Yoongi woke up to the sound of Seokjin’s voice. To be honest, it was a million times more pleasant than waking up to Namjoon singing in the washroom. When he could finally collect his thoughts, he could register a bit of a pain in his neck as well as a hand combing through his hair – quite meditatively, he had to say. When he opened his eyes, he recognized Jimin’s sharp jaw line, and was once again surprised to realize that he could indeed see colour.

It seemed that it would take some time to get used to – for the meantime, he would just have to be startled into realization until he got used to the sight of it. At the moment, he didn’t think he could ever get used to it.

Jimin glanced down at him – he must have felt Yoongi stirring. “You’re awake, hyung?”

Yoongi rose from his position faster than he had ever risen, coming to the startling realization that his head was in Jimin’s lap. , what had he been thinking when he had gone to sleep? He could now recall everything that had happened before he had fallen asleep very clearly. He glanced down at his hurt finger, to see that it had been cleaned and bandaged. His eyes flew to Jimin’s feet, which were also bandaged. The glass that had been on the ground had disappeared; presumably having been removed by Seokjin.

“Yoongi, you okay?” Seokjin’s voice threw him out of his thought process, and he glanced up at his friend.

“How long have I been asleep?”

“Don’t ignore my question, Yoongi. I know that I’m very lenient on you but that doesn’t change the fact that I’m your hyung.” Seokjin’s voice was stern, and caused Yoongi to realize how rude his question had been.

“Sorry, hyung, but am I ever okay?” he laughed breezily, before turning to Jimin. “How long have—”

“It’s been an hour.” Jimin’s reply cut him off.

“How…” he hesitated, before continuing. “How are your feet?”

“I… I’ll live. I don’t think I want to walk right now, though.” Jimin tried a weak laugh.

“And you shouldn’t walk. I’ve already told Namjoon that you’re going to stay here with Yoongi. You’re around the same size as Yoongi, you can wear his stuff,” Seokjin said, before narrowing his eyes at Yoongi when he opened his mouth to complain. “And Yoongi, I’m sure you’re not going to throw him out of this house when he hurt his feet because of you?”

Yoongi narrowed his eyes right back at him. “Are you trying to guilt trip me into this?”

“Yes, I am. I’m glad we got that clear.” Seokjin dismissed him with a single glance, before turning back to Jimin. “If there’s anything you’re uncomfortable with, you can just tell Yoongi, and I’ll make sure that he will comply with your needs.”

Yoongi temporarily considered playing up the guilt, but then decided that that was a move. He was a , just not that big of a , especially to his friends. “You ing owe me, hyung.”

“No,” Seokjin corrected. “You owe Jimin.”

“He doesn’t really, hyung—” Jimin started, before being silenced by Seokjin’s glare. “I mean, he does? Yeah, he totally owes me.”

Yoongi could only give a pitying glance to the boy who was experiencing Seokjin’s glare for the first time. Seokjin didn’t glare often, but when he did, it was not a force to be reckoned with.

“I’m going to leave now, and leave my first aid kit here -- who knows if you’re going to get hurt again. Yoongi, be nice to your soulmate; congrats, by the way. Jimin, keep him alive.” Seokjin said the last bit like a joke, but everyone in the room knew that it was quite literal.

“Will do,” said Jimin, grinning at Seokjin, an obvious attempt at changing the atmosphere.

“And Yoongi, I’m going to tell Namjoon to ask Soonyoung to cover your shift at LUMINESCENCE today, so don’t bother going. It was nice finally meeting you, Jimin, and don’t hesitate to contact me if you’re ever having trouble. You seem like a good kid, I understand why both Hoseok and Namjoon spoke highly about you.”

Jimin blushed. “Thanks, hyung.”

“Well, I’m off. Jimin, don’t bother standing up to say bye to me, you’ll just hurt yourself more. Have fun, you two!” Seokjin winked at them before leaving the apartment.

“I swear to god, that hyung…” Yoongi could only shake his head in disbelief.

Almost instantly, they fell under an awkward silence, which was quickly interrupted with a growl from Jimin’s stomach.

He snorted. “You hungry, kid?”

Jimin glared at him. “I’m not a ing kid! And no, I’m not hungry!” he said defiantly.

But as soon as he said that, his stomach growled again, causing his face to redden. Yoongi couldn’t help but laugh at how cute Jimin looked. “Well, I guess the living does need to eat after all… chicken alright for you?”

Ten minutes later, the chicken had arrived, and they sat on the same couch with the coffee table pulled towards them as a table for the chicken. Yoongi, too, ate, despite his distaste for living. He had once tried starving himself just to see how it would feel like; it was then that he had decided that if he were to kill himself, it would be through a process that would end his life almost instantly – rather than the torture that starving himself put him through.

After they had finished their chicken, and Yoongi had cleaned up the garbage, Jimin spoke up. “Hyung, I promise, there’s a therapist that I know that is the real thing.”

“Didn’t I tell you? No therapists are the real thing,” said Yoongi, too tired to put any energy behind that statement.

“Well, he is. He’s helped me a lot,” said Jimin, voice suddenly becoming quieter at the last sentence.

Yoongi stopped to suddenly stare at Jimin. “Man, I did not see that coming. Why does a pretty little thing like you need a therapist?”

Jimin was quiet, before speaking up. “Psychic trauma. From when my last soulmate killed himself.”

Suddenly, everything started making sense. Jimin’s adamance for him to see a therapist; Jimin’s determination to prevent Yoongi from killing himself; Jimin’s lack of shock at the sight of colour; Jimin’s speech to persuade Yoongi not to kill himself; Jimin breaking down during that speech.

Yoongi had heard of it. They called it the Post Death Soulmate Incarnation, or PDSI for short. The theory was that although everyone had several soulmates out in the world, when you finally found one, you stopped looking for more, so your body refused any other soulmates. However, if your soulmate happened to die – in which case you would lose your colour vision – all other possible soulmates would appear once more, once you accepted their death and your body began accepting other soulmates once more.

It was very rare for someone to find two soulmates in one lifetime, but there were instances of it. There were even instances of finding three soulmates in one lifetime, although this was even rarer. And the Guinness world record for soulmates in one lifetime was seven!

“I… I’m sorry for your loss.” It was the only thing that Yoongi could manage to say to those heartbroken eyes, the eyes that he now understood were not as innocent as he had first thought. Those eyes had seen more pain than most eyes would ever see in their lifetime, and he was still so young.

“Do you… do you understand, now? Why I so desperately need you to see a therapist, and get better?”

Yoongi was thrown out of his daze as he smirked. “That’s implying there’s something wrong with me. Which I won’t deny, there is something very wrong with me. Though most people don’t see it.” For a flicker, his persona broke as he smiled bitterly, but it was replaced with that smirk again.

“Please, hyung… I… I don’t know if I will ever be able to ing get better again if I lose you too…” Jimin was almost begging him, tears filling his eyes again.

Yoongi stared into those eyes for a minute, as if to gage whether or not he was being sincere, before he looked away with a reluctant sigh. “Okay, whatever. I’ll see your therapist a few times, but if I think it’s not working, I’m not going there ever again, you hear me?”

Jimin bowed his head, letting out a quiet sigh; filled with relief rather than reluctance. Raising his head, he smiled at Yoongi, eyes still filled with tears. Wiping them away with one sleeve, he took Yoongi’s hand in his other hand. He would be lying if he said he wasn’t taken aback by these actions, but he didn’t show it.

“I… I know it will be hard to let your guard down around me, or around anyone at all, and to let yourself lean on me… but I really hope I can change that. It isn’t healthy to keep holding everything up by yourself, to be standing without any crutch or support to catch you just in case you fall. That’s what… that’s what soulmates are for, you know? I promise, I’ll be there for you.”

Yoongi just couldn’t find the strength to pull his hand out of the other’s; it felt so warm and nice, and Yoongi wanted to believe the words that Jimin was saying. It was hard, but he wanted to.

“And every time… every time you reject me, because I know you will, I will come back. I will come back, and I will never give up on you. Just please know that, if anything. I will never give up on you.”

Jimin squeezed his hand and smiled a watery smile at him, scooching a bit closer to him on the couch to lean his head on Yoongi’s shoulder. Yoongi wasn’t sure at all how to feel about this; it felt good, and it felt right, but Yoongi wasn’t sure if that was something he was allowed to feel. He wasn’t sure if he was allowed to have such a kind soul as his soulmate, and he wasn’t sure if he was allowed to continue living in this world.

Closing his eyes, and blinking back tears, he decided to ignore the two conflicting voices in his head just for today and leaned his head gently against Jimin’s own, squeezing Jimin’s hand ever so subtly. But it was definitely felt, as Jimin squeezed back, and perhaps even snuggled even closer towards Yoongi.