walked back towards their home. Yoongi didn't bring his bike that day and they had yet another half an hour walk ahead of them. But of course Yoongi never complained about that part, having been accustomed to such lifestyle. He found it as a luxury, even. Somehow he wondered whether Jimin who came from such bustling city like Seoul ever found it as troublesome.

“You always smell awful, the toilet actually made you better,” Yoongi joked.

“That's a pathetic joke,” Jimin said, elbowing him as they walked side by side.

He just earned himself a two months long detention weeks away from their actual S uneung. Soon enough with the detention and the amount of extra study, Yoongi would find himself being busy in ways that he probably wouldn't think that he would.

It was September which meant that the sky was getting darker earlier, the sun being shier after its longer reign during summer, giving opportunity for the moon to sh ow of its glow . He could feel the change in the weather, the breeze felt cooler and more refreshing, the cold seeping through the tips of his finger. Summer had indeed ended and he was still befriending the boy walking right next to him. They were stranger once and looked where they were right now. The crying, timid boy who was nothing but a freak at first was his best friend. The boy who did nothing but avoided his gaze, who misunderstood him all the time, who cried at any given time possible, who ran all over the town to look for him, who carried him on his back, who listened to his rant about dreams and stars, who claimed to hate his every guts.

His best friend who was in love with him.

“Thank you, anyway,” Yoongi murmured, breaking the silence, turning his head from Jimin towards the sky.

“What for?” Jimin asked.

For insulting Mrs. Oh on purpose. For getting detention just to spend his time with Yoongi.

“You know,” Yoongi said, not wanting to speak the words. Because somehow it felt embarrassing. Because maybe it wasn't what Jimin was trying to do. Maybe the boy had indeed had enough of their history teacher. Maybe it was him in his late rebellious phase.

Maybe it was him, wanting to say thank you for something else.

For giving him a second chance. For not making his fear into a reality, running away to Seoul and leaving him there alone. For giving him a place to stay when he was having a fight with his parents. For going along with his stupid impromptu plans. For walking home with him every day.

For giving a little color in his dull, colorless sky.

Jimin didn't push him anymore than that, the boy just turned his head towards him as he avoided his look and having his fixed on the sky like always instead. But from the corner of his eyes he could see Jimin's smiling softly, finding the answer and the hidden message already without him having to speak it.

“You're welcome.”

The brat and I ended up with a two month s long detention