00.6

When Jungkook emerged from the building of the economy faculty, he had expected to find Taehyung waiting at the gates. In fact, his best friend was there.

He did not expect to find Kim Seokjin.

They were a few meters away from each other, oblivious to the fact of them both waiting for the same person. They couldn’t be any more different: Taehyung was wearing clothes with the colors of the rainbow, his sunglasses tucked sideways, while Kim Seokjin was dressed in a black shirt and white trousers, a big camera around his neck. He looked like a model out the latest cover of Vogue.

Jungkook walked fast toward the blond receptionist, trying to signal with his eyes to Taehyung to wait a moment where he was, determined to understand why Kim Seokjin was sparing him of his presence. However, instead of the usual icy gaze and serious expression, he was greeted with a half smile. Jungkook had to blink.

"Hello! Sorry if I came out the blue, I asked Jimin where you attended classes because I wanted to give you your shirt back and apologize one more time,” Seokjin said shoving in the hands of a surprised Jungkook a shopping bag. “I bet we didn’t make a good impression,” he concluded, shaking his head.

"Thanks a lot. You didn’t have to bother. You could have just given it back tomorrow night, I would not have complained,” Jungkook replied, trying to talk with the same kind register.

Seokjin was being ridiculously polite.

"I'll be out all week, I have a photoshoot that will keep me very busy and I cannot do voluntary work this time around. I could leave it to Jimin but I wouldn’t know when and your faculty is in front of my office, so,” Seokjin shrugged.

Jungkook tried to digest quickly the information, because during dinner the blond had not spoken much, not with Jungkook at least, and all that information was new to him.

"Thanks again!" Jungkook said, trying to smile. He was quite aware that half of the eyes of the students were on them, and the other half was trying to mask it.

Seokjin stood out wonderfully even when he seemed to not realize it.

“Hello!”

Jungkook almost had a heart attack. He did not expect for Taehyung to get close. He assumed that Taehyung had understood he had to wait for him there.

Kim Taehyung and his insatiable curiosity.

Seokjin looked surprised but smiled anyway gracefully. "Hello?"

"Kim Taehyung. Jungkook’s best friend and you are?"

"Kim Seokjin, we have friend in common,” Seokjin said, arching an eyebrow, but he seemed to find Taehyung fun. Jungkook intervened before they chat any longer. It could result in a disaster.

"Thanks again, hyung. See you when you get back then,” Jungkook said, adding a smile to make up for his parting words, but Seokjin didn’t seem to mind.

”Sure. I’ll go back to work! It’s been a pleasure.” And waving his hand, he quickly walked back.

"Who was that?" asked Taehyung after staring at the blonde for a long moment.

"Kim Taehyung, will you ever stop meddling in my life?"

“Please, I’ve been meddling in your life since we were five. It’s a bit late to complain,” Taehyung said cockily as they made their way home together.

Jungkook wanted to scream in exasperation.

"You didn’t answer the question though,” Jungkook sighed, giving up.

"Do you remember the blond receptionist with the icy stare?" Taehyung nodded. "Well that was him,” Jungkook concluded. Taehyung frowned.

"He didn’t look so icy to me. Last time you described him as if he was a basilisk. He made a great impression instead."

"Taehyung you would find charming even a wall." Taehyung glared at him.

"But I admit, he was nice. It 's the first time actually,” added Jungkook.

"Maybe you were the only one seeing things,” Taehyung commented cheerfully. He did it just to get on Jungkook’s nerves. But in any case, any protest was interrupted by the sound of a phone ringing.

His.

Jungkook stopped on his feet. He pulled it out of his pocket to see who it was even though he already knew who it was. He put the phone on silent mode and stuffed it harshly in his pocket again. Taehyung eyed him, worried.

"Your mother again?" He asked.

"Yeah," Jungkook said with a sigh.

"Want to talk about it?” Jungkook shook his head.

Jungkook considered himself a direct person. It was not like him to choose to not deal with situations, to postpone the problems.

How many times had he reproached Taehyung about it? Yet, there he was, trying to avoid the inevitable. He knew he couldn’t to ignore his family forever, but the impulse to push back all at an indefinite time in the future, was too strong.

There is nothing wrong, you know, to run from the things that scare us once in while, Taehyung had told him when a five year old Jungkook had run from of a bug. And he said to him those same words when Jungkook was fourteen and the thought of not having anyone out there frightened him to death. Jungkook had found the sentence too lenient then, but now he clung on to that in the hope of feeling better.

His expression had to be a troubled one, because Taehyung took his hand and held him tight all the way to his and Hoseok’s house.

"You could have told me you were going to meet Jungkook,” groaned Jimin on the phone.

"Jimin you work all day. You don’t have flexible hours like me,” Seokjin replied.

"It’s not my fault I do a desk job,” Seokjin chuckled on the other side of the phone.

The truth was that Jimin was looking for an excuse to try to spend more time with Jungkook outside the parentheses of the dance classes, but he had not yet found a suitable excuse. It seemed that he had long run out of ideas and he wasn’t able to think of anything else after his first grand plan.

"I wanted to give him his shirt back. You know that work will keep me busy all week if not more. If it was not for Namjoon, I would never have accepted.”

"But they will pay you well, I guess?"

"They’ll pay me very well. But I don’t like it. You know I don’t like it,” Seokjin replied.

"Hyung don’t worry, you know it's fine for me. You cannot antagonize all the people you do not get along with. I mean, professionally, this job is important, isn’t it?"

Seokjin snorted and Jimin knew he was rolling his eyes. 'All the people you do not get along with’ was an understatement. It was only one person and certainly, the whole thing could not be summarized in 'do not get along'. But the past was the past, and Jimin understood there were other personal motivations behind the grievances of Seokjin. But there was no need to add to these, those of Jimin. Seokjin was so stubborn sometimes.

He looked at the clock hanging in the entrance hall of the community center, five minutes to seven, class is going to start soon. Just then, Jungkook crossed the threshold.

“Hyung, Jungkook is here, gotta go okay? See you when you finish the job. Good luck.” He heard Seokjin say good bye and then he hang up.

Jimin had got into the habit of waiting for Jungkook outside the classroom even when others had already entered. Seeing him cross the entrance gave him a sense of relief. It was a confirmation that Jungkook had decided to come here on his own.

Jungkook walked there and smiled to him, and although Jimin appreciated the gesture, he realized that this time his smile did not reach his eyes. What’s going on? Jimin thought they had made some progress.

Silently, they crossed the hall and always silently entered the classroom and settled in their positions.

It was all very strange. Jimin wanted to ask what was wrong but did not know if Jungkook would have appreciated it. The boy seemed lost in his own world. Then teacher Lee came in and Jimin, thus, lost the opportunity.

For the rest of the lesson, Jimin was unable to lift his eyes off Jungkook. He was watching him intently, almost fearing he would run away from the classroom at any moment. Yet Jungkook seemed concentrated on the steps and the few words he had exchanged with Jimin were polite. Jimin was glad that whatever was, it didn’t depend on something that he had done. He thought he hadn’t so much relevance in the life of the younger, but for a moment he was afraid Jungkook had changed his mind on the lessons, on Jimin.

Jimin bit his lips. It was better if he focused on his steps. The teacher had looked quizzically at him several times and Jimin had doubled the effort. He tried to ignore the little pain at his instep. However, when they finally made a break and Jimin stopped, the small pain became suddenly intense. He tried to go sit casually on a bench with the excuse to take a water bottle from his pack. But when he raised his gaze, Jungkook was looking at him though the reflection in the mirror.
Jimin shook his head trying to shrug it off. He must have made a bad movement probably due to fatigue. Jimin vowed to do some warming up at home before going out and come to class, to avoid cramps after.

In fact, once they resumed dancing the pain seemed to disappear, and he tried to ignore the voice in his head that reminded him that adrenaline was able to give a momentary feeling of absence of pain and that it was likely that he would feel the consequences once his body cooled down. He ignored his rational part and continued to dance the half hour that remained.

When the music stopped, Jimin began to regret his decision.

He stood on the spot trying to appear as one who was catching his breath after a physical effort. Of course he was unable to deceive anyone.
"Jeon go to help out Park,” instructed teacher Lee. Jungkook did not have to have it repeated twice, and no matter how many assurances Jimin said, Jungkook helped him anyway to get to the bench. Once he sat down the teacher knelt before Jimin and ignoring his protests took off his shoe and sock and checked his condition. Jimin wriggled uncomfortable.

"I think it's just an inflammation. But if I were you, I'd take a few days off. I’d put a whole lot of ice on it,” the teacher said.

Jimin nodded as the rest of the boys gave him pats on the shoulder and told him to take care of himself. Jungkook stayed sat by his side, Jimin’s arm still on his shoulders.

"Hyung, what did you think you were doing? You know that if you're not careful these things can get serious! "Jungkook scolded him.

"It 's just an inflammation. I'll just rest over the weekend and I will be back as before,” Jimin tried to minimize.

"Want me to get you to the hospital? I can drive if you want and then I can take you home. I can ask someone to get me later."

"Don’t worry, I think I can drive, it doesn’t take much effort to push a pedal. And no hospital, you heard the teacher, it’s nothing serious."

"The teacher is not a doctor."

"But I don’t want to go to the hospital. This is not even an emergency and we are going to wait forever."

"I get it,” Jungkook said and then he added, "Can I take you to a doctor I know?"

Jimin looked at him quizzically. Jungkook looked more like himself although Jimin did not expect for him to care so much.

“Do you know a doctor who visits this late in the night?"

"More or less," Jungkook replied smiling a little more genuinely. "Let me make a call, okay?"

"Jungkook really, you don’t need to!" But Jungkook was already up and was on the phone with someone.

It was strange to see this side of Jungkook, but he appreciated it nonetheless. He had always known Jungkook had softness hidden inside of him, but this new side was kind of endearing. He tried to move his foot experimentally and the pain came back. Perhaps he needed indeed help to get home.

"Hyung, where did you park your car? I'll take you to see someone that knows better than teacher Lee.”

Jimin nodded and didn’t protest when Jungkook put his arm around his shoulders to help him walk. He was beginning to feel the first burning waves.

Jungkook made sure Jimin was comfortable in his seat before fetching the keys from his backpack and seated himself on the driver’s seat.

“You should not underestimate these things. At the club, there was a dancer who had tendinitis but wanted to participate in this competition at all costs. He ended up winning but he broke the tendon,” Jungkook said seriously.

“Kookie, it’s so thoughtful of you, but mine is just an inflammation."

"It can be, but it should be checked in any case. You're not gonna leave me alone to train with brats, aren’t you?” asked Jungkook, unleashing a cheeky smile.

Jimin laughed. "And I thought you were worried about me."

"Absolutely not, how could you think so,” replied Jungkook in a playful way. He returned serious soon after though, his eyes staring at the road.

"Hoseok hyung is a medical student, but he is in his last year and he is pretty good. I trust him.” Then a little hesitant he added, "Is it ok for you? We can always go to the hospital."

"I didn’t want to even see a doctor, and you are taking to someone that is almost one, I would say that is fine with me,” Jimin reassured him.

A silence fell between them but it was not an uncomfortable silence. Jimin found himself pleasantly surprised to find that by now they were quite acclimated to each other to feel comfortable without having to exchange words.

With the tail of his eye he looked at Jungkook, who seemed focused on his task. Jimin told himself that if he wanted to ask him something, that maybe it was the right time to do it.

"Jungkook, is everything all right? Are you okay?” Jimin saw him tense up on the steering wheel, but the words that came out of his mouth weren’t harsh.

“Yes," And for a while no one said anything else. Jimin stared through the window without expecting further explanations. He had just wanted to let him know he was there if he wanted to talk. He did not expect Jungkook to continue.

“I… My family is still pressuring me about… you know. My future."

Jimin turned to face him. Jungkook’s knuckles turned white on the steering wheel from the exerted pressure.

"I'm sorry,” Jimin said. And it was true.

He didn’t know what type of people Jungkook’s parents were, but he was sorry to hear that they weren’t having too much consideration of Jungkook’s feelings. When Jimin asked his parents for more time, they were not happy but they had respected his decision nonetheless.

However, judging by the expression of Jungkook, his family did not seem of the same opinion. Moreover Jimin knew how much Jungkook cared, how important it was for him to feel that he could have a choice. "I do not want a partner,” said Jungkook that one time. And if he had been so assertive with him, Jimin could only imagine the vehemence with which he had definitely pleaded his cause in front of his family.

"I wish I could find a way to solve everything,” Jungkook finally said.

And I wish I could find a way to help you, Jimin thought.

I dreamed of a life for me, hyung. A life where I'm there and just me and that's okay.

Those were the words that should have hurt him and instead Jimin had admired Jungkook for that.

"Hyung, we’ve arrived,” Jungkook said suddenly. Jimin looked around. They were in a part of town not far from his home. Jimin had often passed in front of these buildings, during his jogging session on Sunday morning. Jungkook had called someone on the phone again and got out the car to help Jimin down.

Jimin wanted to say that there was no need but when he put his foot on the ground he felt pain again. The distance that separated them from the building, fortunately, was short and when they arrived there, he realized that someone was waiting for them.

The person at the entrance seemed awfully familiar.

Seokjin didn’t want to accept the project, but Namjoon had asked him as a favor, and once his number one had explained the idea to him, he had understood why Namjoon had insisted.

Seokjin was known as the magician of lights, as he adored capturing the effects of light behind a camera. They were asking to do exactly that. It seemed a project made for him.

In any case, Seokjin knew he could not back away even if the project had been less interesting. His collaboration was specifically requested and he could not say no to the person who had recommended Namjoon long ago. His soulmate had been successful thanks to his own merits. Anyone could tell how Namjoon was damn good at what he did, but it was also true that had it not been discovered and encouraged, it would have taken years before Namjoon could start a career. His number one kept telling him that just because he liked someone professionally it didn’t mean he liked that someone as a person.

Seokjin knew Namjoon was telling the truth, but he also knew that his number one was fascinated by the work of this man. After all, seeing how his every work became a hit record weren’t they all charmed by him?

Seokjin sighed as he walked lazily down the corridors of the record company where Namjoon worked. He did not like it, he did not like it at all. But work was work and the sooner he started his task, the sooner he would finish.

He had been given instructions regarding the placement and type of equipment he needed and had stressed the importance that all was ready for his arrival.

When he opened the door of the studio, it had all been positioned according to his recommendations, and there was already a number of people busy and fussing over models, the singers, with makeup and accessories in hand.

Seokjin spotted him immediately, he was standing in a corner of the room, giving accurate directions to the staff with his voice listless and edgy at the same time. He had black hair and the pale skin of someone who hadn’t been under the sunlight for who knows how long.

Seokjin had last seen him two years earlier, but Min Yoongi didn’t change a bit.

He was still the same.

author's note: Well? Did you expect this?;)