This was the second time and Yoongi cursed under his soul how he had forgotten his notebook yet again. Again, if it had landed in the hand of an ill-intent being, Yoongi would be in big trouble. In the same notebook did he write a few days ago how Minju ranked number one for the hottest girl in their class but he would have chosen someone more like Yujin to date.

He rushed towards the classroom that Monday, hurrying back to the classroom and opening the door without catching a breath. That was the reason why he almost crashed into Jimin who stood right in front of the door.

“The hell.”

The said boy was standing in front of the door almost as if he was greeting him with a book in his hand and expression not very amused. He had the same brooding aura that he always wore around himself, only that this time it was intensified tenfold, added with such a pathetic expression it invited sympathy to most eyes (but disgust to Yoongi's). He could see the rim underneath Jimin’s eyes and how red it looked. The boy had been crying again or at least in the middle of doing so. Just the thought of that crossing his mind sent a scowl in his face, he couldn’t help but to feel annoyed.

“Your notebook.”

“What?”

“You left it again,” he said, handing Yoongi the very notebook he’d been looking for. The latter had his eyes casted from his notebook to the boy holding it with brows arched and face full of question. How did that brat even know he left his notebook (again).

He was about to blurt out a question when Park Jimin exited the classroom and left him just like that with his notebook already in hand.

Talk about insolent prick.

+.-.+

The next day it was Yoongi who sat inside the classroom, motionless, even as the other left their seat as the bell rang. He took out his notebook in the meantime, putting on a façade of hard-working student finishing his homework one week before it was due. Namjoon passed his seat with a scowl and brows raised that Yoongi returned with a snort. The Kim must have thought that he hit his head or something, acting diligent all of a sudden. It didn’t take long until the room was completely empty. Yes, empty. Except for the living soul that still breathed behind him in the form of Park Jimin, then this room was undoubtedly empty.

Yoongi turned his seat right after the last student left the room to face Jimin behind him. Sure enough the boy was looking at the floor it took him quite some time to learn about the elder’s existence.

“You’re not leaving?” he mocked.

Jimin gave him a bewildered look, finally noticing someone still sitting in front of him.

“You’re not leaving yourself.”

“Hyung.”

“What?”

“I’m older than you so you should add a hyung there because last time you sure acted like an insolent brat, walking away with eyes red like that I feel like punching you in the face then,” he said again, clearly not thinking about how the words sounded as it escaped his lips.

Jimin looked at him right in the eyes (which he rarely did) and took in what Yoongi had just said about himself in a series of words. He was probably wondering what the elder was doing in the room. Yoongi himself didn’t really know why he did this except for the reason that he liked to call ‘giving Park Jimin a lesson’.

“What are you doing here?” the boy finally rested with that as a comeback to what normal people would take as an insult.

“Me? Just writing in my notebook here after class. Nothing’s wrong with that,” Yoongi said with tone flat. “What about you? Crying again? Your face looks ridiculous when you cry.”

If Park Jimin raised his fist right then and there, Yoongi wouldn’t really wonder why. He had the reputation of being cold, audacious and very least bit of friendly. He wasn’t condescending, though, for there was something entirely different if his goal was to belittle the sad, pathetic-looking boy that had been sitting behind him for weeks now. 

“Why do you care,” Jimin said, the words oddly familiar to Yoongi’s ear.

Somewhere in the back of his mind, Yoongi knew that he had had this conversation before.

No reason.

“Because nobody in this world can look as pathetic as you are even when they cry.”

Jimin just glared at him with expression unreadable. It turned from a slight anger to embarrassment until somehow he looked like he was about to cry again solely from Yoongi's snark comment.

“Did I do something to offend you?,” the younger’s voice shook just the slightest to his ear. His face looked hurt instead.

Yoongi curved his eyebrow. Actually the boy had never done anything wrong. Then again he always thought that Jimin had done at least something, for he wouldn’t have held this-, whatever this was, towards the boy. If that something was looking so pathetic it made him sick, then Jimin had definitely done something. Looking pathetic, that was. He didn’t know he was allergic to those. So allergic that he needed to do this talk with Park Jimin.

He was trying to find the right words (rather than a ‘because you look pathetic’ excuse which would make no sense at all) when Jimin had already taken his silence as an answer. That or maybe he wasn’t looking for one.

“I’m sorry then, for whatever it was,” he said, standing from his seat, looking more sorry than mad. Yoongi wasn’t actually hoping for a ‘sorry’. A fist to his face or a rising tone would make a more suitable comeback rather than a sorry. This just made Jimin looked more pitiful to his eyes.

“Hey, I don’t-,”

“Please leave me alone,” Jimin cut his explanation mid-sentence while hurrying towards the door.

And that was when Yoongi and his foul big mouth had to make a comeback.

“To cry?”

Jimin froze to the words, somehow as if it stabbed him right through his heart. Then again, the silence, stomping feet and slammed door was an answer enough for Yoongi that what he said was true.

I think I pissed the brat off.

+.-.+

Jimin was still there the next Thursday. Yoongi watched from a distance how the boy had seemingly learned to smile a little bit from Taehyung’s joke or from Hoseok’s constant nagging. Even during lessons Yoongi could hear the soft giggling behind him, coming from the two boys, rustling on some papers, probably making more doodles of their beloved teacher. He didn’t have the heart to find out more about it and risked getting thrown out from the classroom yet again. They went home in silence ever since their last conversation and Yoongi never tried to speak to the boy, mostly because Jimin tried his best to avoid him.

It was really apparent by how the boy looked extra aware whenever they passed each other in the alleyway before acting stupid by purposely turning his heels around. That didn’t just happen once. There was also that time when they met between the urinals, Jimin was looking like a perfect tomato with face disgustingly red.

But despite of that, Yoongi could clearly see (as crystal clear as it could be), how Jimin started to warm up to his other friends. The thing that they did during initiation night had certainly changed the boy, for he started to smile a little bit more, although his habit of eyeing his feet really needed a change. Just today he even saw Jimin laughing out loud from something that Taehyung had said as he entered the gym. He suddenly stopped as he saw Yoongi walking towards them and cast his eyes towards the ground again as if what he did earlier is a mistake. It only made Yoongi glared even harder at the boy.

There were a few things he realized. Since the initiation, Jimin had opened himself up to practically everyone except himself. He talked a bit more and certainly laughed alongside Hoseok and Taehyung now. Jungkook would join them from time to time. He didn't join in witht hem during recess, staying at class with Jungkook sometimes or doing god-knows what. But the one real thing that he realized was the boy’s habit to keep his eyes on the ground, because it hadn’t really changed. If Jimin had the habit of looking at the ground, than Yoongi had a serious issue of glaring since Namjoon had found the opportunity to once again talk some senses into him.

“Do you really hate him or something, ‘cause Jimin really thought you did,” Namjoon said in between their breaks.

Yoongi raised an eyebrow, grabbing his water bottle and spraying it all over his face instead of drinking it. He had just finished practicing his 3 pointer today. He wouldn't be satisfied if he couldn't do it with his eyes closed.

“What? That’s ridiculous. I don’t hate the brat,” Yoongi thought. He doesn’t, does he? Well, he hated that damn Yongwoo back in 2^nd grade because the kid had once picking a fight with him over a girl (which actually was nothing but a misunderstanding) and it certainly didn’t feel this way because he didn’t feel like obliterating Jimin from the surface of this earth.

“Not to him, it seemed,” Namjoon continued. Yoongi took that moment to glare at Jimin once again. The boy was playing one on one with Jungkook right now. He took that Jimin talked to Namjoon at least about Yoongi hating him when he clearly didn’t.

“Not to me too, that much I can tell. Your glare, really. I can’t even differentiate whether you hate him or you like him, geez.”

“That’s not funny at all. You know I like Yujin.”

“Wait, really?”

“No, that part I’m just messing with you,” Yoongi said, passing the basketball towards Namjoon. Only now did he regret to even slip Yujin’s name into the conversation. Namjoon wasn’t the quietest one of them all when it came to rumors and gossips. “Don’t spark some rumors now.”

Namjoon gave him a smirk that looked as annoying as Jimin’s brooding face.

“Nah, but really, you’re fine with Jimin, aren’t you? Because I don’t want some feud or whatever going around.”

Yoongi snorted.

“Any feud that would arise is if you miss the shot during free throw in our next game. Only then will me and the other really decided to kick you out from the group.”

+.-.+

Yoongi wasn’t there to wait for Jimin, that part had to be made clear first. He was staying late at school because history was giving him a snore once again, and this time he did doze off on it. His teacher granted him with an after school detention (exclusively for snoring too loud) and here he was, having to stack papers and boxes in the storeroom of the teacher’s lounge. He finished with dust covering his school uniform and nose feeling like it needed to sneeze constantly right when the sun was about to set.

It was a Friday and everybody had left the school building early. They were supposed to eat in Seokjin’s house again tonight and Yoongi was eager for that. His feet raced on the school’s floor when he passed his classroom on his way out and an impractical string of thoughts suddenly crossed his mind.

He hadn’t passed his classroom entirely, halting midway and taking a few steps back very carefully before peeking in from the window. Sure enough he could see someone still seated in the chair, wiping his eyes with shoulder shaking and a faint sob echoing through the wall. Yoongi rolled his eyes, blaming his intuition for its precision because Park Jimin was indeed still inside the classroom, crying like always.

Up to this point Yoongi was practically more than just curious. He was fed up. He didn’t know what happen to the boy that it needed a constant crying upon. He got it if something happened in Seoul to the boy before or maybe this place wasn’t what he was expecting but seriously, a month? He cried about that for a whole month?

This time he stepped inside, stopping right with the door behind his back and his hands still clutching the handle. At least this way Jimin wouldn’t be able to run away so easily from him. The moment the door creaked Jimin quickly raised his head. The look in his eyes when he saw Yoongi didn’t turn to annoyance, somehow looking more like afraid as if he was here to bully the crying boy.

"Yha, Park Jimin, are you really that weird since normal people would like to cry in their bedroom more instead of a freaking classroom,” he said.

The boy took a sob, trying to desperately hide the fact that he’d been crying so hard. Him wiping his eyes with the back of his palm certainly wasn't helping at all. Up to this point Yoongi didn’t have much inside of him to be surprised anymore to the sight of red stinging eyes of Park Jimin.

“And I don’t hate you, all right? Whatever you think about me and said to Namjoon, it’s wrong. I don’t hate you, you just-, annoyed me. One more thing, think twice before talking to Namjoon. He got a big mouth. Everyone would start to think I hold a grudge against you if you told Namjoon.”

“It wasn’t Namjoon.”

“What?”

“I talked to Taehyung who talked to Jungkook and he relayed the message to Namjoon and Seokjin was just being around and Hoseok threatened to steal Taehyung’s underwear if they didn’t tell him what’s going on.”

That’s the most of what Yoongi had heard from Jimin after all this weeks. Then again here he was thinking that Jimin was probably the one being annoyed by his words before. Here he was thinking that Jimin avoided him because it was the boy who was annoyed by his choice of words from the other day.

"Anyway, I don’t hate you, kid. Don’t make rumors,” Yoongi said nonchalantly.

Jimin swallowed, still looking at Yoongi as if he couldn’t believe the elder’s words.

“Damn, do I need to smile, hug you and act as if we’ve just made up to proof that?”

That sentence made Jimin cringed and Yoongi rolled his eyes, realizing that the misunderstanding laid on his choice of words all this time.

“You glare at me,” Jimin said softly.

“Because seeing how pathetic you look most of the time annoyed me. Much alone seeing you cry for the-, I don’t know, tenth time?”

The only thing that Yoongi got was blinking as if the words couldn’t be processed by the boy’s brain.

“So you don’t hate me?”

Yoongi sighed.

"Do I have to say it twice?” he said. Jimin looked like he was about to cry again upon hearing his words so he quickly added a, “No, I don’t hate you. Do you want me to say I love you too right now? Seriously, stop with that crying too. I don’t know how bad it was but you’re not in Seoul anymore. No need for you to cry for whatever reason it was.”

Jimin blinked to his words, taking it all with expression unreadable. He looked surprised for a moment with mouth gaping before a slight blush started creeping on his chubby cheek and ears. The younger quickly averted his gaze, looking down towards the floor yet again.

"And really, the floor? Do you have a with your feet or something? Didn’t your parents teach you some manners to look at someone in the eye instead of your own freaking feet?”

“I-im sorry.”

"God, don’t say that. You sound even more pitiful to me right now,” Yoongi said, sighing. Why couldn’t he sound like the delicate Seokjin who seemed so nice all the time he literally spewed candy from his mouth, being sugary sweet and caring. Or at least like Namjoon with his philosophical rant. No, he had to sound mean and scary and as bitter as a dark coffee could actually taste in someone else's tongue.

“Now, Seokjin’s inviting us all to his house for some ramyun. We better get going before Taehyung finishes all of it,” he said, opening the door behind him, waiting for Jimin to stand up and walk towards it.

The boy complied, gathering his things and they walked in complete silence right towards Seokjin’s house with Yoongi leading the way. He didn’t know what the younger was having in his mind and he didn’t bother to find out either, giving up on making small talk or such. The last one, he remembered, ended with him talking with nothing but the night sky, he felt quite stupid after remembering about it again. So no, Yoongi wasn't to keen on trying again.

The dinner that night was loud as always. Jimin looked much less pathetic, laughing along to Hoseok’s joke. At least that much meant less glaring in Yoongi’s part too. But still the younger diverted his gaze as soon as their eyes met from across the table.

“It’s been a month since you got here. How do you find this place, Jimin?” Seokjin asked over their last portion of ramyun. Their stomach was full but Taehyung still got the nerve to ask for a second round.

"It’s fine, I guess,” the younger answered. Yoongi couldn't help but realize how Jimin always sat with back a bit hunched and body scrunched like he wanted to make himself look as small as he could be. He answered with voice timid in front of the other and most of the time he smiled like he was afraid that it was the wrong thing to do.

Why did he even realize that? Damn.

"Fine? Fine?! You just spent a month of your life sitting next to the most awesome person who lives in this planet,” exclaimed Taehyung.

"He had probably grown tired of you and asking for a new seat mate tomorrow,” Yoongi snorted.

"At least no one wanted to sit next to the mean and cold Yoongi-hyung,” Taehyung returned back with a tongue sticking out.

"Yah, Taehyung, don’t make me go back to hating you again. And here I am thinking that you’re finally tolerable.”

“I’m lovable. Ask Hobi-hyung.”

“And loud. And eat too much,” added Jungkook.

"And you got me into detention once,” said Jimin softly.

Yoongi couldn’t help but pay extra attention when it was Jimin who talked. The scene came so rarely. Another thing that he realized was how the boy seldom raised his voice, only doing so whenever someone gave him a question. That was before. The brat was slowly opening himself up and Yoongi felt like facepalming himself  for realizing such unnecessary thing. Looked like he unconsciously glared again for Namjoon gave him a sharp nudge to his waist from his right.

"What is school life without a few detention and mishap anyway,” said Taehyung.

"Hyung, please don’t make Jimin a victim of your stupid idea. You almost got us into detention when you think our teacher supported the idea of April Mop,” Jungkook said.

"Mr. Kim always gave us a hard time to us because of that super glue incident, you know."

“Oh please, it's hilarious. Admit it. You still got to see the stain on his favorite pants. Anyway, you still didn’t think that Yoongi-hyung’s frightening, are you?” asked Taehyung suddenly to Jimin.

Jimin cheeks turned a slight red before he waved his little hand in front of them all, stuttering alongside the line of, “No, no, I never,” while looking at Yoongi with face looking scared and slightly embarrassed. Yoongi meanwhile felt like palming his face instead for the second time today.

"Don’t worry Jimin. Yoongi is indeed notorious for being a . He made a 1^st grader cried once just by glaring,” said Namjoon, laughing.

"Oh, and that 3^rd grader during last year’s competition. That senior in our last game who purposely knocked Jungkook after the whistle blow. Remember Yoongi threatening to kill the guy with fire burning in his eyes,” this time Seokjin added as he stood up and walked to the kitchen.

"Yah, you guys are clearly exaggerating. Don’t listen to them, Jimin.”

Although the story of the 1^st grader was probably true. The poor boy had accidentally woken Yoongi up by stubbing his toe when he was having his nap in the cafeteria. The said boy ended with eyes glistening with tears soon after.

"Second round, guys. Who’s up for it?!” exclaimed Seokjin as he reentered the dining room, carrying a new pot filled with newly-cooked ramyun.

Soon enough it was another ruckus, Taehyung yelling a “me me,” while flailing his chopsticks in the air. Hoseok complained about not having enough from his first portion since Taehyung kept stealing his. Jungkook rambled about how they all owed Seokjin’s family a big gratitude since they’d been crashing his place and putting Mrs. Kim to an awful lot of dish-washing for the hundredth time. Namjoon raised his voice, telling the other to shut up and Seokjin oh-so-kindly filled their empty bowl with another hot meal.

That left Yoongi witnessing how stupid his so-called friends were. From across the table Jimin did the same thing and the boy smiled. Yoongi found himself this time looking (or maybe glaring, he didn’t know the difference anymore) until the boy himself realizing another pair of eyes looking at his. Yoongi half-heartedly expected the younger to turn his head again like he always did whenever their eyes met. But this time Jimin didn’t divert his gaze. He looked back at Yoongi and gave him a genuine smile, one that he hid underneath his tears and pouts after all this time.

(At least this time Yoongi didn’t miss the smile.)

+.-.+

They left Seokjin’s house around 11 with stomach full and aching. They watched a movie after dinner before Hoseok yawned and Mrs. Jeon called, looking for Jungkook and telling him to come home. After that they all practically scrambled back towards their own house. Like always Yoongi found himself left with Jimin. The elder had his hand resting behind his neck, his eyes watching the night sky like he always did. The younger, meanwhile, walked behind him silently.

His mind was wandering between the stars and how he should write something about comparing a girl’s laugh to star’s constellation, when the silence that he thought would be his only company tonight decided to make room for some string of conversation to fill the remain of his day.

“Yoongi-hyung.”

It took him a moment to realize that it was Jimin who addressed him. Yoongi turned around slightly, looking at the boy, wondering whether he was about to see the latter cried again or something around that.

“Thank you,” he said.

Raising an eyebrow, Yoongi stopped and turned his heels completely, not getting why Jimin had expressed such gratitude to him when he had done absolutely nothing. Much the contrary, all he thought he did was nothing worth be grateful for. All he did was unknowingly harassed the boy with his words and being completely cold and unemphatic. That much was indeed a very Min Yoongi thing to do.

“I didn’t do anything, kid,” he returned with a snort, turning his attention again to the road in front of him and kept on walking.

Jimin took a pause before answering the elder even thought he had left him again like the last day, probably disappearing into the nearest turn behind his back and left him holding a conversation with nothing but the night’s air.

This time he was wrong.

“You did. You’re the first one who cared,” the voice answered softly behind him before adding a stuttered “hyung” after an evident pause.

Yoongi turned around again almost instantly, not hiding the blatant confusion and awkwardness from the simple answer. He found the younger still standing on his previous steps right in a middle of a T-junction, not seeming to have taken a step forward. The space between them felt awkward for a conversation. He could see the headlight there illuminating Jimin’s face, red and very much as embarrassed as he was from hearing the words earlier.

Care? Did Jimin just misunderstand all of his action that once was translated as hatred into caring, now? It wasn’t hatred but if it was to admit that he cared, Yoongi certainly still had a hot spot for that. Min Yoongi doing something as much as ‘caring’? That would be a joke.

Yoongi felt like giving another cold comment like he usually did but the words died on his tongue as he saw Jimin slowly lifted his face, a faint smile slowly spreading across his face.

“Stop that smile you made me feel like I’m in a cliché romcom,” he blurted.

“Ah, sorry.”

And he regretted saying that. Min Yoongi, why couldn’t you just be nice for a minute now.

“Nah, stop that Park Jimin. You did nothing wrong,” he said, sighing.

Every words that he said to Park Jimin always caused a misunderstanding, it seemed. He sighed again, this time trying to find a perfect word to say. He didn’t like to hear the boy saying sorry or be ‘sorry’ for something. It made him as pathetic as he did when he cry.

“Thanks to you too, brat,” he said.

This time it was Jimin who raised his eyebrow.

“For that time when I left my notebook,” he continued. “I mean you sure acted like an insolent prick, running away easily after that. I bet you checked whether I left my notebook purposely so I wouldn’t barge in to your crying session like before, huh?”

Jimin’s silence was answer enough. The boy probably did as he has suspected. Yoongi didn’t want this to grow into another misunderstanding so he laughed instead right when the younger was about to lower his head again. God, he hated when Jimin did that.

“Anyway, you’re welcome,” he said.

The younger raised his head instead, smiling. Great, at least the kid would get him straight this time.

Yoongi watched as Jimin made the turn at the T-junction, parting his way from Yoongi’s (he knew now where the boy had disappeared from yesterday). He was about to continue walking, his house was only less than five minute walk from there when he turned again towards Jimin, still catching the boy’s figure at the turn and shouted.

“For your information, I don’t ‘care’ about you too as much as I hate you, Park Jimin. Remember that,” he said with a mocking laugh, emphasizing at the word ‘care’.

Satisfied, Yoongi walked towards his house, hearing a faint laugh in the background as an answer enough.

The brat thought about me ‘caring’ for him. What a joke.