Jimin's hand was aching under the weight of the phone that he balanced on his palm. He had to tap the darkening screen every 20 seconds or so to keep it from fading to black, which begged the question of why he was keeping the screen on only to not click the "Share" button. 

His hand, which was curled into a fist on the table in front of him, felt some light pressure when Yoongi ran his fingers over his knuckles. He exhaled sharply, but Yoongi gently shushed him, and leant forwards to gaze into Jimin's lost eyes. 

"Jimin... do you want me to do it?" His soft voice was a comforting resonance when it reached Jimin's ears. 

"No, no, it should be me." Jimin replied without a beat of hesitation. "But... thank you."

Yoongi slipped further up the sofa so that his chest was up against Jimin's back, shoulder-to-shoulder not quite feeling close enough. He didn't want to further Jimin's nerves by acting too worried or protective, but the urge to comfort and nurture his boyfriend was second nature at this point. So, he let his head teeter forwards, and he breathed over a spot on the back of Jimin's neck he'd always wanted to kiss. From years of walking behind Jimin, of sleeping in the same bed as him with Jimin rolled over and facing away, he always felt endeared to those short little hairs on the back of Jimin's neck, just a little higher than the cute little mole further down. He imagined it would smell good, and probably taste good too... 

Yoongi's heart caught in his throat as he pressed a kiss to that spot on the back of Jimin's neck, a gesture that Jimin seemed to appreciate judging by the tiny little hum he gave and the way he leant back into Yoongi's space. As Jimin lowered the phone, Yoongi could tell from the blue loading icon that the video was in the process of being shared - on the anonymous account that they'd just set up together. Yoongi reached for his own phone in reply, ready to start leaving horrified comments to encourage others to do the same. 

"Stuff's really gonna be weird now, right?" Jimin mumbled as he rested his head against Yoongi's chest, sighing like he'd just ran a marathon. 

"It'll be weird." Yoongi agreed, knowing that there'd be little point in lying. Plus, Jimin had changed since leaving Jungkook. He was no longer someone that could be lied to. "But you'll be happier. And I'll protect you every step of the way." 

-1 week later- 

That video had been nothing more of an inconvenience, at first. A side to Jungkook that he'd rather have kept secret, but didn't see anything serious happening as a result of it. But something beyond mere inconvenience was happening. People were quicker to question it. It had been posted using some anonymous account with nothing but the string of letters and numbers making up its username attached to it providing any sort of clue to its origin. But the hashtags indicating the name of their school had everyone seeing it - and passing it around - very quickly. And with it, the comments section. 

To Jungkook, comments sections had always been silver rivers of shining praise. But this time, they'd turned sour. The first comment had been from Min Yoongi, and the others had followed in quick succession: 

minyg00: Um wtf?? Pls tell me you guys are seeing this??? Jimin's clearly drugged up and Jungkook's literally ually harrassing him idc if they're dating where is Jimin saying yes??? If you don't see what's wrong here idk what to tell you

lovegohee: yeah! jimin does look uncomfortable... but like they're dating, was jimin okay with this? 

mimiissleepy: he doesn't look so good... was it just alcohol or was he on something else lol 

hyukieee: uh maybe we shouldn't joke about this idk i feel bad even watching ngl I'd never do something like that

juidoll: some people pointed out that i liked this video. well, after these comments i decided to rewatch it and jimin is clearly pushing jungkook away. this feels wrong. 

The comments had piled up so quickly until finally people started to tag Jungkook and Jimin, leading Jungkook to leave 25 messages on Jimin's phone - all of which were ignored. His own friends weren't even replying to his messages at this point, and Jungkook knew that he couldn't allow this to continue. 

"Jungkook-ah." A voice from beside him spotted him in his tracks as he stormed down the school hallway, looking for his friends that were obviously avoiding him. "Where you off to? Not sat having lunch with your friends, huh? Wonder why they would've deserted you." Taehyung gave a cocky half-smile, a rare sight from the aloof student. He must have been taking advantage of the one opportunity he had to - to taunt. Yes, he was taunting him. The way he was leaning against the lockers, his backpack hanging off one shoulder as opposed to using both straps... Not to notice little details about Taehyung, but. This shift was noticable. 

"Ah, you have nothing to say now, do you? That's a first." Taehyung tilted his head and replaced his smirk with a more serious expression. 

Once he'd said that, Jungkook stopped standing still. He darted forward - only 2 steps and he was inches away from Taehyung - close enough to shove his shoulder with one hand, bashing him agains the metallic locker, eliciting a clanging noise and a gasp from Taehyung. 

"DID YOU ING POST THAT VIDEO?" Jungkook yelled, ignoring the gasps that surrounded him as he looked down at the cowering boy. Not so cocky now, evidently. ing try-hard. 

"You- ah!" Taehyung winced and grabbed his shoulder, which was leaning down at an angle so that his rucksack was slipping down his arm. "You've got nothing left to lose now, I guess. So go ahead and hurt me more, for once you'll be the one to suffer because everyone is watching now."

Jungkook wished he had a retort beyond asserting that he just didn't care at this point, that the only thing he wanted right now was revenge on Taehyung or whoever else posted that video - but he was above explaining such things to Taehyung right now. He just wanted answers, why was that so difficult?

"Just tell me if you ing posted it, you-" Jungkook raised a fist, but he felt it catch in mid-air and a force stopping him from pulling it forward. His head followed the source of this and he had less than a second to look into Namjoon's eyes before a punch was driven into his face. He bit his lip to force himself not to yell out in pain. 

"Taehyung baby, you okay?" 

Jungkook's vision went black for a second and he was focused on wiping away the blood trickling down his chin, but his vision refocused to see Namjoon cupping Taehyung's face with his large hands. Well, that solved the mystery of why one of his friends was ignoring him. As suspected, Namjoon had fallen for Taehyung, and had betrayed Jungkook in order to make Taehyung fall for him in return. 

"Stay the hell away from him, you got that?" Namjoon said with a calm tone as he glared at Jungkook, cradling Taehyung in his arms. Taehyung breathed heavily, staring at Jungkook through dark bangs as he grasped the front of Namjoon's shirt. Despite his tight clutch on Namjoon's clothes, Taehyung's eyes weren't full of fear. They weren't apprehensive, scared, as they usually were around Jungkook. He wasn't worried about saying or doing the wrong thing to make Jungkook mad at him, or worse - bored of him. In fact - 

It was Taehyung who looked bored of Jungkook. He glared at him with raised eyebrows, like... like he was done with him. Like he was silently asking, "Have you got anything else to say, because I'm so bored?". And that... that sent a really weird feeling piercing through Jungkook's abdomen. Taehyung wasn't affected by Jungkook's view of him, he just.... he didn't care. 

, this wasn't right. 

"All I wanna know is who posted that video on that burner account." Jungkook grit his teeth. He was really having to compromise here, to beg. It made him feel sick. "Nothing more. Can you just tell me that? Everyone's ignoring me, I have a right to know who's to blame-"

And then Taehyung - Taehyung had the audacity to roll his eyes at Jungkook. 

"If you don't know whose fault this is," Taehyung grumbled when he finally opened his mouth. "Then you're a manipulator and about as dense as a brick. As if it'd be anyone's fault but yours."

The gasps and giggles that reverberated around the corridor twisted the knife in Jungkook's chest. His classmates must have been loving the drama... but more than that, they were loving to laugh at his expense. This was all the wrong way around... it was Jungkook who was meant to tell them what drama to be entertained by, what gossip to believe... this was all so wrong. 

Jungkook stared down at Taehyung in horror. 

Yoongi held the chopsticks between unstable fingers, and brought the noodles to Jimin's open mouth. Jimin wrapped his lips around the food, and opened his eyes to give Yoongi a smirk, his cheeks puffy from his full mouth. He suppressed giggles as he chewed his food, and Yoongi let out a huge grin as he stared at his utterly endearing boyfriend. He no longer had to hide his I'm-unbelievably-in-love-with-this-boy smiles that spread over his face everytime Jimin did anything remotely cute, and he didn't realise how liberating this would be. 

Jimin's smile froze and disappeared from his eyes when some boys from the year below walked past and seemed to stop and stare, but once Yoongi turned around and shot them a very angry glare, they snapped out of their gawking and scuttled away. Jimin swallowed down his food, and gave Yoongi a nod. Yoongi couldn't tell if this was a "thank you" nod, or an "I'm okay" nod, but he didn't push Jimin to speak. He rested long fingers on the back of Jimin's small hand where it rested on the bench between them, and leant in to press their lips together. He smiled into the kiss, which apparently encouraged Jimin to do the same. 

People had been giving Jimin apprehensive looks all day, but admittedly, it wasn't as bad as he expected. In fact, the majority of people were actually coming up to him and asking if he was okay. Some girls in the year above actually added him to their groupchat, letting him know they were free to message him if he ever needed someone to talk to, or if Jungkook ever tried to hurt him again. 

Jimin had given a reply that elicitied quite the flurry of butterflies in Yoongi's stomach. "It's okay, I can stand up to him now. And if I'm bad at it... I have a new boyfriend now who can help."

That word... boyfriend... being associated with him, being used by Jimin to describe Yoongi... it felt right beyond words. It was like forgetting your name, and then suddenly someone calls you by it, and it just fits perfectly, because it was meant for you. Yoongi's heart swooped. He couldn't blame the girls for looking a tad confused at Jimin's statement. Jimin hadn't even formally broken up with Jungkook yet, and he was already in the arms of another man rather than taking some time for himself after the first boy had hurt him. It didn't look great. But Yoongi and Jimin didn't care about reputations anymore. They both knew that this was a long time coming. They were a long time coming. Their love was right, it was meant to happen, it was based on negotiations and compromise and being strict with each other to not get the other one hurt. They would be careful. 

"You're running low." Yoongi gestured at the empty water bottle that had rolled onto its side next to Jimin's lunchbox, after they broke the kiss. "You want me to go fill it up at the machine for you?"

"Such an attentive boyfriend." Jimin giggled, and nodded. 

Okay, he definitely knew what that word meant to Yoongi, the way he kept repeating it at every opportunity. It was probably obvious; Yoongi very visibly keened every time that that word was said. He supposed it was only fair that Jimin take advantage of that. 

Yoongi rounded the corner of the science building that he and Jimin were sat behind to have their lunch, crumpled and empty water bottle in his lazy hold, when his attempt at stepping forward was halted by someone pulling him back by the hood of his top under his blazer. He swayed backwards, and felt arms wrap around him, scooping him around his shoulders and only letting him go after he'd been pushed in the direction of the brick wall. He dropped the bottle and outstretched his palms, but they slapped against the brick wall painfully and did little to shield his face, as a hand grasping him by the back of his neck pushed his face further against the wall. 

The burning scratch of the rough surface against his cheek had him wincing in pain, but the grip on the back of his neck remained, not allowing him to pull away. Not that he needed to; he already knew who was holding him against the wall like this. He could hear the angered panting behind him, could feel the rings from his fingers digging into his neck, could smelll the cologne that he often used to smell on Jimin whenever he turned up late to his house. 

"If this is your way of apologising for hurting Jimin... it needs work, Jungkook." Yoongi spluttered through gritted teeth, trying to keep his cool despite feeling trapped between his worst enemy and a surface that was already digging into his face whenever he moved an inch. He could already feel a wound on his cheekbone opening, and blood beginning to emerge and slip down his cheek. No-one was around and now that he knew more of what Jungkook was capable of, he wasn't sure that he was about to just go back to Jimin with a refilled water bottle and only one scar on his face. 

"Oh, so I'm the one who needs to apologise, after the entire school has decided to punish me for, for what?" Jungkook tightened his grip, making Yoongi yelp. "For getting drunk with my boyfriend? That's rich. And now, I hear that my boyfriend has been shamelessly making out with his so-called innocent friend, the second my reputation dips. How convenient for you, Yoongi. I know you've been thirsting over my boyfriend, looking so pathetic and sad and jealous, following him around, and the second that video's out, you're already right there, a shoulder to cry on, taking advantage of a confused boy who thinks I hurt him. You expect me to believe that this wasn't all your deranged plan to steal him?"

"Amazing - you're such a natural at- at blaming others for stuff you've done." Yoongi's eyes were clamped shut and anyway, he was facing away from Jungkook, making it easier for him to talk back at him. His words were moving ahead of his mind; they didn't want to just let Jungkook get away with saying these things. 

"You're unbelievable, Yoongi." Jungkook sounded like he was grinning through his words. "Well, I'm sure if Jimin is so shallow to leave me the second I do something that upsets him a little, without consulting me first, he's bound to leave you soon enough. Especially once you're all bruised and not his perfect, cute, innocent little friend-"

Yoongi wasn't permitted a second to process Jungkook's words before he was being turned around in his grasp, and thrown down to the firm and jagged ground. He raised a hand, hoping to pat at his wound and see how much he was bleeding, but a sharp kick to his chest had him curling his body in on itself, a silent groan visible on his face. 

"You've always had it out for me - and suddenly now Jimin's left me 'cause of that video, you're conveniently up for kissing him better? You spread that video, you , I know you did!" Jungkook yelled, his voice dripping in devastation. "People are laughing at me, my friends are avoiding me - it's your fault!" 

The kicks kept coming, in quick bashes. Yoongi wasn't given enough time to recover from one before he was forced to recoil from the next one. His arms, his legs, his tummy - nowhere was off-limits but his head, which he cradled in his hands. This was only going to end once Jungkook got tired, but his rage seemed to be giving him enough energy to keep going for so long that the pain became duller, and duller, and Yoongi silently begged to be knocked unconscious. Even if he woke up with every inch of his skin covered in reds and purples, it would be better than the relentless forces of impact all over his body. 

If Yoongi was able to keep his eyes open among all this, his vision would probably have gone blurry. He let out one final, long yell, hoping that it would make Jungkook see that no amount of pain could outdo what he'd already done, or that it would at least exhaust him enough to let his body go limp enough to slip into unconsciousness - but mid-yell, before he was ready for his mouth to fall closed and the noise to stop - the kicking stopped with a loud grunt from Jungkook. 

"What the fu- Jimin, what's up with you?" Jungkook was heard chuckling. 

Yoongi forced his aching neck to crane up, and he looked up at Jungkook, who was tilting his head and staring at Jimin - who was grabbing his wrist and - Yoongi couldn't see too well from this angle, but it looked somewhat like Jimin was... glaring. Yoongi had never seen such a fire in his eyes, not in this way, anyway. Usually, Jimin would stare at people with a look of either extreme confidence or extreme fear. There was never any rage. Never anything behind his eyes that suggested that he felt something negative towards someone else, something that was their fault. This expression looked like Jimin was wearing something else's face. 

"Stay the away from my boyfriend." Jimin said in a dark tone that sounded wrong coming from his pure lips that usually only spoke to reinforce other people. "You're a piece of , you know that?"

"Jimin, are you kidding me-"

"You cheated on me. You played with me and Taehyung like we were your toys." Jimin stepped closer at the end of every sentence, forcing Jungkook to take several steps back. "You don't care about what I want, only that I do whatever makes you happy. You drugged me when I clearly said I couldn't drink, and you weren't even sorry - do you think I deserve to be treated like that?"

"Jimin, you know I love you, clearly I've upset you but we can talk through this-"

"Oh, like the way you're 'talking' to Yoongi?" Jimin shoved Jungkook's arm away from him, the sudden force making Jungkook wince. "I've let you hurt you so many times, so maybe I do deserve to keep suffering. That's on me, I'm not letting you take all the credit. But the second you lay a hand on Min Yoongi, you're dead to me."

Yoongi shifted a sore elbow so that he could prop himself up on it the best he could, and his weight on it was overshadowed by the dawning realisation that, no, this wasn't Jimin wearing someone else's face, or speaking in someone else's tongue. This was the Jimin from before he met Jungkook, the Jimin who snapped before having to be bent for too long. The Jimin who was fiercely protective over his friends, to the extent that even Yoongi was intimidated, even though he was the one being protected. 

The Jimin who was broken down by Jungkook, that wasn't him. That was the mask, a fragile veil made of glass that had now shattered to reveal the best friend that Yoongi had admired for so long before finally plucking up the courage to ask to be his friend. 

"I lost so much of myself to you." Jimin continued, his voice still as firm as when he started. "My pride, mostly. But I want it back. So... you bet I milk this breakup so ing hard that no-one here will wanna come near you. You think you're invincible? I'll make you untouchable. Not that I need to. I know the reason you kept both Taehyung and I around for so long, even though you don't even have feelings for Taehyung and clearly don't give a about me. You just didn't want to lose. You didn't want us to see who you really were. You wanted us under your thumb. Well - I'm done. You lost me, Jungkook."

It was then that Jimin curled his fingers, one by one, and Yoongi froze as he knew what was coming next - the punch landed squarely on Jungkook's jaw, and had him on his knees clutching his face, grunting and cursing. 

Yoongi was hauled to his feet with Jimin's arms around him, being pulled away before he could stare for too long at the blood dripping onto the floor. 

Yoongi was sat with his knees pulled up to his chest and his back against the thankfully clean-ish wall of the boys' toilets, which admittedly was like lying on velvet sheets compared to curled up on the ground as Jungkook kicked at him, although he occasionally grunted at the pain that shot through his arms as he struggled to peel his shirt off his back. Jimin had his eyes narrowed with a laser focus as he dabbed at Yoongi's bruised chest with some ice he'd retrieved from the ice machine in the canteen, wrapped in some paper towels. 

"I er, I should get some more ice, this is melting-" Jimin muttered, and planted a foot on the ground as if to stand up from where he knelt, but Yoongi whined in protest. 

"No - you just ran off to get a plaster, and then again to get ice... please, just... I don't want you to leave. Not yet." Yoongi's head fell back against the wall with a sigh. 

Jimin gave a half-smile, and outstretched a hand to Yoongi's face. Yoongi flinched with a small, desperate noise that was somewhere between a grunt and a whine, and Jimin delicately ran his finger along the plaster he'd just placed on Yoongi's face, ensuring that it was sticking. He didn't say anything to fill the silence, just silently confirmed with a remorseful smile that he wasn't going anywhere. 

"I've never seen you punch anyone before." Yoongi admitted. "Not since that kid was bullying me in elementary, and you screamed at him to stop. And when he didn't..."

"I'm not proud of that." Jimin said quietly, although the smile that teased his face betrayed him. "That boy cried so loudly, it made me feel awful. I promised myself I'd never hurt anyone else again. That I'd rather be the one letting others do what they wanted, and not be the one to make anyone cry or hurt."

"That explains Jungkook." Yoongi murmured. "The way you let him do what he wanted."

"It also explains you." Jimin said quickly, making Yoongi's stomach drop in... fear, apprehension, confusion, something. "I punched that kid because he hurt you, I punched Jungkook because he... hurt... you. The common denominator has always been you." His eyes widened as he spoke, as if he himself was inching closer to this realisation with every word. 

Yoongi's stomach tightened, and his lips suddenly felt dry. He opened them to run his tongue against them, but before he could, Jimin's lips were already on his, hungrily. He didn't even want to protest, even with the way every inch of his body was aching. He didn't even need to move; he just sat there and let Jimin kiss him. This was all he ever wanted, to not have to fight for his attention and just let Jimin kiss him like he wanted to. 

"You okay? Is this okay?" Jimin's muffled voice sounded between kisses, but Yoongi just nodded, keeping his lips parted and his eyes closed for Jimin. Only for Jimin. 

...

Yoongi, Hoseok and Namjoon didn't sit at their usual table today. The truth was, they never even cared about where they sat. It was always Jungkook persisting, spouting nonsense about how it was their table, that it was just the principle of the thing, but Yoongi and Hoseok never really gave a . So they sat at a small, circular table around the edge of the cluster of tables that crowded the canteen. 

"Your boyfriend's always running late." Hoseok sighed through a playful grin. "Such a teacher's pet, staying behind..."

"Well, actually, I was just catching up with Jimin and Yoongi." Taehyung appeared and wrapped his arms around Namjoon's shoulders, which relaxed as Namjoon's expressionless face broke out into a wide smile. 

"How's Jimin doing?" Yoongi asked while grimacing at the sight of Namjoon craning his neck to give Taehyung a long, slow kiss. 

Taehyung eventually broke the kiss after many, many seconds, and answered, "Well, ever since Jungkook transferred schools, Jimin's been much better. He seems... lighter. There's less of a burden for him now Jungkook's out of sight, out of mind. Which has made it easier for him to be nicer to me, which always helps. He even offered to be my lab partner in Chemistry after lunch. I think we're.... friends, now." He looked a bit confused at this revelation. 

"Good to hear, baby." Namjoon said. 

From across the hallway, Jimin was picking something from the vending machine. His fingers hovered over the buttons as he pondered whether to get choco pies or mochi. Although, it was somewhat difficult to concentrate, what with Yoongi's arms curling across his body from behind, and Yoongi's lips on his neck. Jimin giggled at the ticklish sensation. 

"Yoongi, I love you but can you let my arms go so I can-"

The two boys froze. 

"Did you just-"

"No. Shut up, Yoongi."

"You just - said the l word. In front of a vending machine."

"No, you have no witnesses..." Jimin whined, and lowered his hands to Yoongi's arms which wrapped around him. He straightened his arms and squirmed in a weak attempt to struggle out of Yoongi's grasp, which he weakened without much protest. Jimin tried to keep facing away from Yoongi, but Yoongi didn't budge. He just kept smirking at his flustered boyfriend.  

"Why are you acting all shy, baby?" Yoongi smirked. "Don't you wanna hear me say it back?"

-END-