Park Jimin wasn't the brightest kid at times, and he was a bit slow in school as well. Growing up as an only child, he depended a lot on his parents and Yoongi.

Oh, Min Yoongi.

Jimin remembers seeing his face ever since he was old enough to understand things. Yoongi had always been there, in every turn and every corner, like a shadow Jimin can't be separated from. And it's not like he wanted to be separated from him. Jimin adored the guy. Even though he was 5 years Jimin's senior, they hung out together without a problem. His younger sister, Min Chaerin, was also a part of their friendship but most of the time it was only Yoongi and Jimin—them against the world.

Sometimes Jimin felt bothersome because Yoongi hyung was really mature. He was the eldest son of his family, finishing college when Jimin was just starting his high school journey. But Yoongi had always made sure to let him know otherwise, that he appreciated their friendship and Jimin had never been a bother.

Jimin believed him most of the times.

Yoongi hyung was very protective of Chaerin too, Jimin recalled. There were times when he would show up to their school and wait outside their building on that signature bench, snacks in hands. And when Jimin and Chaerin finished classes, they would find him there with the scariest frown on his face.

"Did you cause troubles today?" He would ask his sister and she would roll her eyes but say nothing in return. Then Yoongi would turn to Jimin and hand him the snacks, "For when you're bored, Jiminie."

"For when you're bored, Jiminie." Chaerin would imitate that in a mocking tone and snatch the bag so she could have all the snacks to herself.

"Do you wanna go anywhere?" Yoongi would ask the younger, making him blush for no reason.

"Don't you have class?" Jimin asked back in his tiny voice.

Yoongi always had the warmest smile when he replied, "I freed my time for you."

Jimin never noticed Chaerin gagging on the side.

"I don't know. I have homework,"

"I wanna go to the movie!" the younger sister chimed in. "There's a new Marvel movie coming out."

Yoongi would send her death glare.

"Move on. Chris Evan will never notice you."

Chaerin would scoff and somehow their little verbal fight would always circle back to Jimin. He didn't understand half of the time, but he was glad to be included.

Jimin would get envious of them because he had no siblings and it got lonely sometimes, but he was thankful that Yoongi and Chaerin would try to involve him in everything they got up to as much as they could.

But he still felt like a bother once in a while.

An extra piece no one needs but is too afraid to discard.

So he was just there.

But then as they were growing older, they drifted apart a little. When Yoongi started his job at his parents' company and Chaerin running her own bakery, things got a bit busy for everyone. Jimin was and is still the only one among them who hasn't found himself a permanent career yet. He graduated from college in Communication and Media (which doesn't satisfy his mother much because she wanted him to specialize in Medicine) and it's been quite hard for him to find a job. He's too inexperienced to be a journalist, and they don't really offer internships in his area. If he has to move out, his parents rather him be jobless.

So jobless he's been.

He knows he isn't the best child his parents can brag about, so he tries his best to please them—follow their direction as much as possible. But sometimes he needs to say no to save his friends.

Especially when his parents said Yoongi's name that one night the matchmaker visited their house, so Jimin just couldn't let that happen. He couldn't bother Yoongi yet again.

He had said instead, "What about Kim Taehyung?"

And he knew immediately he couldn't go back. He had opened a can of worms.

He never saw his mom grinned so wide before, "Yoongi's cousin? The one living in the States? Perfect choice!"

 

-

 

Yoongi watches the ring on Jimin's finger glimmers off the lights and his heart aches. When he sees the soft smile on Jimin's face, he wants to cry. Why does he have to be here?

He wants to just bury himself in his blanket at home and maybe cry his sadness away for a few hours until he's dehydrated. Maybe then he would be too busy about feeling like to think about his actual ty situation.

But he can't do that. He has to be here, watching Taehyung receives congratulations and gifts from their relatives, watching Jimin pauses and turns just to whisper something to Taehyung and giggle together. Maybe they're gossiping about one of their cousins and Yoongi wants to be in on the joke. He's always in on Jimin's inside jokes.

But not anymore.

He feels like an outsider now.

He is an outsider now.

"Stop staring like that," his sister sits down, handing him a drink. The Parks don't serve alcoholic drinks today so he doesn't want to know where his sister got hers.

"Let me be miserable in peace," he grumbles.

She rolls her eyes.

"You're going to expose yourself." She says, "Don't hate Taehyungie. He's innocent."

Yoongi scoffs. Of course he knows that. That's why he's even angrier. How much luck did Taehyung have to do in his past life