We dreamed of the infinite (Part II)

This would be the last year of high school.

Jimin had spent a beautiful summer but couldn’t wait to resume school activities and start his last adventure before the bigger one of college.

But, above all, he could not wait to meet again his boyfriend Yoongi. It had been hard to stay away from him after they had spent every single day of their long summer together.

Since Yoongi had turned eighteen, his boyfriend seemed to have taken their relationship even more seriously. He showered Jimin with attention and gifts, of course his amiable temper remained the same but he had undoubtedly been more patient with him this last period than he had been in all of the three years spent together.

Times flew so fast.

Despite the seriousness of their relationship though, they didn’t have the chance to talk about what the future had in store for them yet, but Jimin was pretty sure they would face it together.

Yoongi had mentioned the idea of sharing an apartment once they started college and that was the main reason why Jimin took a summer part-time job, wanting to start saving some money in preparation of their future.

Sometimes Jimin woke up in the middle of the night with the belief that he had dreamed everything. It was not possible that he could be a number zero and at the same time be so lucky, so requited in his love.

So he woke up out of breath, struggling to untangle himself from the sheets, while trying to grab his cell phone, looking for evidence—because, rationally, it could not be real. However, as soon as the phone's light brightened the darkness the picture of him and Yoongi as a screensaver welcomed him, making him breathe a sigh of relief. And even when the fear of yet another nightmare made him doubt even further, it was enough to check the history of his phone: without any fail he was sure to find a goodnight message from Yoongi.

Only then he could go back to sleep. And in the morning he diminished the episode as some silly irrational fear. He was good to ignore the fact that every kiss or embrace of Yoongi had recently starting to become more a confirmation for him rather than a pleasure.

In any case, those were the only clouds of a relationship Jimin believed really happy.

He was lucky, he knew, because how many zeros could say the same?

So the morning of his return to school, Jimin got up early—happy at the prospect of seeing Yoongi in less than an hour. His boyfriend used to pick him up in order to go to school together.

Yoongi had to lengthen his journey of ten minutes but he didn’t mind. He was more than happy to spend extra time with Jimin.

And even that morning, as every morning, Yoongi was waiting for him at the front door waiting to do that stretch of road together, as if their time could never be enough, as if they needed also those stolen spaces between an activity and the other.

"Good morning!" Exclaimed Jimin jumping on Yoongi’s open arms. The latter chuckled in delight, because only Jimin could be so full of energy so early in the morning.

They made the journey to school hand in hand while Jimin questioned Yoongi about how he spent his vacation with his family.

Yoongi didn’t seem very excited about it. It was true that his boyfriend preferred to sleep than do some activity, but he and his family had been in an exotic beautiful island and Jimin believed that he had countless stories to tell.

"What they have done to you, they didn’t let you sleep?" Jimin.

"More or less," said Yoongi, shrugging. Jimin laughed, his boyfriend was like a lazy cat after a feast.

The view of the school didn’t soften the enthusiasm of Jimin. During the years, school had become synonymous not only of Yoongi but also of dancing.

Jimin had attended the dance club since he was a freshman and had became one of his brightest stars. Jimin didn’t want to brag, and he was far from being accomplished in his field but he knew he had enough talent to think to develop a dancing career.

There was, of course, the great question that Jimin remained a number zero, and at some level, this mattered a lot. Yet no one had ever suspected his category and it made him hopeful.

At school, in fact, everyone was convinced that Yoongi and Jimin were soulmates. The thought made Jimin giggle, even if the matter in reality would involve a number of not so little complications.

For a start, the formation of number two couples before the coming of age was virtually banned—unless you didn’t want to pay a very hefty fine. This was mainly a law designed to protect the soulmates with a great disparity in age and to try to keep tabs on the young number twos that would otherwise be at the mercy of their hormones (the birth control policy was taken very seriously).
Many then believed that their families had rewarded state officials with a lot of money to allow their children to began dating, and there were even rumors that made Yoongi the grandson of a senator and the father of Jimin a wealthy financier.

Obviously none of this was true.

The only reason why the school staff had not reported them it was because they knew very well that the two of them were not soul mates. Jimin in fact was a number zero.

However, if they had managed to deceive the whole school, Jimin thought it was unlikely in the future someone would notice the difference—if their love remained strong. It was so hard for him to restrain himself from dwelling on this little dream of having a dancing career then.
It was one of the things, however, one of many to be honest, he had not yet spoken with Yoongi. They loved each other, of this Jimin was certain. Yet the word future was considered like a bad word and Yoongi more often than not, stayed silent. Jimin hoped that finally this year they would begin seriously planning.

The absurd prospect of Yoongi not being a zero was something that Jimin refused to believe.

No number two would have loved a number zero as Yoongi loved Jimin. So the only reason why Yoongi had never mentioned, despite knowing very well Jimin was a zero, it was because he was ashamed that with him his family had marked another failure even after three generations.

Yoongi and Jimin were greeted by many students as they entered school. They were not only the most envied couple but also the two most popular people around, being Yoongi the captain of the basketball team and Jimin the star of the dance club.

"Jimin hyung do you know when your club will open auditions for freshmen?" asked a classmate as soon Jimin and Yoongi sat in the classroom.

"We haven’t talked about yet but I guess it will take a few weeks," Jimin said smiling at the thought of new fresh talent.

"Good! Because I know my brother would try to enter,” said his classmate.

"We will do our best," replied Jimin kindly. After all, the club policy was not so severe and admitted those who proved not only to be talented but also full of passion.

"We just arrived and they are already asking you about auditions? Does this mean their going to ask me too?” Yoongi said, sighing from the desk next to Jimin.

"I am afraid so, Captain," teased Jimin. Yoongi rolled his eyes melodramatically.
"You just started, you can’t be possibly be tired." Yoongi glared at Jimin making the latter laugh. It was going to be a great year.

"I honestly don’t know who's more lucky; Jimin or Yoongi! I hope that my soul mate is as bright as them.”

These were the chatters that usually followed Jimin and that made him smile. It was the word ‘soulmate’ than more than anything else warmed his heart. Jimin. The first number zero with a soulmate. If he could, he would have shouted it from the top of the building.

Those first weeks back at school had been intense. Both he and Yoongi had been very busy with the activities of their clubs and the rest, trying to dispose of the amount of homework their professors had thrown upon them to prepare them for entrance exams.

His club was preparing the usual annual gala to welcome the freshmen, and they were all training in groups and doing some individual routine. So he and Yoongi didn’t haven much time to see each other and Jimin was missing his boyfriend a lot. Moreover Yoongi had been dragged into some boring family dinner those weekends and Jimin found himself a bit down for this.

Sure Yoongi came to pick him up in the morning and his goodnight message was as punctual as always but Jimin would have liked to spend more time with him than short fragments between classes.

He hoped that once the recruitment of new freshmen ended, they would have had plenty of dates.
Jimin was so taken by his activities that he didn’t pay attention to the fact that the dreamy comments that usually surrounded him had changed their tone. That the eyes that followed him were not so full of admiration anymore.

The weekend before the day of Yoongi’s club audition, the latter showed up at his house, as he had finally managed to escape from yet another family dinner.

"Yoongi, what are you doing here?" Jimin asked pleasantly surprised. He had just finished writing a message to Yoongi saying that since he was alone in the house he was bored to death as he had as the only companions his home works and books.

"Just passing by. Actually I missed you," said quietly Yoongi hands in his pockets as if it was his habit to confess certain things to Jimin. It wasn’t that Yoongi was an arid and heartless person, however he found tremendously difficult to be open about his feelings, preferring instead to let his actions speak rather than his words. Jimin had never felt loved less for that, but sometimes it was nice to hear certain things aloud. A smile lit up his face.

"I missed you too," said Jimin and in the blink of an eye he found himself in the arms of Yoongi.

Oh, this is new. Jimin thought rather content. Yoongi distanced himself enough to be able to look into his eyes for an intense moment before cupping his cheek with his right hand and bring their mouths together. Jimin often thought that he would never have enough of Yoongi’s kisses, of the burning touch of his lips and his tongue. Sometimes he hoped with all his heart, with all the fervor of his seventeen years for Yoongi to be the last person to kiss him.

Jimin brought him into the house where Yoongi wasted no time in bringing together their lips once again, Jimin’s fingers stuck in his hair while whatever space between them disappeared until they were warm bodies flushed together.

"I want to love you,” whispered Yoongi, biting his ear lobe and pressing kisses on his jaw and down his neck where he bit him gently.

Jimin felt his breath hitch as he managed to whisper a “yes.”

In retrospect, Jimin should have noticed before that something was wrong that day. It wouldn’t have changed anything but maybe a bit of humiliation would have been spared. Of course his heart would always be broken beyond repair either way.

Jimin thought they were the usual chatters about him and Yoongi but he was wrong, so wrong.
Yet nothing really happened that could have raised his suspicion and no one had come to tell him anything. Especially Yoongi. Therefore Jimin had gone to the canteen as usual, and as usual he sat with his boyfriend. If Yoongi had seemed nervous Jimin couldn’t tell.

So it was with pure innocence that Jimin headed towards his locker to put away some textbooks and take some others, still hand in hand with Yoongi.

He didn’t notice the looks nor the muffled laughter.

Unfortunately, he noticed only once he was in front of his locker, and even then he was unable to believe it.

Because over the metal door of his locker in red flashing paint stood out a perfect circle which sickeningly resembled a zero.

Jimin froze on the spot, his left hand still interlaced with Yoongi’s while with the other he clutched his notebook to his chest.

He couldn’t move, but with the corner of his eye he saw a group of boys and girls muttering behind him and even laughing.

Jimin tried to ground himself, but it was hard when that paint was tracing the outlines of a shameful truth.

He looked around searching a friendly face, and when he found none he turned to his side, to Yoongi, his only certainty.

And when he turned and their eyes met, Yoongi looked more pained than Jimin. He tightened his grip on Jimin’s hand one last time before unclasping their hands and taking a step back.