“You're no fun, Jimin!” screamed Seungyeon.

“Someone has said that to me years ago, noona, you're not the first,” Jimin said, sticking his tongue as he stood by the door of the karaoke room, the discordant voice of Hongbin giving a try of Wonder Girl's Nobody seeping through the hallway.

“Why do you even have to leave early, Jimin? Come on,” this time it was Seulgi screaming through the mic, overcoming Hongbin's voice, earning Sanghyuk's protest and soon enough the attendants or neighboring customer for creating such a ruckus.

“I've told you guys, I have to meet a friend back at the train station,” Jimin said with an apologetic smile on his face.

“But we're doing karaoke now!” Seungyeon said again.

A door from their adjacent booth was being swung opened, showing a definitely troubled customer that was certainly going to protest upon the noise that they had made. Feeling embarrassed, Jimin quickly waved his hand to his friends and slipped away whilst bowing down and apologizing to the said neighboring customer. He walked through the rows of karaoke room when he heard Hongbin's unmistakable voice (because no one would be able to sing that badly) echoing through the hallway once again which meant one of his friends had decided to chase after him.

“Do you really have to go, Jimin?” and it appeared to be Seungyeon-noona, coming from behind him.

Jimin stopped on his track and nodded.

“Yeah, I've told you guys I can't stay for too long. I need to pick up a friend,” he said, walking towards the main exit. “Just go back to singing. Don't let Seulgi suffered alone under Hongbin's horrible voice.”

“No, it's okay. I'll walk you out. I need to take a small break before my eardrum bleed,” she said, chuckling.

Jimin nodded so they walked out of the karaoke building together and into the night. It was winter already and as they arrived outside, it was the cold and falling snow that awaited them. Jimin actually hated it, seeing the white snowflakes floating from the sky, bringing bad memories with them.

“Who's this friend anyway?” Seungyeon asked, reaching for her pocket, taking out a pack of cigarette. Of course, it would be smoking a cigarette when she talked about taking a break.

“Someone from high school. I haven't met him in a year,” he said.

The last time he said good bye was a winter night pretty much like this one. The air was as chilling and the snow was falling. He had spent his last winter in Yeoryang-myeon, having his heart broken and his world teared to pieces. He was a bit glad that Seungyeon decided to walk him out because he would certainly hate seeing the snowflakes even more. He could at least hang a bit, accompanying her for a few moment before he took off for the train station as gratitude.

“You spent high school in a village, right? Not in Seoul,” she said, taking the blunt between her fingers before blowing the smoke upon the night's air. Seungyeon said it as if Yeoryang-myeon was a really small village, deprived of entertainment and technology, when it was actually just a normal small town like hundreds other in South Korea. Well, back then there was also someone who always said that that little town of theirs was a small village, its inhabitants old fashioned and its ways confining.

“Yeah, I did. Only my last year, though. I met him there.”

“Your best friend?” she asked.

Jimin let out a small smile.

“Yeah,” he said softly, raising his head to see the dark sky above. Ah, how he hated it so much.

Seungyeon studied his face for a bit before she pouted.

“You never talk about your high school life,” she said. “You made it as if you attended high school in some highly confidential government organization for agents-to-be or some sort.”

He answered her with a small laugh. There was indeed a reason for that.

“I'll talk about it when you decide to stop smoking, noona,” he said, shoving her on the waist with his elbow.

“Yah, this dongsaeng,” she said, smacking him lightly on the head. “Why do you have to ask for such a hard thing to do?”

Jimin just laughed and Seungyeon took another drag from her cigarette before she continued. “Well, you better go now, then. Don't let your best friend wait,” she said to him, shooing him away.

So Jimin finally did, waving his hand and took off into the night. It wasn't really a long walk, from the karaoke in Cheongpa-dong to the train station at the north. Jimin glanced at his watch and he cursed silently in his heart, knowing that he was almost twenty minutes late. He should have left the place earlier, knowing that his friends would still dote on him even when he said that he couldn't be there for long (and still they dragged him for karaoke and Jimin naturally couldn't refuse to that).

The Seoul Train Station was already deserted, people walking sparsely underneath the street light in the middle of the freezing night. It was indeed the last train that night and as his friend said, it was the cheapest ticket that he could find. Sighing, Jimin quickened his pace and so did his heart. It was completely preposterous for him to feel a bit nervous but he really couldn't help it.

“Jimin?”

Jimin stopped on his track and turned towards the voice calling out for his name, heart stopping in his chest. Soon enough he was buried in a hug, one that almost sent him tumbling down.

“Jimin, I miss you!”

Sure he didn't see his face first, but Jimin would definitely recognize Taehyung's voice from anywhere. When Jimin finally hugged his best friend hard and took a step backward to take a good look at him, he realized how Taehyung didn't really change much. He was still the Taehyung that he knew, his voice deep as always with a square smile across his face. He was taller than the last time he saw him and his skin was a bit darker. The one thing that did change much was probably his hair, it was a shade of purple now and Jimin got the urge to mess it with all his might.

“I miss you too, Tae,” he said, smiling back. “Sorry I'm a bit late.”

“Nah, it's okay,” the other said. “How's you been?

“Nothing much. Just university and part time job. Not like a certain Kim Taehyung who's ready to take on the world.”

Taehyung punched him on the arm with a mischievous smile on his face.

“I work my off, you know. Remember old man Jung? I work there for almost an entire year to earn some money for the trip.”

“He hired you? Didn't he know you used to steal his soju?”

“Well, that's my initial reason why I ended up working for him. He caught me stealing some soju and offered me a job instead though I have to pay back for the soju I stole first.”

Typical Taehyung indeed. The both of them ended up walking off the train station and Taehyung just followed him even though Jimin didn't really have any idea where to go. After a small thought he decided that a nearest pojangmacha was the best destination since Taehyung would always be starving indeed.

“You're going away after this, then?” Jimin asked him.

“Yeah. A week here and then Busan and who knows what I'll do after that,” Taehyung said.

“You had always said that you'll go away,” he murmured, remembering Taehyung's words back then when they used to whisper towards each other in the middle of a boring lesson. Taehyung had explained to him thoroughly, making a representation of the world map with their pen and paper whilst explaining the track that he would take from Busan until Singapore.

“I've saved enough to start in Busan and Jungkook had finally graduated anyway.”

Right, Jungkook. And when Jungkook came into conversation, Jimin of course couldn't help but to ask about how the others were doing despite his haste good bye.

“How is he?” he asked. The last time he talked to the young boy he was met with nothing but disgust. The first friend that he had made became the one that loathe him completely he couldn't even say good bye.

“He hooked up with Suji, of course. Graduated top of the class and we are all really proud, of course. He wanted to become a doctor and he studies in Busan now. I'm going to share a flat with him for a while until I leave for Japan.”

Jimin honestly couldn't imagine Jungkook as a doctor but the boy was indeed smart, medical school was the perfect challenge for him.

“Seokjin is thinking about opening a restaurant with Minju. They're doing really good as a couple,” Taehyung said, which was something that wasn't unexpected for Jimin. He wouldn't even be surprised if he hear the news of the two's marriage in a few years.

“Hoseok is studying in Chuncheon. He came back last summer,” he continued. “Namjoon went to Seoul as well a few months after you but I hear very little of him. Hoseok told me that he got an offer from an agency or something.”

Jimin didn't meet Namjoon at all even though they were living in the same city. In fact, he didn't really talk with the others, cutting ties with most of them with the exception of Taehyung over written letters and occasional phone calls.

Their conversation died exactly there and at the same time did they arrive at the restaurant. There was a reason why Jimin didn't really ask about the others when he wrote a letter to Taehyung or talked to him on the phone. There was always a certain person that he wanted to avoid, one that Taehyung knew not to mention as well.

And that was what he knew about his friends, Taehyung's little update being the only thing that told him about what his older friends had become. But of course there was one name missing from their conversation, one that Jimin never really asked for, even though he spent his night that day looking at his ceiling in his windowless apartment with Taehyung snoring at the spare mattress next to his bed, wondering whether the other had ever asked about him the way he never asked about his.

+.-.+

It was a weird thing to describe but as much as he hated the thought of Seoul, he did really miss his home a bit. He missed how he would spend his days with his friends, going through the street and eating at that one jajjangmyeon restaurant near their school. He missed standing by the platform and taking the train from his dance class back home in the evening. He missed playing basketball near the Han River with a couple of friends during weekend. He even missed sitting on the kitchen table with his stern parents, his father talking about sport and his mother complaining about a nosy co-worker.

But then the memories would remind him of how those people he used to spend his time with would sneer at him, disgusted by his existence. He would also be remembered how a certain dance class was also attended by a certain someone. A certain basketball game would be followed by a lie of sleeping over at the group's place when he actually went to Taekhoon's home really late at night instead, climbing down and up a tree would later on be a really useful trait that he picked up along the way.

So in a way he did miss Seoul. Yeoryang-myeon was a complete new place and having no new friends and no activities meant he could drown himself in sorrow as much as he wanted.

The only proper conversation he held was with Jungkook. He learned that Jungkook was two years younger than him, though he was only a year below. The friends he spoke of turned out to be his seatmate and a few other boys in his class because he used to hang out with them on recess.

It seemed like they played basketball together on a Thursday because he remembered the guy who sat in front of him talked to his seatmate – Taehyung that day, reminding the latter about their upcoming practice. That Thursday, he saw the guys running around the gym as he left the school ground a bit later than the others after his usual session of crying in the classroom.

Jungkook was indeed the first person he talked to but it soon changed one Friday afternoon, when the sky was dark and the rain pattered against the window. He was in the classroom like always, crying for what felt like a hundredth time already. Somehow it was never enough and he realized how he was already addicted to the activity, how each time he left the building feeling a little bit lighter, only to have the same weight returning each morning as he tried his best to wake up.

That day was exceptionally dark and Jimin couldn't really care less even though he knew he didn't bring an umbrella. It was in the middle of sobs when he heard another sound that wasn't his cry echoing against the classroom. It was the door being slammed open by someone who certainly didn't know about his existence and Jimin quickly raised his head in horror.

“I-.”

And Jimin recognized that face, the boy who sat right in front of him, looking back at him with face that spoke of clear confusion and embarrassment.

“-am just going to take my notebook,” the boy said, hurrying to his seat.

Jimin was as embarrassed as that boy was and he quickly tried to rub his eyes with the back of his palm, drying the tears that sadly had become prominent on his face. This was useless and completely stupid, but he stayed in his seat, thinking that the other boy was going to be gone after he retrieved his notebook, but he was oddly still there.

To make matter worse the rain had suddenly poured and the other boy ended up sitting there right in front of him, writing in the supposedly forgotten notebook. At that moment Jimin could only think about how weird his choice of action was. The atmosphere was already awkward as it was (and he just made it even worse by not leaving) and it wasn't certainly Jimin's fault (even though he was the one who was crying in the classroom earlier). But hey, at least he was the first one there and it was only suitable if the other boy was the one who had to leave.

“Okay I can’t take this anymore,” the boy suddenly said, turning around to face him. “Hi, my name is Min Yoongi.”

Honestly, Jimin didn't expect the boy to even talk to him. But in the end he did and he somehow remembered how he first talked to Jungkook. Seemed like Jimin couldn't really take it, when someone was indeed looking back at him on the eye.

"I know," he answered back softly.

He knew that his name was Min Yoongi because he used to turn his back to talk to Taehyung from time to time (most prominently on history lesson, Jimin realized). He had seen the boy during that Thursday in the gym as well. Yoongi was different. He wasn't like Jungkook who smiled politely with that hint of childishness still on his face when he talked to him. Both had soft features and Yoongi was incredibly pale, but there was something more in his eyes that told Jimin how they wouldn't get along. There was something in the way Yoongi looked at him, as if he was being judged, that made Jimin pulled himself back to that safe heaven that he had, one that Yoongi hadn't and wouldn't ever taint.

"You do?" Yoongi said, somehow looking surprised. Somehow Jimin could only think whether he had said the right words or not.

"I know you're friends with Taehyung and Jungkook. You guys do basketball on Thursday."

"You're more observant than I thought," Yoongi said.

The way Yoongi said it made Jimin felt more reserved and he quickly turned his gaze towards the ground like always.

"Why are you so-,"

Jimin felt even more uncomfortable towards the tone of Yoongi's speech and the way Yoongi looked at him, as if he was going to scold him for something he didn't do, to judge him for his action even though all Jimin wanted to do was attract as little of attention as he could.

So Jimin quickly stood up from his seat and made his mind to leave because he knew neither of them would if it wasn't him. "Look, I'm sorry if I bother you but maybe it's best for me to leave right now,” he said, still keeping his face to the ground and quickly went towards the door.

He was relieved that Yoongi didn't follow him at all and he just left like that, walking through the pouring rain, letting it soak him wet. It was relieving to feel the droplets of rain against his body, letting him forget about what happened in the classroom and to the sadness that burst in his heart. Only when he arrived home did his grandmother come scolding him, shoving him with tons of cold tablets to take in fear of a flu. And only when he opened his book and gazed at his soaking notebook did he realize how he should be bringing a plastic bag next time if crying in the middle of the rain like a cliché scene was something he was going to do next.

+.-.+

Jungkook was the first person he talked to and it started because of a simple thing as a book. Yoongi was the second person and the one that witnessed his little hobby and private time in the classroom after lesson and it also happened because of a book. But Taehyung was the one that proved himself in the most bizarre way and the one that somehow gained Jimin's trust the most. It didn't happen because of a book and it certainly wouldn't happen the second time with any other people that he knew in this world.

Yoongi didn't talk to him afterward though he did look at him a bit funny the next Monday. Jimin quickly diverted his gaze and amongst the tiled floor he found nothing but his inner peace. It would soon be nothing but an awkward memory and he hoped Yoongi wouldn't be another wide-mouthed person who spoke about the incident to another students. Even if he did Jimin couldn't care much. He already had a school filled with students who thought that he was a disgusting gay. Having another one that thought he was a crybaby who liked to cry in public was nothing compared to the first.

Sadly, Yoongi did talk about it when he heard him as Jungkook decided to bring him over on recess. Maybe it was fate being kind to Jimin because he did hear the boy calling him a weirdo with his own ear and that exact moment he knew that Min Yoongi was certainly someone he wouldn't get along with. It didn't hurt his feeling but he did choose to leave in return for another awkwardness that he could avoid.

So there was indeed someone like Jeon Jungkook, a dongsaeng who was nothing but a kind kid at first and someone like Min Yoongi who would be your typical high school teenager with whom Jimin would never get along. And then there was Kim Taehyung.

Kim Taehyung was simply another category all by himself. He had been Jimin's seatmate for almost a month and they didn't really talk much. Maybe it was Jimin's fault since he did try his best to avoid the conversation at most time, but Taehyung himself had spent the first few weeks doing something that was close to daydreaming in class. So amongst the others, Kim Taehyung indeed tried the most unorthodox way to talk to him.

It was just another morning and Jimin certainly didn't have anything to expect. That was until he got to his seat and he found something clearly unexpected waiting on the floor, right between his seat and table.

“Taehyung, what are you doing?” Jimin asked.

Because Taehyung was squatting on the floor, right between the gap of his table and chair. If Jimin didn't really pay any attention, he could easily sit on his chair only to find Taehyung waiting there right under the table, giving him an apparent heart attack.

“Waiting for you,” his seatmate nonchalantly answered.

“Under my table?” he said.

“Yeah,” Taehyung answered as if it was a normal thing to do.

For the first time Jimin felt like scratching his head. Sure he just moved in from a big city to such a small village like Yeoryang-myeon, but he knew that even such thing wasn't normal here, or at least he bet so.

“Why are you even there, Taehyung? Get up,” he said.

Taehyung pouted and his answer somehow became something he couldn't really forget for the rest of his life.

“Because you're always looking at the ground. You never look at me whenever I try to talk to you.”

Somehow Taehyung's words hit him real hard. Taehyung spoke to him as if it was nothing and Jimin did look at him clearly this time, how his seatmate just put on a simple expression even though he clearly had been squatting there on the floor just to catch his eyes and speak properly with him.

“And you've been talking to Jungkook lately so I naturally envy that because you're my seatmate and you hardly ever talk to me.”

Kim Taehyung was indeed something. Even if he looked at him now and could only see a blank canvass that he couldn't really understand, he later on found out that Kim Taehyung was simply someone unpredictable, a mischievous soul that wasn't bound by anything.

“So I asked Jungkook how he managed to talk to you and he said about dropping a book at first.”

“And then you decided to just squat on the floor and wait for me?”

“Yeah, pretty much,” Taehyung answered before a smile bloomed on his face.

That moment Jimin couldn't help but do the same. Later on, Taehyung mentioned how that was the first time he ever saw Jimin smiled. They did talk afterward and Jimin realized that it was simply a start of a friendship that he would certainly cherish.

Kim Taehyung was the first soul that really tried to talk to him and Jimin couldn't just cast him away for that. Very much later on, Kim Taehyung became a friend that he couldn't let go, even when everything had crumbled to pieces once again. He was the only one who was still there despite everything, a friendship that Taehyung had said and Jimin himself believed would last for years.

Sometimes Jimin wondered, why couldn't he just fall in love with someone like Kim Taehyung when all he did was make him smile in his own ways.