Jimin couldn’t remember the last time he’d ridden a bus for pleasure. When he was younger, it was his parents’ preferred method of travel on family outings. He could remember days when they would take him to the zoo in a town close to Busan on a bus like this. Those days were special to him, so much so that he had created a ritual for them. The shirt and pants he wore didn’t matter much, but it was important for him to wear his frog sneakers and bring his backpack with the giraffe on it. Inside of it, he always put his favorite stuffed animal, a cow named Moo-Moo. For breakfast, his mother would always make him pancakes and put chocolate chips on them in the shape of a smiley face. Just thinking about it took him back to his kitchen where in his memories, the room was covered in a golden haze. His mother, sitting next to him and gently running her fingers through his hair while he happily ate and talked about all of the animals he was excited to see. His father, kissing his mother’s cheek before he packed lunches for the trip. If he concentrated hard enough, he could even recall her perfume smelled and the smell of freshly made noodles.

The last time he saw either of his parents was two years ago at Jungkook’s funeral, a memory that was overwhelmingly gray. No smiles, no lunches, no zoo.

Jimin looked over at Yoongi who was lazily playing a game on his phone. Every so often his eyelids would flutter shut and then immediately open back up.

“You can take a nap, I’ll wake you up when we get there,” Jimin suggested.

“No can do.”

“Why not?”

“Well for one thing sleeping on public transportation makes me uncomfortable. Second of all, I wouldn’t be able to stay asleep.” Yoongi tapped his temple with his pointer finger. “It never shuts up.”

“That is quite the dilemma,” Jimin murmured and Yoongi shrugged in response. When a few more minutes went by and Yoongi still felt Jimin’s gaze on him, he glanced up and met Jimin’s expression: a slight smile and bright eyes.

“What are you so happy about?”

“I don’t know really...I just know that being around you makes me feel warm inside.”

“I know what you mean,” Yoongi replied, his expression also perking up. Without thinking, Jimin reached out for Yoongi’s hand. He held it in his own and stared at it as if he were examining his palm before turning it over and intertwining their fingers.

Yoongi was still at a loss for words whenever Jimin did something like this to show his affection. He didn’t feel like it was possible to like someone so quickly, but they had shared a lot in those few days and technically they weren’t complete strangers. They unknowingly knew the same people which somehow made the whole situation feel a little less strange. If Yoongi was being honest, none of it felt real. Things like this happened in books, not in real life, and certainly not in his life. The last thing he wanted to do was rush things and ruin what could be something wonderful for him. An even bigger truth that Yoongi wasn’t ready to face was that a part of him felt like Jimin would never completely be his. That somewhere in the back of his mind, he’d always be thinking about Jungkook and comparing him to Yoongi. The thought of it made him loosen his grip from Jimin’s hand. The younger didn’t notice.

“After this, we should go out to dinner with Hoseok and Taehyung,” Jimin said suddenly as he looked out the window. “I haven’t seen them in a while and it’d be nice to hang out with them again.”

“Yeah, that’s a good idea.” Yoongi’s voice was flatter than he had intended and Jimin looked up at him. Before he could say anything though, Yoongi cut him off. “How do you know Hoseok anyway?”

“I met him when I was younger. He was put in my contemporary dance classes even though he hated them.”

“Why’d he take them then?”

“Because he knew he wouldn’t be able to get anywhere being a one trick pony.” Yoongi gave him a vague look. “If you only know how to dance one style, the chances of you getting hired are very slim unless you’re like the best in the game. While Hoseok is one of the best dancers I’ve ever seen, he and I both knew that there were more experienced dancers who were better than him and who knew more than he did. So he thought knowing a variety of styles would give him an advantage over them,” Jimin explained.

“So he wanted to be a professional dancer too?”

“Yeah, you didn’t know that?”

“No, actually.” A pang of guilt suddenly hit Yoongi for not knowing more about Hoseok’s personal life. Most of their interactions were Hoseok being a worried mother over Yoongi’s health or them being too drunk to know their right from their left.

“Well, how did you two meet?”

“Us? Well, it’s kind of anticlimactic compared to yours but, we met at a bar and he noticed I looked down so he started talking with me and we both ended up getting drunk off our asses, laughing and having a good time when-”

“Oh my God, did you hit on him?” Jimin blurted out. Yoongi shot him a look.

“No, I didn’t, but someone else did. He kept trying to into our conversation and even bought him a drink but Hoseok wasn’t taking the bait. So, as we were leaving, out of frustration, he grabbed Hoseok’s wrist and was complaining about how he wasted the drink he bought for him and Hoseok laughed in his face which…” Yoongi cringed thinking about it now because he could clearly remember how livid the guy had gotten, “didn’t go over so well. They both had forgotten about me, so I caught the guy off guard when I punched him in his jaw. He let go of Hoseok, and when before the guy could realize what I’d done, we both ran.” Yoongi smiled thoughtfully at the memory.

“Did the guy chase you down?”

“No. I guess the shock of getting punched gave us a head start and by the time he figured it out, we were already gone. We took a taxi to his place and I crashed on his couch that night, much to Taehyung’s disapproval.”

“Really?”

“Really what?”

“I’m surprised Tae had negativity towards you. He usually likes just about everyone.”

“Well, I could see where he was coming from since his drunken boyfriend brought home another drunken man who slept on their couch. In the morning it all got sorted out, but it still took some time for him to warm up to me cause I think he always thought I wanted to steal Hoseok from him.”

“Yeah, he’s protective like that. He knows Hoseok wouldn’t leave him for anyone though.”

“What makes you say that?”

“I can see it in the way Hoseok looks at Tae, it’s like his existence alone makes his heart full of joy,” Jimin said and Yoongi quickly realized the look he was talking about because he too had seen it many times.

Then, Jimin’s face fell slightly, but he tried to regain his composure before Yoongi would notice. Yoongi had seen it though like he had seen it every other time relationships were mentioned. The small frown Jimin would make or the dazed, glossy-eyed expression he’d take on. He only did that when he thought about Jungkook. Yoongi didn’t have to ask to know that at that moment, Jimin was thinking about all the times that Jungkook had looked at him the same way and how it was all a lie.