-when my world no longer stops for you-

So here we are, at this junction, and it's time for me to go on without you finally.

2015 came all too fast, and the teachers are starting to talk about the A-levels already. It still seems a little far for them, but it's inevitable that everyone is slowly feeling the pressure. For Jimin, however, there was one thing that is way worse than A-levels will be.

It was to Jimin's utmost distraught when he learns about the upcoming NAPFA, including his most feared 2.4km assessment, seeing that he hasn't been running since his last NAPFA in 2013. He has been groaning for the entire day, much to Bambam's amusement.

"Oh come on, Jimin, it's just running. How bad can it get?"

"How bad can it get?" Jimin quotes mockingly, before groaning again. "Bambam, you run like 5km every day at the gym; I didn't even run 2.4 in the entire past year added together."

"Okay, okay," Bambam concedes. "But they called it mass PE on the timetable, I'm sure they will start off easily because I sure can't imagine the whole level running on the tracks."

Bambam was tragically wrong. It wasn't the whole level training together, only about 5 classes, and the trainers did not go easy on them at all.

In short, Mass PE was the worst thing ever invented.

Oh, and not to mention that their class was also placed in the same slot as Jungkook's. Bambam is pretty pleased since that means he gets to see Jackson, but Jimin is less excited about that.

And of course, Kyungsoo is all too ready to gloat about not having to participate in Mass PE and NAPFA in general due to his history with asthma. That fcker, ugh.

(Arguably, it was good that he gets ice milo delivery right when it ends, instead of having to join the lengthy queue at the drinks stall.)

xxx

It was their second or third session of Mass PE, and the trainers proposed a new form of training that is "less boring", as they excitedly explain. Instead of running at the school tracks, they will now have to make a lap to the sports hub (which is probably one thousand miles away) and back*.

(*A/N: ok so google says a single trip is 1.7km so do your math, but tbh I'm the kind who can't job for 200m without dying, so yes, I died.)

Jimin thinks it is grand time to write his will.

Despite the students sighing, they were still sent off at the back gate. Jimin gestured at Bambam to not wait for him, and started with a slow jog.

By the time they've made it to the sports hub, Jimin has already lagged to the tail of the runners. He was then surprised by the sight of Jungkook and Seokjin running just slightly ahead of him.

They are actually relatively close to the school gate by now, as verified by the excited hollers of those who had already made it that can be heard from across the road. More and more people have chose to speed up so as to end the torture, while Jimin maintained his speed as he stared at Jungkook's back, confused because what the hell is Jungkook doing here when his stamina is easily twice of mine?

Suddenly, it was just Jimin, Jungkook and Seokjin that's remaining in the last tier of runners. And as Jimin jogs about 5 meters behind Jungkook, he was consumed by an impulsive anger.

It's the kind of anger that he can't fully explain where it came from, but rather it's just this prick of irritation at how he's chasing after Jungkook, again, and that makes him mad. Because he's always been doing that, and it never felt fair, and this scene is an all too figurative representation of how it has always been like between them and Jimin hates to be reminded of how he doesn't even seem like a whole person in front of Jungkook.

That anger was what pushed Jimin to summon whatever energy left in his muscles to speed up, and he was able to overtake Jungkook and friend in a flash. That certainly caught Jungkook's attention.

"Neko, wait up!" Jungkook called out, voice light but clearly worn out.

Jimin paused out of habit, but that's when he hears the next part. "It's the last 100 meters or so, just run with me and Seokjin."

Run with me and Seokjin,

hey you mind if Youngjae sits beside you,

can the polaroid wait a little cos Hoseok's still at class--

That was enough to trigger a reaction in Jimin's limbs as he picked up his pace again. "Maybe next life," Jimin throws back, and somehow manages to keep the spite out of his voice.

"Aw why!" Jungkook's tone is whiny now, but Jimin doesn't look back.

"No reason, Jungkook. No reason."

"But neko-" Jungkook must have yelled something back, but Jimin has already speeded round the last turn, leaving the unfinished words behind.

Jimin was third last to reach, chest heavily and extremely dehydrated as he drops to the ground almost instantly when he crossed the gate.

A bottle of water was pushed to his cheek, and Jimin looked up with hooded eyes to see Bambam, who's beaming down at him with a proud smile.

"See," Bambam says happily as he takes Jimin's hand and pulls him up. "I told you that you can make it."

"I know," Jimin says, almost breathless and knees weak from overexertion. "I did."

Not just for this run, though.

There is almost no language that he can find to describe just how symbolic that moment was, but from today onwards, my world doesn’t stop for you anymore, Jeon Jungkook.

After Kyungsoo had walked him to the bus stop and left, Jimin puts on his earpiece and hits shuffle on the playlist. He almost teared up on the spot when he heard the first eight bars and realise what the song was: JYJ's Long Way.

Yes, I've came a long way indeed.

xxx

Since then, things seem to just be going uphill for Jimin. He starts to enjoy socialising with people, talks more with his classmates and even was the first to initiate conversations with the photogs juniors at their welcome party (albeit it was also partly because he wanted to see if he could troll them into believing that he's actually one of them, not their vice chair). NAPFA was also over, he actually managed to pass all segments, including the dreadful 2.4, and that's more than Jimin could have wished for.

And at the start of February, his *GP teacher has a special assignment for the class.

(A/N: GP is short for General Paper, it's kind of like English class but a lot more analytical)

"I want all of you to come up with a speech with a matching set of slides, something like TEDTALK. Everyone in the class has to do this, and 5 of you will be presenting every lesson in the order of your register number, starting next week. The topic of presentation is completely up to your choice, it doesn't need to be related to anything. In fact, I want you to talk about anything that you personally feel very strongly about. Surprise me."

That's when an almost insane idea starts brewing within Jimin's mind.

Something that Jimin has always wanted to do, but never quite found the guts to.

xxx

It's Friendship Day again, and Jimin has prepared little gifts for his friends. He has already handed out everything before flag raising, except one…

"Hey, Donghae! Wait up!" Jimin calls out as he chases after the brunette after the principal had released them. Donghae turned around, and looked fairly surprised to see Jimin. After all, they've not really talked since Year 2 ended.

"Here," Jimin says, still panting as he hands Donghae a quaint bag with the letter he wrote last night. "Happy friendship day?" He tries, laughing a little as he scratched his neck in embarrassment when Donghae didn't take the bag immediately.

"Oh, oh, you too, Jimin," Donghae says hurriedly as he took the bag over. "I was a little surprised, that's all."

"No, no, I understand-" Jimin says immediately, hands twisting awkwardly now that they're empty.

"Jimin! Not to rush you or anything but GP is starting in 2 minutes!" Bambam yells, a few steps away.

"Sorry, I gotta run," Jimin says quickly, apologetic because Donghae clearly had something else to say.

"Oh it's fine," Donghae replies hastily. "See you around, Jimin!"

"You too!"

As Jimin rushes to class (half-dragged by Bambam), he tries his best to calm down because he did it, he just passed Donghae a letter to formally thank him for being so kind to him when he had sealed himself away from the class. He never had the chance to tell Donghae how much his patience and kindness had helped him so much, a first step to the new environment of Bangtan High. He's done that finally, and now he's about to do something more.

Last year's Friendship Day, Jimin was still trying to fight the denial of his reality with Jungkook. This year, however, he's standing before the entire class giving a 10 minutes presentation on the most personal topics ever.

Kyungsoo finished setting up the laptop with the projector, handed Jimin the clicker and gave him an encouraging squeeze on the arm before returning back to his seat. When the class has settled down at Mr Lim's cough, Jimin takes a deep breath to calm his nerves, and starts talking.

"First up, I would like to apologise in advance on how I'm about to kick start your Friendship Day," he begins, trying to keep the tremble out of his voice with some dry humour. "I didn't quite realise that I'll be presenting today while preparing this, so pardon me for 10 minutes yeah?"

"The topic that I have for you today is bullying," Jimin continues, clicking on the presenter pen such that the pale words slowly surfaced out against the black backdrop.

"What first comes to your mind when I mention bullying? Probably not anything nice. But fun fact, when the word bully first originated, it was meant as a term of endearment that you use to address a friend. Ironic, isn't it."

"Today, bullying is generally understood as the physical or verbal abuse that occurs repeatedly and involves a power imbalance, be it social or physical. There is this intention of making the target miserable, this concept of humiliation and embarrassment."

"However, it is hard to truly define bullying in real life. The term gets misused often and people hold different criteria to it. Does it only refer to serious harassment cases, or do a few mean words count as well? There's no common, agreed answer."

"I'm not here today to blabber about what can cause bullying, or why it has been an increasingly worsening issue, there's enough thesis papers online. Rather, I want to give you an insight of what is actually does to you."

"One characteristic of bullying is how long-lasting and how invisible the impacts can be. A victim can be sitting right beside you, you never know. Bullying may have stopped, but the impacts usually stay."

"People often dismiss the idea of bullying as inevitable – even better, it is what you should endure so as to become stronger. But if you ask me, that’s bullsh*t," Jimin says firmly, looking around the class slowly, unfazed by the shocked looks of his classmates at his choice of language in this setting.

"Bullying is unfair, uncalled for, and cruel as fck," he continues, pronouncing the f word loud and clear, and was secretly surprised to only get a raised eyebrow from Mr Lim and no further signs of disapproval.

"I don't think most people understand what exactly bullying does to you. Articles speak of impacts like depression, anti-social behaviour, and extreme cases like suicide and school shootings. But you'll may think those are far away from you, that those impacts are exaggerated; or in fact, it's the victims who were too weak to withstand the pressure. Or maybe 'those were just a few words, just get over with it and move on'? But hey, hold up," Jimin continues, eyes fierce. "Just who the hell are you to judge?"

"People who have never experienced it won't understand. Bullying eats away everything in you. It’s not just your self-esteem, it’s also the way you look at people and the world. Socializing skills. Trust issues. A dark outlook at society, because you’ve seen the ugly side of human nature too early."

"Let me tell you the real deal – bullying can make your life a living hell. I was a victim of bullying six years ago, back in primary school, and I can tell you that I believed that I was worthless, and that mindset stayed with me for close to three years. Three freaking years that I could have lead a better life. I escaped from that hell after PSLE, but when I first started here. I was so convinced that I was the unwanted kid that people would always poke fun at, I shyed away from all the people who tried to approach me – in other words, I isolated myself and locked myself away. I was lucky because I met some sort of a saviour in Year 2, and in fact he's the reason, along with the many other people I've met along the way, who've helped me in one way or another, that I'm actually standing here today, years later, to finally say these things out loud."

He had to take several short breaths to calm down, trying to convince the wetness in his eyes to go away. He sees Bambam looking at him with red eyes, and Kyungsoo who has his head lowered; the entire class is quiet and solemn as they wait for him to continue.

"The scariest part about bullying is, it doesn’t get solved, in fact it can get worse even after bullying had stopped. You become your own tormentor, you are overly sensitive, you jump to conclusions, you terrorize yourself with ideas that the world is horrible and people hate you. You get stuck in this freaking endless cycle, you shut yourself in and push people away. No one can reach you and at some point of time, you lose the urge to get out, because you figured that why try when everything ."

"I was lucky, but not everyone is. There are people who till now, are unable to escape that trap, and some even allow themselves to become the bully instead, because why get hurt when you could be the one inflicting pain?"

"Bullying have always been discussed, and there have always been anti-harassment laws and other programmes to reduce bullying, but it never does fundamentally solve the problem. One reason for the rampant bullying cases is the lack of knowledge of how to deal with bullying, which is also associated with the silence on the victim’s side. Denial is never the way out, but that’s how many are dealing with it – they deny their past, pretend that they are okay when they’re not. There’s no way one can move on from bullying experience without help, and there’s no way you’ll get help if you don’t speak up, which most people don’t, because bullying is not exactly the most glorious thing to say about yourself, yeah? Like sure there are helplines and school counsellors around, but it’s only the minority who were brave enough to approach them. Hence bullying is not taken seriously enough, precisely because people don’t understand how real a problem it is and what bullying can really do."

"But if you to really ask me, the real underlying reason as to why proposals for anti-bullying never worked well is because it never targeted the majority. Let me bounce three questions at you," Jimin says, and let the animation appear on the screen behind him.

"Were you once a bully? Were you once a victim? Or perhaps, were you once a bystander?"

"I believe majority of you here were never a victim nor a bully, at least, I hope so. But definitely, at some point of your life, you were the onlooker of someone else’s misfortune. It’s honestly okay to admit to that, even though we all prefer denying it. No one is obliged to stand up for others’ benefits anyway. This is human nature, no one is going to act if it doesn’t bring you benefits or can even land you in trouble."

"But it is exactly this human nature that could have helped so much if sometimes, just sometimes, you don’t listen to that voice. Anyone can play a part in stopping bullying. It’s not an obligation, it’s never gonna be, but it won’t hurt to do something within your own ability. If you are afraid of direct confrontation, you can always report the bullies to the teachers. Or something. Anything."

"Bullying is a real problem, it exists around us all but we just choose to ignore it. Bullying is terrible and shouldn’t happen to anyone. You can make a difference, and your effort can really go a long way, so if it doesn’t conflict with your interest, don’t just watch a life wilt away. Trust me, your help means more than you know."

"Thank you."

He is barely aware of the loud applause from the class as he stumbles back to his seat and gulps down water instantly, his face burning and Bambam's hand on his back.

Jimin thinks that he has accomplished something simply amazing and he's very, very proud of himself.

After class, a few classmates drops by his table to tell Jimin that he's really courageous to have done that. Yeah, the kind of courage that took me almost six years to muster. But he still smiles and thanks them.

Jongdae makes a fuss about it though, saying that Jimin and Kyungsoo (who gave his TEDTALK on the topic of LGBT) should have carried themselves in that manner for their PW Oral Presentation last year. Jimin can only laugh sheepishly and jokes that this was the probably the peak of his presenting skills, and they had a good laugh reminiscing of their PW days.

xxx

The next day, Donghae surprised Jimin with a letter and a little elephant keychain. "It's one of the souvenir I brought back from Bangkok," Donghae explained, voice as gentle as Jimin last remember. "Hope you'd like it. Thanks for the teddy bear, by the way."

They exchange short pleasantries before parting ways due to class.

"Really though, thanks for the letter, Jimin," Donghae had said sincerely before he left. "I really appreciated it."

Jimin feels a little rueful at how awkward the conversation went. Back in Year 2, they wrote each other lengthy emails, addressing each other as '同桌 (tablemate)' and sharing all sorts of insecurities and whatever secrets 14 year olds may have.

It's kind of sad that they once knew so much about each other, yet now they barely know which class the other is in. But perhaps that's just how life is like, people come and go, so at the end of the day, Jimin is glad enough to have met Donghae.

Our fate was short-lived, but I definitely hope that we've left each other with many good takeaways.

Thank you for everything, 同桌.

xxx

Jimin runs into Kyungsoo after school when he was petting the school cat outside the library. When the cat got bored of human affection, it ran off, leaving Jimin and Kyungsoo alone.

They talked about mundane things for a while, until Kyungsoo suddenly says, "You know, you are really different from what I've heard."

Jimin blinks at him a few times. "You've heard about me?" He asks, half-amused. "Wow, didn't know that there were even rumours about me, I've always strived to be socially invisible."

"Well I mean there are rumours that you and Jungkook were gay for each other," Kyungsoo said carefully, but Jimin only shrugged in response, muttering a "why am I not surprised".

"So I've told you that Suzy is my ex, right?"

"Uhuh."

"She was in the same class as Jungkook in Junior High," Kyungsoo continues. "And I don't think she was in the best relationship with Jungkook and his group."

"Jungkook and his group," Jimin repeats. "I suppose that includes me?"

"Yeah. She told me Jungkook sort of isolated her in the class, and she complains a lot about you too," Kyungsoo confessed. "I was a little confused because I knew you guys weren't even in the same class, but she insisted that you played a part too."

"Oh," Jimin could only say, trying hard to recall anything about Suzy, Suzy… did they even talk?

"I don’t remember much about Suzy," Jimin finally says. "But yeah I hung out in their classroom a lot after school if there's no dance. She is isolated by the class, but I'm not sure if Jungkook was the cause. She tried to hang out with us before by clinging on to Wendy. Jungkook never liked her, and I'm not too sure about the rest of the group. She didn't hang out with us for every long though."

"I don't think you did either," Kyungsoo sighed. "I think she's just transferring her hatred of Jungkook to you."

"I would have interfered only if she tried anything funny with Tae," Jimin mused, trying to recall. "There was this Jihyo in Year 3 who tried to cling on to Tae so that she can get a group to hang with, but she was violent and never knew when to stop. I went with Jungkook to talk to her after school, and she didn't bother Tae afterwards. But if I remembered right, your ex was trying to target Wendy, and I'm not that close with her to take action."

"Is this Tae your child of something," Kyungsoo asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes, I practically raised him on my back," Jimin deadpanned, before bursting into laughter. "Just joking. But you're right that Tae is a soft spot for me cause he really can't deal with people who're trying to take advantage of him, and that makes me mad to watch."

"Or perhaps you're just over-protective," Kyungsoo laughs.

"That I can't deny."

"Say… are you still friends with Jungkook though?" Kyungsoo asks after a while, looking curiously at Jimin.

"Friends… maybe, I don't know. I don't really try to avoid him in school or anything, but I wouldn't want to hang out with him alone. Does that count as friends?" Jimin asks back.

"Uh… maybe acquaintances?" Kyungsoo suggested.

"Cool."

"But does that make you sad?"

"I was sad enough before," Jimin replied simply.

"That's good. I'm happy for you."

"Hm?"

"That you're not sad anymore, I mean," Kyungsoo explains. "You deserve better."

"Wow, thanks," Jimin says, slightly surprised at the sudden sincerity.

"But hey, if you're still talking with Suzy, help me pass a message."

"What message?"

"That I'm sorry about what she experienced. I'm not sure what happened but she didn't look very happy most of the time I saw her last time, and if Jungkook was one of the reason as she says, then I hope you can bring her an apology at the least."

"But you didn't do anything," Kyungsoo protests.

"I don't know if I did, or perhaps I was a bystander unknowingly. I could have told Jungkook to play it nicer and he would have listened to me. Whatever it is, I'd still be partly responsible."

"Alright, if you insist. But I'm not really on speaking terms with her now so…"

"It's alright, it's probably another phase between you two," Jimin says comfortingly.

"I hope so, but don't at the same time. I just want her to be happy," Kyungsoo sighs, swallowing the 'I don't think I can make her happy' that Jimin is all too familiar with.

"And I'd like you to be happy too, Kyungsoo," Jimin says sincerely.

"You think it'll get better?"

"Definitely. It always gets better at the end."

-TBC-

Naggy author time!

So alright I'm not the most pleased with this chapter, but I can't find better way to write it as of now, maybe I'll rewrite it when I feel inspired. EDIT I have beta-ed this and added new stuff about Donghae, I decided to leave the long speech about bullying the way it is since I really can't find a better way to write it lol.

Yes this is where the story title came from. That moment was just ridiculously symbolic and the fact that Long Way came out on shuffle is just amazing I almost cried on the spot when I realised I'm not joking. The screencap came from my blogpost at that time. If you read carefully, the last line says, "I plan on doing something insane" - that refers to the TED TALK.

The TED TALK was an actual assignment given by my GP teacher, Mr Lim. He was a man who's always experimenting with new ways to teach. To talk about bullying was almost like an impulse, I wrote out my script at one go and did up the slides all in one night. It was by far the most personal presentation I've given in my life, but not necessarily the best lol. I stuttered a lot and my legs felt like jelly when I was done, and there were actually a Q&A section after it that I didn't write about cos my mind had completely blanked out after the accomplishment lol. And yes the speech is like 90% based of my script from that time, I had to dig it out from my old laptop XD.

Bullying has been an experience that I've hinted in for a very long time in previous chapters, most obviously in 11b (joie de vivre cont). It is indeed a very real problem and if it's an issue troubling you I would really suggest you seek help and if you're a bystander I really hope you wouldn't do nothing about it as a witness. Feel free to chat me up if you want to talk btw.

I didn't go into too much for Donghae because fundamentally this is still a Jimin x Jungkook centric thing and honestly the Jimin x Donghae interaction was too long back for me to recall much and kind of more private, so I left it as that. The letter is there but it's probably blurry, the content is something like how "I never knew what a big impact I had on you, it's heart-warming to receive your letter esp since recently I don't feel like kindness is appreciated anymore" and "I'm happy for you, all the best and keep being yourself".

About Kyungsoo and Suzy… I don't remember if my previous A/Ns have discussed this but it’s a little complex due to the flip in gender between IRL and the fic… IRL most characters mentioned are female, Suzy and Jihyo included (I realised it feels so weird when I'm writing about how JK & JM were cracking down on Jihyo for bothering Tae like O_O). Kyungsoo's case is a bit sensitive to bring in because I'm not ready to discuss LGBTQ but he was indeed an important presence in my Senior High life so I included him. He will appear more in chapter 14 or so.

Until next time (hopefully soon enough XD) ^^