His balance tipped, and he desperately feared his thick head would hit metal, but his back crashed into skin contact and an angular body frame with skinny arms bandaged at the wrists, catching him with such a strong sense of alarm and urgency that his body felt a jolt. 

"Hey, are you an idiot?! Coming out here with a fear of heights?!?" 

Jimin lifted his chin and tried to focus on Taehyung's agitated voice despite his disorientation.

"I-It's okay. I'm okay." Jimin said in a tiny voice, but Taehyung could see that he wasn't even ready to uncover his eyes yet.

"Just let me be for a while please." Jimin echoed into the cave that he had formed over his face with his adjacent palms.

Taehyung waited for a few beats, and Jimin was stiff as a statue, leaving Taehyung awkwardly stuck in the position of arms encircling the tiny stoned Jimin but not really touching him. Taehyung felt as though his arms were two ferns adorning one of those museum artefacts.

"Erm... Are you coming out of there?"

A few more beats went by, and Taehyung was pretty sure that if he were to quietly turn around and leave, Jimin would probably have continued to stay in that position without the slightest idea.

"...I don't think I can."

"What?"

Taehyung could hear the wincing in Jimin's voice at having to repeat himself. "Don't think ah..m a-able to...move..."

Jimin sounded really defeated. Taehyung supposed that Jimin wouldn't even be admitting this unless he had to, so he must be stuck in a pretty bad place. Taehyung had already suspected as much, and was scouring his brain for ideas to lift a full-grown male over his shoulder without overexerting himself. There didn't seem to be any option left but to carry Park Jimin even if he believed neither of them wanted their masculine image compromised.

"Ok, for starters... I think I can still lift you by the shoulders, but just not in the style of newlyweds, feet swept off the ground and all that. That's out of question with these broken wrists of mine."

Taehyung heard Jimin choking back a weak laugh though he kept his face hidden.

"I'm sorry..." Taehyung could see Jimin's shoulders sinking lower and lower to the ground like guilt was eating him up. "God, this is embarrassing..."

Jimin's dejected tone sounded full of self-blame, and Taehyung almost reached out to hush him through an odd instinct, much like how he would nestle a bird with an injured wing.

"Don't worry about it." Taehyung managed to say with a measure of self-control, as he clasped a hand over Jimin's left elbow, and the other tapped lightly on his right shoulder as he wasn't sure if Jimin was mentally ready to be guided out of his physical lockdown. 

"I got you, okay?" Jimin was initially shrinking away from Taehyung's manoeuvre, because he just needed to lay down for a bit to start feeling better, and at the same time burrow a hole in the ground for his critically hit self-esteem to die and rot in. But, Taehyung's voice was steady, as was his hold on him.

"Keep your eyes closed."

Jimin didn't feel all that dizzy when Taehyung weighed down on his shoulders and obliged him to lean against his steering arm, feeling himself being drawn back to the gravitational pull of the ground. He didn't need to question why Taehyung was pulling him back instead of hoisting him up, because he soon felt his back against warm sun-kissed concrete, and knew that Taehyung had lowered him down to recover from dizziness, just as he needed in the first place.

Jimin's eyes flickered open, and it was good that the sun was already more than halfway across the horizon so he didn't have to squint to let the vast expense of blue sky sink in. Just the same, it was sorta dazzling to see Taehyung's face hovering over him. Even if Taehyung was hardly smiling, the serenity reflected in his eyes was enough to rival the tranquil sky above him and arrest all of Jimin's attention.

"That wasn't too hard, was it?" Taehyung said with a disapproving shake of his head, chiding Jimin for his rash act yet leaving harsh words unspoken.

"I'm sorry." Jimin uttered a near-whisper. A pause underscored the sincerity in his slightly shaky voice. "And, thank you."

"I don't want bad karma for your death, mind you." Taehyung brushed aside the heavy gratitude like he didn't know what to do with it, and puffed up a smile that seemed to eat into his cheeks with a rectangular prodding. His signature smile always seemed like a telling sign that he lived from one moment to the next, never caring to display affectation for the past, nor showing concern for the future.

Jimin was grasping at straws to try and understand what went on behind that smile which came and went so blithely, and what if one day Taehyung decided that even that was not worth holding on to?

As Taehyung's warm melty smile spread to the corners of Jimin's brain, all Jimin could think of was how he would never ever want to let down this boy who was struggling with a world of disappointments — Yet he feared he already had.

"You're full of irony, you know that?" Jimin temporarily pushed his fears to the back of his mind, deep probing eyes nabbing Taehyung's sweeping gaze.

Taehyung's lips parted questioningly, awaiting clarity and this time seemingly unoffended at Jimin's repeated effort to shed light on his personality. Maybe it was indeed a characteristic quirk of his to confuse others with different sides of himself. And maybe also because the sight of Jimin lying flat on his back on an out-of-bounds roof extension spoke volumes about how much Jimin cared to know him. In those few moments, Taehyung felt that he might be able to reciprocate a little. Jimin was encouraged that Taehyung was not thrown off by the conversation opener, and proceeded cautiously to elaborate.

"You say one thing then you do another, but I trust you anyway." Jimin said with a degree of grounded seriousness that was necessary to maintain Taehyung's capacity to listen without offering his usual scepticism.

"Just wanted you to know..." Jimin breathed out slowly but surely. "I hope you can count on me."

It was weird for Jimin to be saying this when he appeared to be more anxious than Taehyung. Jimin really wanted to exude the impression of a trustworthy confidant, but as Taehyung scrutinized Jimin's pensive eyes and brows that were knitted with heavy brooding, Taehyung could not have known that Jimin was scared to death of failing him.

Taehyung's lack of response hung poignantly in the air between them, and yet his smile did not leave his face. He did not want to commit with an answer. He just hadn't considered hanging around here long enough to rely on someone new. As soon as he's no longer afraid, he's gonna move on.

Taehyung inched forward with newfound purpose, setting his sights on a point of interest that seemed to lead over the roof's edge. He pushed forward on a bended knee, only to feel Jimin's fingers interlocking his with a death hold untypical of someone who looked so light and wispy like the wind had been knocked right out of him.

"Don't..." Jimin sounded frightened for what Taehyung would do.

Taehyung observed a pale-looking Jimin who worried sick over him while not in the best physical condition himself — and felt a soft spot growing.

"Why won't you stay still?" Taehyung clicked his tongue and let his arm hang loose from the end of Jimin's fingertips. "Stop being so selfless. Think of yourself."

Taehyung withdrew his hand from Jimin's and it was like a tipping point that overturned all his constructured lies with the falling of a single misplaced chip of the block.

"I was never trying to kill myself alright. I've been trying to get you to report me as unstable, so I can stay on at this hospital. I'm due to be discharged unless I get referred to a psychiatrist."

"And what was that you said about trusting me?" Taehyung lamented bitterly.

---

Author's Note A/N:

OMG it takes ages for me to write, and I sometimes wish I have my whole life to write. Or maybe just like 2 weeks of doing nothing but write. But that hasn't happened just yet. 

And again I wish to just reveal all the es already. I'd hint this much: Taehyung wants to stay at the hospital, because he's afraid of being hurt outside. :( The MVs of Stigma and Lie totally inspired me to this. I do have a backstory for Jimin's concern for Taehyung, I think that will be in the next chapter.

Will you leave me some love if you're still reading?? :)

I cross-post on AO3 as well - http://archiveofourown.org/works/8545369/chapters/19590820