jimin made a dead stop at the end of the row, looking horrified. 

the water he guzzled at lunch had decided to start banging around in his bladder, so he’d gone to the bathroom while everyone found their seats. by the time he returned, the trailers were playing. the theater was packed, testament to the popularity of the movie they were about to see, but he managed to spot his friends’ waves in the sea of people.

it was when he got to the row and was about to make the awkward journey past the ppl sitting there that he looked up just as the light from the trailer playing on the screen bathed the audience. 

the only seat remaining was the one in the center of the row, right next to one bored looking min yoongi. 

those backstabbing jerks. his friends, split up on either side of yoongi and the empty seat, wisely didn’t make eye contact with jimin. except for taehyung who winked big and threw him an ‘ok’ sign with his fingers. 

no, this was not okay. this was not okay at all. 

jimin didn’t look at yoongi as he sat down. what he did do was immediately swipe the drink on his right, ignoring jungkook’s indignant, “hey thats mine!” 

pouting, jungkook tried to take some of namjoon’s drink on his other side, triggering loud long-suffering sighs from the senior. 

jimin only took a sip before he replaced it though. the amount of sugar in soda made him uneasy when he thought about it going straight to his thighs. 

on his left, yoongi snorted, and jimin bristled like a porcupine. 

“what,” jimin bit out, voice low so he didn’t bother the other audience members. 

yoongi’s eyes slid over to him. “you won’t even let yourself enjoy a bit of soda at the movie theater,” he replied just as quietly. the cigarette smoke on his breath made jimin ache inside and get annoyed at himself for it. 

“so? u don’t have to drink soda just because you’re at the movies,” jimin whispered hotly. 

“no…i just thought it was funny that you still think nothing’s changed.” yoongi’s gaze cut away and back to jimin. “you used to love cherry coke at this theater.” 

jimin met yoongi’s eyes in the dark and found himself wordless. fortunately, or not, the volume raised with the start of the movie, drawing their gazes toward the screen.

jimin tried to focus on the movie, he really did, but yoongi’s presence at his side was a constant distraction. he kept drumming his long, bony fingers against the armrest, like dancing white spiders in the dark, and the cigarettes he’d smoked outside the theater clung to his clothes so every time he shifted jimin got another whiff of smoke. 

it didn’t help that jimin knew for a fact what yoongi would taste like post-cigarette, after that one party in the beginning of the school year. 

he lasted maybe an hour before he had to excuse himself, muttering, “bathroom” when he passed his friends down the row. 

jimin didn’t go far. he leaned against the wall beside the theater entrance and pushed his edges of his palms into his eyes so his vision went white with stars. 

the door opened again, bringing a blast of the movie, and jimin tensed, though he didn’t pull his hands away from his face. the door closed, and even with the muffled sounds of the movie leaking through, it felt too quiet. 

jimin could feel his profile being studied and shuddered, drawing into himself even more. 

finally, yoongi spoke. “i’m sorry about lunch today.” he paused, and seemed to take jimin’s silence as a signal to go on. “i shouldn’t have thrown away your protein drink like that. i just…hate when you drink that instead of eating real meals. i shouldn’t have been such an about it, but jiminie–” the boy shivered, mouth twisting below his hands, “–you need to eat.”

jimin bit his lip. 

yoongi scraped his nails over his scalp. frustration made his tone harsh–cutting as he was known for.

“you think we don’t notice you skipping meals every day now? you think your own friends don’t see how bony your wrists have gotten? or how dead tired u look all the time? dammit jimin.” 

jimin lowered his hands miserably and didnt feel satisfied at all when yoongi’s face shuttered at his wet eyes. 

“i just wanted to lose weight,” jimin said hoarsely, obviously holding back tears. “im sick of being fat–”

“you’re not,” yoongi snapped, making the boy flinch. he slipped into jimin’s space and grabbed one of his thin wrists. he didn’t look pleased by the overlapping ring his fingers made around the limb. 

“you’re not fat,” yoongi reiterated in a softer voice. “and even if you were, i would still have poured that protein shake out under the bleachers because it was nasty af and starving is not the right solution to anything.” 

that got a watery giggle out of jimin. “im still mad at you for that,” he said, though they both knew it wasn’t true. 

jimin wasn’t the type who could hold a grudge for long. especially against yoongi. though yoongi didn’t know that. 

how long had jimin had a crush on the senior? it seemed like eons ago when he first arrived trailing hoseok-hyung to their usual lunch spot on the bleachers, expression black like he hadn’t slept for a month and was about to gut the world for it. 

that yoongi had been frightening to talk to. this yoongi was gazing at him with a gentle curve to his wry lips, like jimin was someone worth looking at like that. 

“i guess i’ll have to make it up to you then,” yoongi drawled and leaned in to kiss jimin, holding him still by his wrist. 

jimin’s eyes fluttered shut and thought his heart might burst from the slow, steady rub of yoongi’s thumb into the sensitive underside of his wrist as he sipped kisses from jimin’s mouth like they had all the time in the world. 

perhaps, jimin thought distantly, they did. 

“im gonna have to warn u, jiminie,” yoongi said, husky like he’d chain-smoked through his whole pack again. he along the edge of jimin’s lower lip like he couldn’t help himself and pulled away again. “i might be making it up to you a lot. because im not a nice person, but i want to make this work.” 

“this?” jimin repeated, and watched yoongi’s face grow fond at his widening grin. 

“this,” yoongi affirmed and briefly pressed his lips into the wrist he had been rubbing circles into. the romantic gesture made jimin go pink from hairline to the collar of his shirt, and yoongi laughed under his breath. 

“beautiful.” when jimin’s face twisted, the senior pinched him firmly in the side so he yelped. 

“you’re beautiful, park jimin. deal with it. don’t mock my taste.” 

jimin would have argued if not for the fingers yoongi curled threateningly around his hip for another pinch. so, still fighting the blush off his cheeks, jimin looked down and said in a tiny voice, “you want to go get some popcorn and cherry coke?” 

“hell no.” jimin’s face dropped for all of two seconds before yoongi was dragging him by the wrist down the hall towards the exit. 

“im not paying for overpriced junk food so we can spend our first date watching half a movie i don't give a about with those idiots from school. let’s go to mcdonald’s.”