‘’We’re so glad to have you here.’’ Fake smiles and fake concern. The dust that stuck to Jimin’s Puma shoes, while strolling over the dry ground, fitted the image of summer too well. His suitcase was heavy and the thin black haired boy couldn’t pull it over the small step towards the house where he would be staying. He came walking from the bus stop, and the short walk during the midday made sweat cling to his forehead and the underside of his nose. It was his habit to wipe the excess away with only one of his fingers.

Jimin already made a calculation in how long the family would try to keep him. Eventually they would ask for him to be placed in a house with another distant relative. Just like every other household until now. Yellow from lies, and purple form jealousy hung in the air, and the colors made him realize that he would be gone within two months.

Jimin glanced at the almond eye boy in the corner of his vision while saying his greetings to his surrogate family. The boy smiled with bunny teeth, but he was burning orange from anger. Jungkook didn’t like the trespasser called Jimin. Jungkook was dressed casual. Loose white oversized t-shirt and baggy jeans. He didn’t wear shoes. It was simply too hot, but a promise Jimin made to himself was; to only walk around bare feet in a home where he would feel at home. Otherwise he thought it would be considered rude.

After a pull and a trip Jimin was standing inside. He was guided to his plain room. It was obviously a storage room at first hand. They succeeded in cleaning up, but it was cramped with unnecessary cabinets and cupboards. However, he was thankful for it. Jimin got a quick tour through the house and was told that if he was hungry he could just grab something. He could always use the TV and it was appreciated that if he would eat somewhere else to leave a message.

They were so kind. He didn’t want to mess this up, but his previous memories crushed that thought. They eventually would think he was strange. It was weird seeing colors… It was abnormal… How much he tried to keep it to himself… he wasn’t very thoughtful since he didn’t know how it would be like without his haven.

They were kind with an exception from Jungkook. The younger already sensed Jimin was weird. Why else would he have lived moving from relative to relative over the past years and almost his whole life.

‘’We wanted you to adjust here as fast as possible… so we already applied a form. School starts tomorrow. I placed the uniform in your closet.’’ The woman smiled soft and gender, but her colors indicated concern.

Dinner was silent and no questions were asked. They probably where informed about his passed away parents and his previous abusive guardian. There was nothing to talk about. Not to make him uncomfortable about the happenings, made Jimin appreciate these people more. He didn’t notice that it wasn’t normal to not talk at dinner.

‘’Jungkook, don’t you like it?’’ His mother asked with concern and humiliation. Jimin eyed Jungkook’s plate and saw how he didn’t even pick up his chopsticks. Just like his mother had pushed a button on his sensitivity, the raven-haired boy shoved his plate out the way and stood up. His chair made a terrible sound against the tiled black and white checkered floor.

‘’I’m not hungry.’’ Jungkook walked away without looking behind. Glances from insecurity and colors from worries. Jimin played with his food until the woman said it was okay to leave it.

‘’I a-appreciated dinner… I’m thankful.’’ Jimin softly muttered. To be completely honest he loved her cooking very much, but he didn’t like how he took away Jungkook’s appetite.

‘’You don’t have to compliment me Jimin-ssi. You don’t have to lie that it was delicious.’’ Her emotions flew around and it seemed like she didn’t know how to feel. Her husband stared at the scene with glassy eyes and Jimin wanted to protest, but he was not used to talk against someone. Positive or not.

After dinner, he fled to his room. Trying to be less of a burden to the family. Angry talks where enough to not feel welcome.

‘’Why is he here?’’

‘’Jungkook! I do not like the tone your putting up!’’

Unconsciously he created a fight by just being here. He wanted to go away, but that would give more trouble to the adults. A missing teenager was not something. He just had to put up with this.

---

Jimin was 15 when he first met Taehyung. It was the first week he had moved to the current distant relative and it was the eight day he enrolled into a new high school. As a first year, he was teased, not only because he was new, but his accent was standing out.

Taehyung was colored golden.

Genuine, cheerful and one of his kind.

Taehyung was popular but didn’t have a lot of friends. Along his golden color was a line of blue. He was lonely…

Jimin didn’t dare to bring him to the house where he was staying. The one reason was, he didn’t feel at home. But then again… he never felt at home. The other reason was that he didn’t want to burden the family he stayed with.

After all, Jungkook hated him. Often he was jealous and irritated. He never ate at the same table as him, avoided him at school. The worst part was that Jungkook ordered him to walk at least 20 meters behind him. His parents always thought they got along well, but it was the complete opposite.

Jimin had met Taehyung when he was guarding himself from the rain and thunder in a little shrine on his way back from a dreadful lonesome day at school. Waiting until dinner, so he could avoid Jungkook even more. He was sleeping from exhaustion and boredom. During the night fall the always smiling boy Taehyung had shaken him to the point where he fluttered his eyes open.

It was pouring and faint thunder came from the west.

Concern and confusing circled around Taehyung’s body, but the golden color was the most standing out. Jimin could only remember from his one and only memory from his father that he had seen the rare color before. He used to believe that his mother was silver, but then again he only knew how she appeared from photographs.

‘’I’m fine.’’ Jimin groggily said trying to reassure Taehyung’s feelings. The slightly taller boy was soaked form the rain and he jumped up when he heard a loud thunderclap in the distant.

‘’Do you want to share?’’ At that time Jimin didn’t know his name, but he could trust him since he didn’t see mischievous and rotten colors. At least not the colors his previous guardian had. Or the yellow color he had seen every moment until this day since he came to live here.

Jimin shuffled to the side and patted the empty space behind him. Suddenly his colors turned blue and purple. Jimin shuffled closer to prevent an emotional breakdown and like expected the blueish color regained another meaning.

‘’I’m sure my grandfather is looking for me. Perhaps he could also bring you home.’’

Jimin just smiled. He wanted to say he didn’t have a home. He wanted to say he never felt at home. He didn’t want to lie… lying by not saying anything.

‘’I’m Jimin.’’ Golden returned without the thin blue line.

---

‘’Jungkook, Honey? Don’t forget your muffler okay? It’s cold outside.’’ Jimin was tying his shoes with no attempt to be on time. Jungkook was written as a good student, even though math and English were not his best quality, he scored high on arts, history and P.E. Jimin tried, but the constant moving made him stressed and adjusting to a new environment every quart of the year made him exhausted. His tiredness caused his grades to lower, and how much he begged the teachers to not include his guardians… they did anyways.

He would disappoint them. No wonder that Jungkook didn’t want to be seen with him. He stared at the back of the taller muscular boy and shivered realizing it was indeed cold. Snow landing on the ground, but melting shortly after. Ice-cold water dropped from his soaked black hair strings, as if it was rain. He hissed when a freezing headache came setting up.

One Jungkook’s friends came in sight the said boy’s colors turned irritated and soft brown. Of course, they also noticed Jimin. This was a scenario Jungkook wanted to avoid as much as possible.

Jungkook stared angry into his direction when his classmates about his weird house-mate.

‘’I heard he can see ghost!’’

‘’Jungkook are you as weird as him? Is it true?’’

The colors went from light warm brown to seating orange and red. His fists were clenched and he stared with a hateful expression towards Jimin. Who was, like demanded, walking 20 meters behind him. Since the streets where quiet in the morning and the wind was directed to him, he could hear everything.

It wasn’t the first time he was teased. However, it was the first time someone else got bugged because of him.

‘’For sake! No! I didn’t ask for him. In fact, no one did!’’ Jungkook screamed out while pointing into his direction.

Yellow…

Jimin hated yellow.

---

He was watching the children play on the trampled grass field with rusting steel goal-poles. Holes into the rain-washed nets and it was funny how sometimes the ball would fly through it with ease. It was nearing darkness and soft oranges colored both the children and the sky. It had been a week since Taehyung left on summer vacation with his grandparents.

His best friend had asked if he wanted to come, but money was a big problem for Jimin, and he didn’t want to give his surrogate family the feeling he didn’t feel welcome. Jungkook was staying with his older brother in the big city. Jimin had never seen his brother, but from pictures it seemed they both looked alike. It was hard to think and not even close to nice, but it gave Jimin inner calmed now knowing Jungkook was away.

He hoped Jungkook liked it with his brother and that the younger finally could act like himself again. He once heard the adults talk about him and how he changed their youngest son.

It was almost time for dinner and like a good son, Jimin stood up to head home. The sun was going under and the unbearable hot temperature had lowered to a nice evening comfort. Long shadows displayed on the ground leaving it behind him while walking up the opposite direction.

‘’Jimin-ssi?’’

The soft feminine voice made him turn around. Surprise, love and tenderness circled around her.

She was silver.

The color he always pointed towards a motherly figure. If Jimin would describe the woman before him he would just say; A miracle.

She laughed angelic and giggled when she scanned him. Friendly face and a flowered blue summer skirt nicely dressed with brown sandals.

‘’You probably don’t remember me, but I know your father. I’m Chaewon. I live with my husband just outside the village. We heard you recently came living here and about your situation.’’

Recently was already a year, but Jimin didn’t mind her miscalculation. She seemed to hesitate with the next sentence. Along silver appeared insecurity and denial.

‘’We… I… we’ll like it if y-you would come live with us. It’s been quiet in our house, and we thought it would be nice if it was filled with some youth and cheerfulness.’’ She stared straight into his eyes and insecurity changed into determination. She held her plastic grocery bag tighter into her right hand, but she smiled without yellow. It was the first time someone asked Jimin if he wanted to live with them.

The first time someone asked for him…

‘’Just think about it, okay? The both of us will visit the relatives you’re staying with soon. Both me and Wonhoon.’’ The conversation ended with genuine smiles and ‘thank you’s’ full of meaning.

---

Sitting in front of the old white fan together with Taehyung while sipping on a previously made strawberry smoothie was one of the things Jimin loved about being alive. The whole morning, they helped Taehyung’s grandfather cut the branches from the trees in the orchard.

After that they spent cleaning up the old shrine where they first met. They decided to do that every year from now on as a tradition. It sounded lame, but it was fun to do and show respect to their elders.

Now they finally had a break and Jimin was watching how mud stains stuck to Taehyung’s simple light-blue T-shirt. His fashion taste was odd, but that was one thing Jimin loved about his best friend. During school, they had to wear a uniform, and it was sad that people didn’t know about the clothes hanging in Taehyung’s large closet. Often he wore oversized sweaters with cut shoulders and sleeves. Wide pants and bare feet. Nowadays he wore blouses or t-shirts. Sometimes accessorized with a classy beret.

It was a week before Taehyung would leave. Jimin could already feel the sadness of missing his friend, and it seemed Taehyung thought the same. He would spend the first week with his parents and he wondered how much his little brother and sister had grown. He could only see them during vacations, and even though he loved them it was one of the reasons for the slowly increasing purple and blue colors. He became more nervous every time he would see his family.

On days like this Taehyung would blurt out all his thoughts with no shame.

‘’I don’t know, but I always have this feeling like… you know… some sort of telepathy you use on me.’’ Jimin giggled. He was wondering how much his friend knew. Would he believe if he said he could see how he felt?

‘’Taehyung, for me you’re literally golden.’’

‘’You always say that. You’re a cheesy bastard. Keep your sweet words for a lover or something.’’ He smiled brightly afterwards. The insult was completely friendly and that’s why Jimin hit him playfully on the shoulder. White circles under his armpits from sweat and messy hair sticking out into every direction.

Jimin wanted to tell, but he was sure his friend already knew.

‘’You want some ice?’’ Jimin nodded and followed him to the kitchen. His grandmother was peeling apples with a paring knife. She swung her old hips to a song playing on the record player. Taehyung smiled and stole two apple slices for both him and Jimin.

Laughing mischievous when his grandmother slapped his playfully.

‘’Those aren’t for you hungry scavengers!’’ Afterwards she laughed but it was drowned by the noise of Taehyung opening the frozen freezer with aggressive power. Suddenly all the ice-cubes were laying on the ground and a minute later both friends started making shaved ice.

Jimin wished he could feel this domestic in the house he lived…