-incalescence-

Jimin is a dancer. And always will be.

Jimin's term 1 was about to wrap up peacefully when Namjoon pulls him aside one afternoon after assembly.

"I need a favour from you," Namjoon says, all too seriously.

"Go on."

"It's… it may be too much to ask from you but I want to ask you to cameo for the upcoming Indancity* with me," Namjoon says quickly, words tumbling out. "You don't have to agree or anything, I just-"

(*A/N: Indancity is the name of the concert seriest held annually by the Bangan dance crew)

"Why though?" Jimin cuts in, peering at Namjoon curiously. "Don't tell me you just had a sudden desire to reunite our batch for a last stage or something equally idealistic, 'cause you're the most realistic person I've known, Joonie."

Namjoon looks torn but Jimin is pretty patient, so he waits.

"… So you know how I'm in the exco for robotics?" Namjoon finally asks after a while, and Jimin nods.

"Yeah so we have this Robotics Festival coming up, and our school is hosting it this time round. We have performances lined up for it already, but just yesterday, band contacted me and said they have to pull out for some bullsh*t reasons, and now I need to find another performing arts club to fill the gap and the only one I can think of is dance…"

"Wow, and I thought symphonic band is one of the more organised clubs in the school," Jimin mused.

"Nah they are just as fcked up as any one of us," Namjoon says dismissively.

"Anyway. You know Minhyuk is my classmate right? I asked him about it just now, and he said it isn't impossible since dance is preparing for this year's Indancity anyway so it wouldn't be too much hassle to perform for an extra event, but he also said that it can't just be a one-sided favour and hinted that the senior high dance crew would appreciate cameo appearances," Namjoon continues, increasingly frantic as he eventually starts skipping out on punctuations all together. "But I don't think just me alone would be an attractive bargain so I thought if both of us join back as cameos then it would be a good deal and I can finally have an answer for my chairperson who's been breathing down my neck about the replacement performers…"

"Gosh Namjoon, calm down, you're rambling," Jimin finally interjects. "Deep breaths, Joon. Deep breaths."

Namjoon complies and Jimin waits, pondering over his options.

"Yeah so that's the whole story actually," Namjoon says after resting for a while. "I know it's an unfair demand, and it's perfectly fine if you are not comfortable with it, I can talk it out with Minhyuk and-"

"Hey, hey, I never said I wasn't gonna do it," Jimin points out calmly.

"Oh my god, you would?" Namjoon's eyes lit up instantly.

"I wouldn't mind too badly," Jimin says, tone level. "How about this. You talk with Minhyuk again and offer your cameo appearance for dance concert in return of their favour, and if Minhyuk didn't jump straight to calling it a deal then you can add that you can drag me in as well."

"Yeah, good plan, I'll do that," Namjoon chants, excited. "Thank you so much, Jiminie, I really, really appreciate it, my chairperson has been spamming me since yesterday, I was this close to blocking his number, god bless-"

Jimin smiled as he steered Namjoon out of the hall, nodding at the right places as they walk down to the canteen. He tries not to think too much of what he has just agreed to, and is unsure as to how he wants Minhyuk to respond.

Whatever, I'll leave it up to fate. Jimin decides passively.

When Jimin drops by the drink stall the next morning to get his barley and Kyungsoo's milo, someone tapped him on the shoulder and he almost dropped both drinks when he turned around to see Jungkook.

"Minhyuk said you and Namjoon will be cameoing for the concert," Jungkook says, getting straight to the point. "Is that true?"

"Well… Namjoon's definitely in because he needs that favour from yall, I'm not too sure if I will," Jimin explains after a while. "Do you think I should? Cameoing, I mean."

Jungkook locks eyes with Jimin for a long while, before nodding. "Yeah, you should."

"Cool then, text me about the practice dates or something," Jimin makes out, trying his best to sound collected although he's squirming under Jungkook's intense gaze, almost crying out in relief when his phone lights up with a call from Kyungsoo. "I have to go, let me know later."

Jimin walks away, slightly faster than his usual speed, head spinning as he thinks of what he had said moments ago, and almost jumps out of skin when a hand grabs his wrist out of nowhere.

"Ya! You were gonna crash into the wall, and why didn't you pick up when I called?" Kyungsoo demands. "I wanted to ask you which files you needed from your locker, but now I've got to make another trip back!"

"Sorry, I was distracted…" Jimin apologised quickly. "But ya, why do you sound so displeased! I bought you milo!"

"Jim," Kyungsoo deadpans. "I texted you 5 minutes ago to tell you that I wanted Chrysanthemum tea."

"Oh… sorry I guess I didn't see that… you can have my barley?"

"… Leave it on my table later," Kyungsoo muttered grumpily as he turns to walk back to the lockers.

Jimin is quick to dismiss Kyungsoo's grumpy attitude, knowing that his friend wasn't really mad. When he was about 30 steps away from their homeroom, his phone rings again with a call from Kyungsoo.

"Ya Park Jimin! You didn't tell me what files you needed again!"

xxx

One week later, Jimin finds himself standing in the practice room, face to face with Jungkook.

"Namjoon will be cameoing for the kpop medley that I'm arranging, while you'll be cameoing for a new piece called Jade. It's kind of a weird mix between contemporary and folk," Jungkook explains as they stretch.

"Contemporary mixed with folk," Jimin repeats, eyebrows raised.

"I know, really exotic," Jungkook replies drily. "Anyway, we've kind of figured out the choreography already. You're in section 1, I'll run through your parts with you today, so you'll only need to come down a few times in the future group sessions to practice with the other sections."

"Yeah, yeah, god bless. Show me."

Practice passed by quick enough, somewhere in between Minseok joins them. They don't trade much words as Jungkook demonstrate and Jimin reproduce, only the occasional "wait can you repeat that step again" and "let's try with the music this time". They stop when Jimin rolls on the floor, complaining of old age, and Minseok is happy to follow suit.

"I think that's enough for a day, we're almost through anyway. I'll send you the video later," Jungkook says, in between gulps of water.

"Yeah, that would be good. I'll try get it memorized by the next time so we can speed up," Jimin mumbled, covering his eyes with an arm.

"No need to rush," Jungkook huffed. "Like honestly, half the SH isn't even started on this song yet."

"He's right," Minseok adds. "Ilhoon is barely down with the first verse, Hoseok's only through the intro, and we haven't even told the Y5s about this song yet."

"… Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the concert in 6 weeks' time?"

"That's right, and where's the surprise?" Jungkook deadpans.

That shuts Jimin up alright.

"Don't say that," Minseok says brightly. "Last year at this time, they haven't even decided on the songs to perform, so in comparison, we're better."

"Yeah whatever," Jimin says, sighing tired as he stretched. "I'll just try to get it down soon so I can work on the details, you guys have more songs to practice anyway. Plus, I haven't been dancing for quite a while, I need that catch up."

"It's barely been a year, Jimin, you dance fine," Minseok says kindly.

"Nah, I know I … I would have been done with the whole thing by today if I wasn't this unpractised."

"Your standards are too high," Jungkook grunted as he tries to stretch the strained muscles. Jimin rolls his eyes at him and reaches over to push him further down, ignoring Jungkook's pained howling.

"Shush, it's just stretching, don't sound like I'm killing you," Jimin muttered, releasing his hand for a while so Jungkook can rest a little, before applying pressure again.

"You know I'm not the most flexible," Jungkook hissed, face indignant. "And ow, ow not there I'm gonna lose this leg at this rate, ow-"

"God, don't be such a baby," Jimin chides, but still gives in, pulling away to lean against the mirror.

Jungkook's eyes narrowed at that comment, and Jimin looks at him wearily.

"I'll show you who's the baby," Jungkook growls as he leaps up to tackle Jimin to the floor, causing Jimin to splutter indignantly as he tries to push Jungkook off.

Then they simultaneously realised that they weren't jeon and neko anymore, causing both of them to halt the play fight immediately and sit back up.

Jimin was about to cough awkwardly and change the topic when Minseok looks between the two of them and chuckled. "Aw, that ended fast," Minseok said conversationally. "I thought you guys would be meowing and growling at each other and go at it for 10 more minutes."

Jungkook fidgeted awkwardly, and Jimin tried best to not make eye contact.

"Haven't seen that in a while though," Minseok commented absent-mindedly, returning to his phone without noticing the strange atmosphere. "Like two years?"

They ran through the choreography a few more times afterwards and videoed it for reference. That 'playfight' was an honestly short episode from the practice, but it hit Jimin hard.

"Like people still think we're great. Like people still remember. Like people still see us as something we probably aren't anymore," Jimin writes on neko language later that day. That we've forgotten, but people didn't.

And just like that, dance slowly infiltrates back into Jimin's life. It's foreign, yet familiar. It was as if he was never away, and no one seemed to register that things have changed (well Hoseok most probably knows something, but Jimin doesn't see him at practice often). Going for practice feels less weird and he doesn't feel as out of place as before. Juniors greets him casually when they run into him in the practice room (well, the Y5s are usually more excited to see him, particularly Sungjae, a 187cm worth of walking embarrassment who has the tendency to greet Jimin by yelling his name across the room), Minseok is always delighted to see him, and Ilhoon is always too ready to share gossips to lengthen break time. And Jungkook… well, they talk, but with special effort to not address each other as 'jeon' and 'neko'. They do slip up from time to time, though.

Jungkook passed him a little figurine of a dancer during one of the practices. "I bought it in Japan last December, never quite had the chance to pass it to you."

Jimin thanks him, and brought the figurine home. It still stands on his desk today.

Somewhere in early April, Namjoon came in with grave news that he will have to pull out because his parents' strong objection.

Well, Jimin can kind of sympathise. His parents were not the happiest when he hesitantly told them that he's involved in the upcoming dance concert, in fact his dad didn't talk to him for a day after he broke the news. But his mom had sighed and told him to do it, if that's what he really wants. "I know it's pointless to try and stop you since you've obviously made up your mind, but just remember that it is not a decision that me and your dad supports, so you will have to bear the whatever costs that it comes with."

At least his parents were democratic enough to still tolerate him, Jimin thinks.

To cover for Namjoon's absence, Jimin ended up learning the kpop medley as well, and they roped in Taemin and Hoya, two of the best dancers in junior high, for Jade.

As the date of the concert draws nearer, dance starts to hold practice on Friday mornings as well. Jimin marked Jungkook's attendance for all the upcoming Friday photogs session as 'excused', and when it's just three weeks from d-day, Yoongi shoved him out along with Jungkook.

"Go do your thing, Jim. I can handle here."

Jimin is honestly grateful for how understanding Yoongi hyung is.

xxx

Two weeks prior to the concert, Jimin calls Taehyung out on a panic mission: full-dress rehearsal is tomorrow, but he was only informed of the dress code last night. They went out for pizza first, because Kim Taehyung has a craving and Jimin was so hungry he doesn't care about what he's eating so long as it's edible. They sped-eat once food was served, and only started talking after they're down with their third slice.

"Don't judge me!" Jimin complained as he grumpily forked at his pizza. "I was only told yesterday about the outfit!"

"Yeah sure, but white top and forest green bottoms?" Taehyung says in mock disbelief, eyes twinkling in laughter.

"Yes, for the tenth time, IT'S WHAT THEY WANTED OKAY," Jimin explodes, earning the attention of the other diners. "I DID NOT ASK FOR THIS, STOP JUDGING ME!"

"Just because the piece is titled Jade," Tae(don't-know-when-stop)hyung persists.

"Yes, Tae, because it's titled Jade," Jimin sighs tiredly, giving up.

"This is ridiculous," Taehyung concludes.

"I know," Jimin groans, shifting aside to allow the waiter refill their drinks.

"Do you even have an idea of what to get?" Taehyung asks after a while. "Like what's the rest wearing?"

Jimin's eye twitches a little. "Well, Jungkook sent me a few photos of his outfit…" He mutters, trying to keep a straight face when he remembered. He found the picture on his phone and pushed the device over slowly. "But I'm not sure if it's what I'm gonna get."

Taehyung raises an eyebrow as he picks up the phone.

Before almost dropping it into his pizza when he saw the picture.

Jimin hands him a glass of water and pats him on the back dismissively. "Don't choke, and to make you feel better, my reaction was no better when I first saw it."

It took Taehyung a while to recover. "Yeah, I don't think you should get the same thing either," he concludes, setting the phone back down with a mixed look.

"So real talk, it has to be the worse outfit that Jungkook has matched for himself," Jimin said casually.

"Worse indeed," Taehyung mused. "It vaguely reminds me of those, uh, wilted flower buds? You know? Like the flower has died but that green thing cupping it is still intact? You know what I'm talking?"

"Sh*t, now that you mentioned it, I can't unsee it," Jimin mutters, half horrified, half amused.

"No, honestly, tell me I'm not the only one," Taehyung insists. "Tell me this resembles a wilted bud."

Jimin painfully observes the picture a moment longer, and suddenly a tune pops up in his mind. "He came in like a wil~ting bud~" He ends up humming what's sounding in his mind, which is basically a slightly edited version of Wrecking Ball.

"Oh my god," Taehyung gaps at him. "Did you just-"

"I did," Jimin confirms.

Taehyung splutters a few times before he bursts out laughing, and doubles over harder when Jimin repeats that line, but added more lyrics: "You came in like a wilting bud~ I've never seen a green so fcked~ All I wanted was to burn your clothes~ all you ever did was, wear-e-e more, yeah you, wear-e-e all~"

By now both of them are wheezing and trying to not knock over their pizza. When Taehyung made a weak grab at his coke, he almost choked when he ran through the lyrics again and started laughing again.

"God, Chimin, you're a fcking genius."

"I don't know, I'm just fcking inspired at the moment," Jimin replies, brain working fast as he tries to recall other parts of the song. "God bless, this green, and de-e-sign and now, I'm rolling on the ground~ You slowly turned and I was there and oh~ I need new eyes now~"

"STOP," Taehyung demands, banging in his forehead on the table. "STOP I CAN'T-"

"Don’t you ever say, you have fashion taste, I will always judge you~ Burning my poor eyes, laughing till I cried, I will always judge you~" Jimin continues, still managing to come up with reasonable-sounding lyrics despite simultaneously wheezing.

"HE CAME IN LIKE A WRECKING BALL, I'VE NEVER SEEN SUCH FASHION FCK-" They sang together, okay well Jimin sang but Taehyung's just screeching to the tune, and oh my god it's too much.

They were unable to continue any further in the chorus because they're both dying from laughing too hard, in fact Jimin thinks his stomach is about to reject all the pizza at this rate. They took quite a while to calm down, and when they became more aware of the stink eyes they're receiving from other diners, they forced the urge to laugh down and tried to act all proper again by downing iced coke and failing, erupting into giggles again.

"You need to copyright this, Chimin," Taehyung says, clutching at his aching ribs. "Like legit you need to sell this, I would buy it like wow the talent-"

"Thank you, thank you," Jimin says, with a mock bowing action. "Thank you for acknowledging my talent."

They only manage to get back to eating much later, for fear of choking on actual food. Minutes later, Jimin suddenly feels bad, like whether or not Jungkook was an , this song was kind of overboard, wasn't it? Like sure, that outfit was really ridiculous, but not to this extent and he really shouldn't be ridiculing Jungkook like this-

"Chimin," Taehyung interrupts. "You're thinking aloud."

"Oh," Jimin says belatedly.

"And you need to stop feeling guilty," Taehyung continues casually. "Like let's be honest, he deserves it."

Jimin doesn't reply. He feels torn because part of him really want to agree, yet-

"Chim Chim," Taehyung says, more seriously this time, calling Jimin's attention back with this age-old nickname. "Listen to me when I say this, but we could have been a thousand times worse. Hell, we could have taken this to facebook, yelled at him in public or badmouth him to others. Stop berating yourself."

"I know, but I just feel kind of uncomfortable, I've never said something this mean about anyone," When Taehyung shoots him a judging look, ie what-do-you-mean-you-savage-fcker, Jimin sighs but amends: "I've never said something this mean about anyone so openly, okay?"

"Okay, so let me ask you one thing," Taehyung sets down his fork and stares right into Jimin's eyes. "Do you think, from how he treated you, that Jeon Jungkook is an actual ."

It wasn't even phrased to be a question, so Jimin can only nod meekly.

"Good, so we have common ground already. Step two. Tell me, Chimin, are you butthurt because of what he did?"

"I mean, I was upset, but like I'm fine now," Jimin tries to explain, but the words slowly die on his tongue when Taehyung met his denial with silence and a raised eyebrow. "Okay, okay!" Jimin throws his hands up in surrender. "I was hurt as fck and I'm still kind of mad about the whole thing and how stupid I must have been," he confessed. "And honestly if I had the chance I would have Jungkook thrown into a fire pit."

"There," Taehyung says, satisfied as he leans back. "Don't you feel much better after admitting to that?"

"Yeah, kinda," Jimin agrees.

"See," Taehyung says smugly, slouching against the cushioned seat. "Listen to the great Kim Taehyung, I'm your best friend for a reason okay."

"Yeah sure Kim Tae, we all know you're a snob," Jimin snorts.

"Oh really?" Taehyung eyes Jimin challengingly, before suddenly grabbing his utensils. "Well this snob is gonna finish the pizza first!"

"Oh no you don't!" Jimin growls, and the heavy topic was forgotten as they jumped into yet another round of childish "I ate faster and had one more pepperoni than you" competition.

This is why Jimin loves to be around Taehyung.

Taehyung who unleashes his inner child and inner at the same time. Taehyung who lets him acknowledge himself to be human, a human that doesn't need to be on a higher moral ground, a human that doesn't need to be the more forgiving one, a human that gets jealous and upset and butthurt.

To hell with making excuses for others, guilt-tripping yourself and adopting some bullsh*t sacrificial mindset. Taehyung lets Jimin be a for the few hours they hang out and let him know that it's fine.

It doesn't take Taehyung more than a few sentences, or in fact sometimes just silent judgement is enough, for Jimin to cave in and confess his politically-incorrect thoughts. In front of Taehyung there's no masks hiding away his knee-jerk reaction kind of true self behind those lies that have slowly convinced even himself. Taehyung always allows Jimin to be at ease in his rawest form, in between lame contests of who-can-drink-all-the-pearls-the-fastest and who-takes-less-time-in-the-toilet, even if it's just for those brief hours when they meet up.

God, he is so blessed to have Taehyung.

xxx

Thanks to Taehyung, Jimin had picked out a tolerable outfit that is at least, not as disastrous as Jungkook's.

He came with the mental preparation of a very fcked up rehearsal, but was surprised when he runs into Kyungsoo on the way instead.

"What are you doing in school on a Saturday?" Jimin asked, surprised.

"For you," Kyungsoo replies, rolling his eyes. "When you told me that you have a rehearsal tomorrow, I went to check because I didn't remember that it was on the *AV crew's schedule. Then I found out that not only is your rehearsal not on the schedule, the actual concert isn't either. In fact, you guys didn't even book the *PAC. I texted you about it, but I guess you were asleep already."

(*A/N: PAC refers to the Performing Arts Center, it's where all the school-based concerts are held; the AV crew are also referred to as techies, they basically control the stage lightning, sounds etc, their chairperson is Kyungsoo.)

"Sh*t, so essentially the rehearsal today is useless?"

"No, not really, because I have spare keys to the PAC," Kyungsoo said, sighing. "Why else do you think I'm here?"

"Bless, you're a life saviour," Jimin breathes. "What about the techies?"

"Hello, the chairperson and mom of the techies is standing right beside you," Kyungsoo says in the sassiest tone ever. "But I've contacted two of my juniors last night, they'll reach by 11."

"I owe you, big time."

"Yeah, yeah, anyway I'll catch you later, I need to set up the PAC and control room."

Jimin had came prepared for the worst, but this rehearsal was a new level of stressful and even Kyungsoo's coffee delivery did little to help. Although he sat out of many things, sticking loyally to his role as a cameo, it was stressful enough to watch his peers run around trying to coordinate things and many a times he just want to step in to fix the mess on stage, but he had restrained himself, knowing that there's no stopping once it starts.

By the time rehearsal was over and the crew starts to evacuate the PAC, Jungkook is already pissed beyond belief and goes off at anyone in his line of vision. Jimin wisely excused himself, but he did not expect to land in the awkward situation when Minseok and Ilhoon caught up with him and just started to talk his ears off, complaining about how bossy Jungkook gets and how he's been yelling at the wrong people. When Jimin thought they were almost done, Hoseok stormed over, and Jimin has to prepare his ears for a round 2 ("I told him to go chill off, then he yelled at me? Like wtf who gave him the right??").

And despite his reluctance, he was eventually sent to fetch Jungkook (who had remained behind in the PAC) for the final debrief ("He would only listen to you!" Minhyuk insisted when Jimin had tried to get out of it). He was just in time to save two poor juniors from bearing Jungkook's wrath, and when he told the terrified kids to gather at the dance studio for debrief, they fled as if chased by unleashed dogs. Jungkook huffed at their fast retreating figure and sat down at the edge of the stage with his back to Jimin.

"Still terrifying, I see," Jimin says.

Jungkook only threw him a dirty look, but Jimin is unfazed.

"Water?" He offers, handing Jungkook a bottle of mineral water. "You've shouted a lot today."

Jungkook smacks the bottle away, eyes darkening. "Just leave me alone," he growled.

"Well I can't, because I was tasked to bring you back for debrief, but also with the requirement that you won't be killing all the kids," Jimin says easily as he retrieves the bottle. "And trust me, your throat would thank me if you drink up."

"Oh yeah? Well I don't need to," Jungkook sneered. "Just get out so I can think of how to tell Mdm Zhang that we're cancelling this concert."

Jimin doesn't reply, but pulls himself up to sit beside Jungkook (well, he did leave a safe enough distance because an angry Jungkook is a violent Jungkook). Jungkook was clearly agitated at his action, but made no move to stop him.

No one moved for a few minutes, before Jungkook finally reached for the bottle of water and gulped down half the content at one go.

"See, I told you that you'll need that," Jimin says peacefully. "Still feel like cancelling this concert?"

"… No, not really, but I do feel like cancelling a few items," Jungkook eventually grumbles.

"Which ones?"

"Everything except Victory and Tides," Jungkook mutters darkly. "Everything else was a mess, especially the kpop medley."

"Well that's true, I fcked up that one too, but if you look at it fairly, we only learnt the choreo to it three days ago."

"And what about Jade?" Jungkook argues heatedly. "Everyone have learnt it, but it was a mess!"

"That's because we haven't quit practiced together," Jimin reasons patiently. "Victory and Tides are older arrangements so you've had plenty of group practice. But the rest were newer items, we need time to learn it individually before we can piece together as a team."

"But concert is in two weeks!" Jungkook exclaimed.

"Two weeks is enough to change many things," Jimin says calmly. "Two weeks before our Y4 SYF we still mess up the choreography, two weeks later we went there, nailed that stage, and brought home a Distinction."

Jungkook falls silent.

"You worry too much, Jungkook. It'll always turn out fine."

Jungkook doesn't respond, and Jimin only sighs after sneaking a look at the clock.

"It's almost 2, how about we go back for debrief then grab lunch after? I'm sure food will do everyone good."

"Okay."

xxx

Till the actual day of concert, Jimin still occasionally wakes up, and forgets that he's actually back in dance again. The past 6 weeks had been nothing less of busy, despite his initial promise to his parents that he won't be overly involved, but as it draws closer to the d-day, the stress starts pushing him to more practice.

After all, he hasn't quite danced for 2 years, and it's always a hit to his ego when he realised that he isn't following.

Being back at dance made him realise how his life was really empty without dance - photogs has never quite met the gap. If anything, photogs felt more like a responsibility than a commitment, he was never truly attached. Stepping back into the dance studio, or observing from back stage, seeing everyone getting hyped for the next performance, stretching together, frantically running everywhere to solve last minute problems… it all reminds him of how much he's missed all these.

Being a dancer.

And performing on stage.

For a passion that has burnt for 12 years.

D-day happened too fast. Rehearsal was a frenzy, everyone was just frantic. Sound check, dry run, full-dress rehearsal, there's so much to do, yet so little time in between to rest, in fact they barely had time to eat because they had to change, make-up, double check the stage set ups and coordinate between guest performers and MCs. Everyone were busy and frustrated at the things going wrong.

By noon, Jungkook was fuming, then Hoseok was fuming because Jungkook had raged at him for no particular reason, and eventually Minseok sent Jimin in to calm Jungkook down.

Jimin was hesitant, he didn't know if he should, if he still can, or if this was against what he's been trying to do. In the end he still went, because it's rehearsal and he's Jungkook.

Everything just felt like a déjà vu, familiar yet distant, being back at the fast-paced event with building pre-concert stress. And although he's done a great job in staying out of planning and being loyal to his cameo role so far, Jimin still ended up being dragged into coordinating anyway.

The actual concert flew past too fast. One minute the MCs were announcing that the concert is starting, the next Jimin's rushing off the stage after performing the kpop medley, and suddenly he hears the audience cheering and the next song is Jade and it's going to be his last song, it'll be his goodbye stage. And oh god they did so well, like much better than the rehearsals, no one screwed up and the audience loved their performance, like wow the cheers-

And during intermission, Jimin spots Zhang laoshi, his old dance teacher, in the crowd. Jimin almost felt like crying, because Zhang laoshi was his first dance teacher, who guided his baby steps into being a dancer, who developed his passion for dancing, who recognised his talent and always tried to give him the best opportunities. Zhang laoshi, who was there to witness him take off, and is here today to witness his last stage. Jimin hugged her earnestly when Zhang laoshi visited him backstage; she was slightly taken aback, but patted him otherwise. It felt right.

The frantic 15 hours ended with one last bow on stage, beneath the bright lights, before an audience of 800.

And it was the proper goodbye stage Jimin wanted.

He ended up reaching home barely before midnight, and realised that his parents had stayed up to wait for him. Jimin felt kind of apologetic, because he knew that his parents were disappointed in his decision to join the dance concert, yet still worried about his safety. But to be honest, the guilt is nothing compared to how happy Jimin feels. Joining back dance is a decision that he doesn't and probably never will regret, and whether this decision was supported by his parents… kind of doesn't matter as much. Sure, Jimin was sad that they still couldn't come to terms with it and come watch his last stage, but at least they respected his decision, unlike Namjoon's parents who banned him from it all together. For that, he's grateful.

At the end of the day, it went great, and Jimin felt so happy about the everything. This was the true goodbye stage that he wanted, not the Year 4 concert which was plain disastrous (from outfit to performance).

It took quite some courage to put himself back in the place that built him, then shattered him. Jimin thinks the past 6 weeks has allowed him to find himself again, and he''s get stronger in the process of the search. The fear, the uncertainty, and all the negative emotions that he's put himself through, had all eventually came together into something better and greater, because at the end of the day, Jimin is a dancer, and always will be.

我的青春有近一半多的时间，交给了一个为期十二年的长跑叫古筝，从起飞到腾达，最后落地，激情了去留下安心。路途并非一帆风顺，我记得几次的急气流打乱了我的方向，有次我狠狠摔下来然后因为怕疼有一年多只敢滑行，最终还是起飞完成华丽的谢幕。最后的最后，我送给自己最美好的过程和最漂亮的着落。这路上我哭过、笑过，中途不止一次迷路，但最终因为奋斗过而绚烂。

献给我的年少轻狂 我的毫无保留

初心不变 终究心安

记得那年你我都年少

青春 无悔

愿你安好

01.05.2015

-TBC-

Naggy author time! (Don’t worry this is relatively short as compared to this close to 6k update wtf) (Also I’ve made quite some changes to the previous chapter, you can re-read it if you wish :D)

If people are confused as to why Minseok said "it's been two years", it's because Jimin and Jungkook were last seen frequently play fighting at dance practice in Year 4 May, they handed over afterwards. It's currently somewhere in Year 6 March, so it's roughly two years.

Also, I apologize if there are actual dancers reading this and thinking, this isn't how dance is like. I've never been in dance so all this is just pure imagination LOL

And YES FINALLY some vmin appreciation moment. Taehyung is such a blessing, really. When him and Jimin hangs out, they're either childish enough to be mistook as toddlers, or having conversations mature enough to pass as adults. And regarding how Jimin says he can actually be himself around Taehyung… look at it this way. As you read from chapter to chapter, you see a lot of fluctuation in Jimin's emotions. Sometimes he's so angry at Jungkook, gets really jealous and all, then he's back at convincing himself that it's fine, that he's fine, that he isn't angry anymore, he's at peace with himself etc. Jimin is a really conflicted person in nature, and wears too many masks, and one of which is a more 'saint' like mask, so he demands himself to be more selfless, more understanding, to the point he denies hurting when he really isn't as fine as he proclaims to be. Taehyung, as Jimin's oldest friend and one of the very few who's seen all kinds of Jimin before, knows that very well, and will not allow Jimin to reek of denial right in front of him.

Now, about this entire Jimin & dancing thing… I realise that it has been rarely mentioned in previous chapters, even in prologue, but Jimin is actually really passionate about dancing. He's been dancing since he was 7, have always been in dance clubs until Year 5; he is truly attached to dancing, which is why he took the withdrawal so hard. He is also someone who is pretty proud of his dancing skills, and as implied in intro, he's always felt inferior to Jungkook in some sort of sense (I'll touch on that again in one of the last chapters), because it seems like Jungkook's skills are more recognised than his, and hence Jimin's really sensitive about the whole section allocation thing (once again, I have no idea if it's a legit thing for dance, but that's how it works for many performing arts).

I wasn't joking when I said was what made Jimin, then shattered him. Dancing forms a huge part of Jimin's life, in fact in this fic, at this chapter, Jimin has dedicated more than half of his life to dancing and performing. Beyond dancing, the dance club dominated his life (if it hasn't been highlighted enough haha), all his friends were from dance, and when he became student instructor, his life practically revolves around dance. Yet at the same time, he feels increasing insecure and inferior in what was once his most confident area, and eventually when he decides to pull out, it took a long time for him to recover.

Oh yeah, the title of the chapter is actually the name of the kpop medley that was performed, it’s an actual word. I was out of ideas of how to name this chapter and its 2.30am so yeah XD And pardon the excessive Chinese that appears everywhere haha, it’s actually my comfortable language and I feel like I write better in Chinese lol.

Anyway! We're actually only left with 3-4 chapters wow. I can't believe this story is actually wrapping up despite my ridiculous levels of procrastination haha. Until next time!