*A few months later...

Jimin was grinning from ear to ear as he waited patiently yet impatiently for Taehyung so they could walk to school together. Things have been picking up for him these past few weeks, the best and biggest change being his dad getting a promotion at work. That meant a higher pay and combined with his mom's new job, they managed to pay off the debts that had them losing sleep and they also got a car. Granted it's a small and simple car, but it was theirs and Jimin was beyond happy seeing his parents smiling genuinely again. Yes, there were still bits to pay off here and there, but they weren't struggling so much anymore and that let Jimin finally breathe easily.
 

"I don't think I've ever seen you smile this big before... Well, not since my mom made you that big ice cream cake for your twelfth birthday, anyway."
 

Jimin looked up and saw Taehyung standing there, his gray eyes glimmering in amusement. Since that day he had ditched school with Namjoon, Taehyung's been more comfortable and confident about his true self and he completely discarded the brown lenses. Some people at school would see his gray eyes and ask if they were contacts, but Taehyung would just laugh in good nature and say they were his true eyes.
 

"Share the reason for your happiness, Jimin. I want to know." he said with a grin as he sat down beside his best friend on the front steps.
 

"You already know why I've been so happy lately." said Jimin as he leaned against Taehyung.

"Yeah, but this time you look like a kid who finally got that candy they've been staring at." said Taehyung while needlessly fixing a few strands of Jimin's hair.
 

"It's not candy I got." said the latter, his big grin coming back as he sat up straight again.
 

Taehyung gave him a questioning look, so Jimin reached into his pocket and pulled out what had been making him so giddy.
 

"You got a phone?!" exclaimed Taehyung in disbelief, his eyes widening as he looked from the device to Jimin's face and back again.
 

"Yeah! My parents took me to the store yesterday to pick one out." said Jimin excitedly, "They said it was about time I got one and because my grades have been so good this whole time... T-They even apologized that it took so long for them to get me one."
 

Taehyung right away noticed the change of emotion in Jimin's voice, which the latter was trying to hide, and the way his eyes watered a bit as he stared at the phone in his hands. It's wasn't even about getting a phone, but about Jimin and his parents finally stabilizing financially and Taehyung felt his chest tighten seeing his best friend so... relieved. He has never seen anyone as caring and self reliant as Jimin, the latter even going as far as getting part-time jobs in the summer just so he wouldn't have to receive money from his parents. Smiling a bit, Taehyung reached out and softly patted Jimin's back, making him look up and also smile a little.
 

"You deserve this phone, Jimin." said Taehyung gently, his other hand cupping the side of his friend's face to wipe away a stray tear, "You also deserve the moon, the stars, and the world. The whole universe, if I'm being honest, but that's still not enough. Oh, and also a big box of cupcakes, but we can get those after school."
 

His silly list made Jimin laugh and that's all Taehyung ever wanted; to see his best friend smile and just be happy again. He ruffled Jimin's hair before playfully demanding for his new number, the mood brightening up once more. After saving each other's number, Taehyung feeling touched yet not surprised that Jimin had memorized his, both got up and headed to school. As they walked, Jimin admitted he was still learning how to use the phone and Taehyung was more than willing to help him.
 

"You should ask for the others' numbers, too." suggested Taehyung when they reached the school, "I bet they'd be happy to have it, especially Jin."
 

"I can finally text and call him whenever." said Jimin with a silly smile, "It's pretty awkward having to call him with the house phone when my parents were there. But this way, I have way more privacy."

"I bet." said Taehyung with a grin as he slung an arm around Jimin's shoulders, then said in a lower voice, "My mom may be fully human, but I swear she has super hearing whenever Namjoon calls me. It's embarrassing."
 

"How does she even know he calls?" asked Jimin with an incredulous laugh, "You rarely have the sound on."
 

"That's what I wonder!" exclaimed Taehyung, his eyes wide, "Every time I ask, though, she just gives me this smug look and says, 'A mother knows.' Then walks off all accomplished."
 

"Parents are weird like that, I guess." said Jimin with another laugh.
 

Taehyung just hummed in agreement and both continued to talk about nothing in particular until the bell rang for their first class of the day.

===========================

It's now lunch time and Jimin was all smiles again as he headed to the cafeteria, his new phone safely kept in his pocket. He had made sure to keep it on silent and out of the teachers' sight during classes because there was no way he was getting it confiscated. Jimin may be excited about finally having a phone, but that didn't mean he was going to be careless and flash it about. Just as he turned a corner, distracted by his thoughts, he ran into someone and quickly looked up with big eyes.
 

It was Jin. The latter was casually leaning against the wall with his hands in his pockets, simply staring at Jimin as if expecting him; which he probably was.
 

"You really need to start giving me warnings, Seokjin." said Jimin with a pout, "How many times do you plan on having me literally run into you like this?"
 

"Do you know how hard it is for me to get in there?" asked Jin with a raised eyebrow as he gave the younger's head a light poke, "You're always thinking so much about one thing or another that I'm the one who gets overwhelmed when I do manage to get in, so I randomly pop up like this so I can clear your mind a bit."
 

"Is it really that messy in there?" asked Jimin with a sheepish smile as he bashfully hunched his shoulders.
 

Jin just stared at him as if the answer was obvious, making Jimin let out an awkward laugh as he averted his gaze. It had taken some time to get used to Jin's abilities, like the random surges of him being able to tell what Jimin was thinking, but the latter was never put off by it; he was actually very curious and eager to learn more about it.
 

"Like right now, you're over there fussing about the tests you're going to have on Friday and can't decide which subject to study for first." said Jin with raised eyebrows, "Not only that, you were trying to come up with a good time to give me your new number and ask me when the others were free so you can exchange numbers with them as well. And you wanted to go to the library after school because you have some books that are about to be due."
 

"That... is overwhelming." said Jimin with a grimace, his head aching a bit now at the information he didn't even realize he was processing, "I just noticed none of those have anything to do with each other."

"It's okay if your thoughts are a little disorganized." said Jin with a smile, "I'm just glad your head's cluttered with good things now."
 

The older then pulled out his phone and looked at Jimin expectantly, the latter quickly yet clumsily taking out his own phone.
 

"I don't know the number by memory yet." admitted the younger with an apologetic smile as he looked through the settings like Taehyung had showed him.
 

When he found it, he stepped up to show Jin and the older saved it into his contac