Hours had passed and Yoongi’s mind was still on Jimin’s thank you. Rarely ever in his life did Yoongi do anything to deserve a thanks. He was an average kid growing up, doing what he was told and getting good grades in school, but he wasn’t extraordinary in any way. After he turned fourteen, most of his energy was focused in not taking his life. He didn’t really have time to do the extraordinary when he was having such a hard time being ordinary.

Once he turned sixteen, things got even worse. He hardly ever spent time friends and only left his room to go to school. He even stopped eating dinner with his family because no one thought it was worth the trouble. His mother would try and ask him about his day, and he would respond with simple one-word answers. It was like pulling teeth without anesthesia, but his mother always tried to be patient and understanding with him. It was his father who tired of Yoongi’s behavior.

Yoongi’s father wanted his son to be just like him. He pictured a cookie cutter lifestyle for him filled with stability and a good job, so it was disheartening when Yoongi confessed to him that he didn’t want that life. It’s probably why Yoongi could still till this day remember so vividly the disappointment and pain in his father’s expression. The wrinkles of his frown were shaded by the overhead light above the kitchen table and when his face couldn’t contort into any more sadness, it became angry. Yoongi could still feel his father’s strong grip on his collar as he hoisted him out of his chair. His father’s breath reeked of scotch while he reprimanded his son and his tone was so loud, it woke Yoongi’s mother. There were a lot of tears that night, and the next morning everyone acted as if it had never happened.

Even though nothing in the family’s routine changed, the relationship between Yoongi and his father did. When Yoongi told his dad about his dream to be a rapper, it was like something inside of the older man snapped and no matter what Yoongi did, he couldn’t piece his father back together. He blamed himself for part of the reason why his father did what he did that night. He blamed himself for his mother’s tears. There was so much blood…

“Hyung?” Jimin said gently. Yoongi looked up at Jimin, now taken out of his thoughts. His vision was blurry and when he brought his hand up to rub his eyes, he felt moisture on his cheeks. Jimin pretended not to notice Yoongi’s tears as he wiped them away.

“What is it?” Yoongi asked.

“The train stopped.”

“Why?”

“It broke down. Something’s wrong with the engine, which means we’re kind of stuck here.”

“Ah, for ’s sake,” Yoongi sighed angrily. The brief visit to the bad part of his mind had made him irritable now. He ran a hand through his hair as he felt himself slipping into his emotional turmoil. His limit for being social was approaching and he wanted nothing more than to be alone, in his bed, staring at the ceiling as his sleeping pills kicked in. He didn’t feel anything when they kicked in. Sometimes he was thankful for that. Sometimes he hated that.

“Look, we’re just outside the Vladivostok train stop. We can get a cab there to get to a hotel and-” Jimin started as he looked at the directions on his phone.

“Why are we getting off the train?”

“Who knows when they’ll get the train fixed? I have somewhere to be very soon that I can’t afford to miss.” Jimin felt the nerves getting to him even though he tried his best to stay calm. He couldn’t miss the anniversary under any circumstances.

Yoongi noticed others were heading off the train, probably thinking the same thing Jimin was and decided he had nothing to lose.

“Let’s go then,” he said as he stood up and grabbed his satchel from the seat next to him. Jimin gathered the remaining papers from the table and neatly packed them into his briefcase before he reached under his seat to grab his duffel bag. He then lead the way off the train and to the small handful of people who were also making their way to the station.

It was a little after dusk now and the temperature had dropped significantly. Yoongi, whose coat wasn’t nearly as warm as Jimin’s leather jacket, began to shiver as the two made their way through the fresh snow. It was high enough to brush against their ankles as they trudged through it. Jimin noticed Yoongi’s teeth begin to chatter.

“Not used to the cold yet?” he teased. Yoongi glared at him.

“I haven’t been here long enough to get used to it.”

“How long have you been here?”

“A day.”

“And you’re already leaving?”

“I have no reason to stay any longer than that. My main reason for coming here was because it was a free trip. Hoseok had tickets for him and his boyfriend, Taehyung, for their anniversary. Taehyung got sick with a really bad stomach bug, so Hoseok offered me his ticket. Part of me regrets it though.”

“Why’s that?”

“I hate cold weather.” Jimin laughed suddenly at that. He found the idea of someone accepting a trip to Moscow but hating cold weather to be ridiculous. Yoongi smiled though, and it was his first genuine smile in a while. He had gotten into the habit of forcing a smile so often that he had forgotten what it was like to feel it naturally. Jimin’s laugh was like music to his ears.

“Sorry to break it to you, but cold is inevitable here,” Jimin said.

“I realize that, but my need for a change of scenery was what made me say yes. I thought experiencing something new was more important than my dislike for cold weather. It worked out for me anyway, I don’t have writer’s block anymore.”

“Why’s that?”

‘Because I met you,’ was on the tip of Yoongi’s tongue, but he caught himself before vocalizing the words.

“I dunno...something just clicked for me.” He technically wasn’t lying, something had clicked for him. Jimin was refreshing to Yoongi. He was the type of person Yoongi never really came in contact with because let’s face it, they come from two different worlds. Yoongi’s preconceptions about people like Jimin was a big part of why he didn’t branch out more. He thought even Hoseok was out of his league because he owned a dance studio. Yoongi didn’t necessarily feel intimidated by people like them, but he felt like disappointing them was inevitable. He figured it was probably because they reminded him too much of his father and he didn’t want to let them down like he felt he had done with his father, but Yoongi didn’t really feel up for seeing a therapist to confirm it.

Jimin turned out not to be quite different from his father and the rest of the men who wear suits to work. He was funny and kind and one of the most beautiful people he’d ever seen. He wasn’t yet showing the wear and tear of a nine to five, but Yoongi had a feeling he wouldn’t ever show it.

“Well I’m glad to hear it,” Jimin said with a smile as he turned to look at Yoongi. ‘Yeah,' Yoongi thought, ‘with a smile like that, he’ll stay young forever.’