Whenever the master threw parties Jimin would go to the great hall just beneath the ball room and he'd listen to the music. The master always hired great musicians who always played so beautifully, the sound echoing through the entire manor. Jimin would dance, just how his mother taught him, pretend he was dancing upstairs. These were always his happiest times, ever since he was child. Whenever he allowed the music to flow through him, he'd feel entirely at peace, like nothing could hurt him. The rest of the world wasn't a problem and he could just dance. Sometimes he'd imagine had a partner, other times, like tonight, he'd have one. 

Jimin was dancing just as he normally would alone, smiling and laughing with himself as music filled the dark and empty halls. He was spinning around and around when suddenly he felt hands grasping him, pulling him into a sudden warm embrace. 

For a split second he was frightened-no-surprised by the sudden action. However, when he looked up at the sight of the man holding onto his shoulders, he released the breath he didn't realize he was holding and smiled. “Jongin.” Jimin muttered. 

Jongin smiled, beautiful in the dull light of the grand hall. “You're back.” Jimin added. 

Jongin chuckled and released Jimin from his hold. Jimin dusted imaginary dirt from his newly washed outfit and looked up at Jongin. The latter however was in fact dirty, like he'd been rolling on the ground and Jimin could see newly formed cuts and scrapes lining his hands and knuckles. Suddenly some of his joy had begun to drain. It was then that Jimin noticed the pained way Jongin took a step towards him, like simply moving was horrendously painful. “Did he send you out again?” Jimin asked. 

Jongin looked away, the light in his eyes noticeably dimming. “That bastard.” Jimin muttered. 

“No, it's okay, really.” Jongin replied, not wanting to worry the other. 

“No, it's not!” Jimin growled. “It hurts you. What if you don't make it out fast enough? What if-if you get seriously injured? What if you die? Oh my gods Jongin-” 

Jongin grabbed Jimin and pulled him into a hug in order to calm him before he lost his breath and fainted. Jimin sighed and his body shook with the weight of his sudden sadness and the heaviness that was slowly but surely overtaking him. “I don't know what I'd do if you died. You're my best friend, I don't-” 

“Don't speak anymore of that nonsense. I will never leave you.” Jongin hushed the other with the sweetest smile he could muster. 

Jimin gave a sigh, he was prepared to protest, but the reassuring and calming look Jongin gave him made him back down. “Dance with me?” Jongin asked sweetly. 

Jimin gave him a somewhat hesitant look, but gently grasped Jongin’s hands. “Aren’t you hurt?” Jimin questioned as they began to delicately glide across the floor. 

“The worst of it’s healed.” Jongin replied, spinning the way Jimin taught him years ago to prove his point. 

Even as Jongin smiled and spun around again, his form near perfect, Jimin still looked at him with concern. Jimin tried to ignore the feeling as their hands gently touched and they stared at each other, walking in a half circle before turning and relating the process with their opposite hands. 

“Jimin,” Jongin said, noting the concern laced on the face, “I am perfectly fine.” 

Jimin raised his brows tauntingly and when Jongin gave him a stupid smug little look he poked two fingers at Jongin’s ribs, that latter immediately releasing a choked sound of pain. “Perfectly fine?” Jimin growled. 

Jongin cast his eyes to the ground, clearly embarrassed and ashamed. Just then Jimin felt something akin to pain and regret jab at his heart. He watched in silence as Jongin rubbed at his arm and opened his mouth as if to speak, but thought better of it and just continued avoiding Jimin’s eyes. “Hey…” Jimin cooed, but Jongin still avoided looking at him, even when Jimin moved closer to him. “Hey...” Jimin softly repeated as he placed his warm hands on the sides of Jongin’s face. “Jongin look at me.” 

Jongin shook his head, some amount of water beginning to line his eyes. “Please?” 

Jongin shook his head again. He couldn’t face Jimin like this. He looked down at his dirty, disgustingly scarred and bruised hands, anger at the sight welling up within him. Jongin pushed himself away from Jimin, slightly wincing at the pain the action caused him. “Jongin-” 

“I can't, face you.” Jongin said. “I'm a beast, a monster. More importantly I'm a burden to you, I-” Jongin's words were suddenly choked and restricted inside his throat. He shook his head shamefully as his tears finally began racing down his cheeks. 

Jimin darted in front of Jongin, not allowing the other to leave his side again. Jimin held Jongin's face in his hands, using his thumbs to wipe away Jongin's tears. Jongin brought his much larger hands to rest over Jimin's, leaning into Jimin's touch as though it were the source of Jongin's life. “You can always face me.” Jimin said. “No matter what you do, what happens to you, I will be here. I will always accept you, you are not a beast or a monster. You’re a puppy, my puppy and you'll always be my puppy.” 

Jimin whispered his words, but they rang inside Jongin's ears like thunder cracking across the sky. 

*** 

“You're terrible at this.” Jimin said with a giggle. 

“It's not my fault. I've never done this before.” Jongin replied. 

“It's not like I'm classically trained either.” Jimin quipped. 

Jongin shot him a glare as he tried the steps alone again, messing them up, again. Jimin chuckled at the sight of the angry boy and quickly darted in front of him, grasping his hands and guiding his body as best a thirteen year old boy could. “Like this…” Jimin muttered, looking up at Jongin. 

Jongin stared into the younger's eyes with an unmeasurable amount of wonder. Jimin smiled as they moved, suddenly looking down when the sparkle in Jongin's eyes suddenly tied his stomach into knots. 

They danced like that, not missing a single step as Jimin remembered the steps he'd studied with his mother and as Jongin studied Jimin's face until he was certain he'd always remember. Jimin was muttering the numbers under his breath, on the fourth count, without having to say it, Jongin knew to release his hold on the other so he could spin around in the most elegant circle Jongin had ever seen, before his body returned to be pressed tightly against Jongin's. 

Jimin had somewhat of surprised expression written on his face as he looked up at Jongin and in turn, Jongin was looking down at him with a look that neither of them could name even they had tried. The two didn't break eye contact for the rest