Jimin and Jungkook used to walk hand in hand down the school corridors. Well, most of the time Jimin would be glued to Jungkook's side, his hands full with textbooks, while Jungkook's hand wandered to Jimin's , letting it be known to everyone they strutted by that Jimin belonged to Jungkook, and only Jungkook. But those moments where they did walk together hand in hand, Jimin gazing up at Jungkook and wondering how he got so lucky to be dating someone so beautiful, those moments were lovely. Jimin felt safe, knowing that no-one would dare even look at him funny while he stood next to Jungkook, his boyfriend and protector. 

But today, Jimin walked to homeroom on his own. He hugged the textbooks that couldn't fit in his rucksack to his chest, and stared over them at the floor. He'd changed his profile picture to signal his new change in relationship status, not wanting to see Jungkook's face everytime he opened his laptop. What was once a selca of him and Jungkook lying on Jimin's bed together, the hint of a hickey just at the base of Jimin's neck, partly cropped out, was now, an old picture Yoongi took of Jimin last year. In this picture, he was leaning against the brick wall of a coffee shop that was based around the corner from Yoongi's house. This sudden change would not have gone unnoticed by his classmates, who knew all too well how much Jimin loved his selcas with Jungkook. He'd post them on almost a weekly basis, after all. 

"I heard they broke up" 

            "...had a big fight 'over the weekend"

                                         "...pretty torn up about the whole thing..."

They were whispering about him. He wanted to scream at them all to shut up, but that'd only attract more attention. No, all there was left to do was continue staring dead ahead as he made his way to homeroom. With every step of his battered converse (he no longer had a need to look pretty for Jungkook with his glossy black boots), he heard more and more comments. He wanted to scream at them to stop, but he knew that a reaction would just give them more material for their gossip. What used to simply be comments such as, "Jimin looks so miserable now he's single" would become "he snapped at us in the hallway the other day, he's gone mad". 

It was with this thought that Jimin realised something: he couldn't stop the talking, the chatter, the idle gossip, but he could at least adapt the words that were used in this gossip. If he did enough to change his behaviour, he could maybe manipulate his image from "the guy we gossip about because he's a victim of an ugly breakup" to "the guy who broke up with Jungkook but is now doing pretty amazingly for himself". 

Yes. Yes, that would be his mission. Something to focus his energy on and keep him from crying over Jungkook all the damn time: Mission Reputation Restoration. 

"MRR? Surely we can come up with a catchier acronym."

"If the naming of the thing is your priority as opposed to actually carrrying out the thing, be my guest." 

"Hey, hey, ignore me. I actually think it's a good idea." Yoongi wiped his crumb-covered hands on his trousers and tilted his head at Jimin, smirking at Jimin's new priority. Grades? No. Getting a new boyfriend to get over Jungkook? No. Sweet, unrelenting revenge on Jungkook in a variety of violent and merciless ways? Sadly, no. But making sure that people in corridors didn't discuss the breakup between two of the now most popular boys in school? Apparently. 

Jimin was shocked that Yoongi was actually onboard with his idea. After all, Yoongi didn't seem to care at all about what his classmates thought about him unless they were his friends, as could be seen by the way he'd dragged Jimin to a table in the very middle of the school cafeteria, as opposed to Jimin's prefered option: finding an empty bench somewhere in the cold. As, in Jimin's words, he was a "social outcast" after breaking up with the beloved Jungkook. Especially because the story that Jungkook and his friends had managed to get around the school was that they broke up because Jimin wasn't 'affectionate' enough with Jungkook (okay, true so far if by 'affectionate' Jungkook means that he just didn't want to have all the time). This then led to Jungkook feeling neglected and dumping Jimin for fear of getting hurt. If Yoongi hadn't learnt by now to be careful with upsetting Jimin with so much as a misplaced chuckle, he would've laughed so hard at that version of the story. It was ridiculous. Jungkook, scared of getting hurt, after Yoongi knew too well how hurt Jimin had been all weekend. Yoongi had been the one to wipe his tears, the one to reassure him he was worthy of love and to check up on him throughout the night to make sure he wasn't crying himself to sleep, for God's sake. 

"I think you were right about it being a stupid idea to get involved with these popular kids." Jimin mumbled as he scratched at the folds of his apple juice carton. "All of a sudden, I have to be careful about what I do, because I so much as look at Jungkook wrong and it'll be the hot new topic in everyone's groupchats and social media stories and... it just . It's an awful feeling, being a topic. Especially in conversations I'm not a part of."

"Yeah, I know, Chim." Yoongi sighed, making every effort to ensure it sounded more like an I'm sighing because I'm so fed up with how people are treating you sigh, as opposed to an I can't believe I've made it this far in life avoiding any stupid high school drama and you've managed to get right in the centre of one sigh. "So, how are you gonna restore your reputation?"

"Well, Jungkook basically told everyone I'm a prude, right?" Jimin asked. 

"Uhhh... the last version I heard was just that he said you weren't affectionate enough, whatever that means." Yoongi muttered, finding the implication that Jimin, Park freaking Jimin, wasn't affectionate enough, almost too ridiculous to say out loud. 

"Oh, well it's evolved since then." Jimin said, matter-of-factly. Goddamn Chinese whispers, the two boys acknowledged. "Now everyone's figured out that I haven't let him me for a while, except the current narrative is that Jungkook got upset and felt so neglected that he simply confronted me, but in return I cried or whatever and begged him to take me back, but he said no because I was giving him mixed messages or whatever, and then he dumped me. For being needy after a long time of blanking him, or something."

Yoongi pinched at the space between his eyes in frustration. For a made-up version of events, this was definitely incoherent. Well, gossip was always jumbled and full of half-truths and contradictions, but that didn't stop people from believing whatever is the dominant narrative at the time. 

"Right. So we gotta... make everyone think you're not a prude?" Yoongi nodded slowly, trying to make it look like he was totally following. 

"And that I'm not needy." Jimin added. "In this story, I cried and cried and begged Jungkook to take me back once he threatened to dump me. So I gotta show that I'm not miserable without him. That I've moved on."

"Jimin, if this is going where I think this is going-"

"Today after school, we go to the park where everyone goes with their alcohol. There's always boys hanging out there, looking bored, wanting a good time..."

No. No way. No way was Yoongi going to accompany Jimin to the park and help him hook up with some random guy behind a hedge to prove that he was over Jungkook. This didn't even have anything to do with Yoongi being jealous over Jimin hooking up with other men. This was a low that he didn't want Jimin to feel he had to go through. The types of boys that hung out at that park made it a place that he wouldn't dream of going to for pleasure. Not even that kind of pleasure. Not even a nice stroll-in-the-park kind of pleasure. 

Jimin knew that it wouldn't be Yoongi's cup of tea. He knew it sounded gross, but it was Monday - they could hardly go to a club or bar and meet a guy there if they had school the next day. If anything, this would involve less alcohol, spending less money, and an earlier night. It was therefore surely more responsible. 

"Yoongi-ahhh..." Jimin whined cutely, already well aware of Yoongi's thoughts on the matter due to how he rolled his eyes. "The boys there may be a little... edgy, but they're hot. Maybe this'll help me move on."

"Jimin, they're a bunch of boys."

"What's wrong with having a quick hook-up after a breakup, anyway?" Jimin asked with a frown. "You gonna -shame me, Yoongles?" The corners of his frown curled upward into a playful grin. 

Yoongi sighed so forcefully that the wrapper of his straw flew across the table, but relented. Once Jimin had an idea in his mind, no-one could talk him out of it. And besides, Yoongi wasn't the boss of Jimin. He couldn't let his own feelings stop his friend from doing whatever he wanted. Jimin had had plenty of one-night stands before, and there was no reason Yoongi could conjure up as to why this should be any different. 

"You'll be safe, right?" Yoongi asked. "I mean, ing some guy just to save your reputation is a bit..."

"It'll be fine, okay?" Jimin reached across the table to rest his hand on Yoongi's. Yoongi wasn't entirely sure how he managed to not flinch at Jimin's soft touch. His hands are so soft... "I know what I'm doing. If I feel, even for a second, that it's a mistake, I'll stop and run to my Yoongi and you can give me cuddles like you always do and remind me fifty times that you were right. Sound good?"

Yoongi's heart skipped just enough for him to feel pathetic at the mention of cuddles. He wasn't even someone who particularly liked cuddles, but in his years knowing Jimin, getting used to his skinship addiction, feeling Jimin's arms insistently wrap around him whenever they hung out... he'd be lying if he said those cuddles in particular didn't make him feel... safe. Even if most of those cuddles were him trying to comfort Jimin after a bad day or bad heartbreak, they still somehow wound up making Yoongi feel secure and grounded. 

But enough fantasising about hugs like a clingy puppy. Jimin still needed an answer from Yoongi. 

"Yeah, okay, sounds alright."