He sat and watched Jimin through the window of the 7-Eleven for an hour before he was mentally calm enough to approach him. He didn’t want another episode of crumbling into Jimin’s arms or Jimin feeling the need to take off work to care for him, he had him and his father to support.

Feeling the need for Cheetos and Jimin’s smile, Taehyung turned off the ignition of his car, grabbed his wallet and walked across the street into the store.

Jimin heard the bell ring as Taehyung entered and called out to him. “Taehyung! How are you?” he asked brightly.

“I’m okay,” Taehyung replied pulling his hood securely around his head to hide the cuts from the attack. He didn’t want Jimin to see them and make a fuss.

“Do you want anything?” Jimin asked. He reached behind the counter and brought out a few bags of snacks. “I have plenty to share.”

Taehyung shrugged and walked over to the counter to see what there was. Sure enough, there were Cheetos among the bags. He picked them up and smiled. Jimin stopped him when he reached for his wallet.

“There’s no need, I already bought these,” he insisted. Taehyung felt bad and he didn’t want to just take Jimin’s food, he had done so much for him already. He pulled out a bill and slid it across the counter.

“I insist, you’re too kind to me,” He said as Jimin shook his head.

“That’s what friends are for! You’re helping me by eating some of this, I always get too much junk and it’s going to hurt what little abs I have,” Jimin chuckled, sliding the bill back. Taehyung smirked and lightly pushed the bill back.

“I mean it, just take it. You and your abs don’t scare me,” Taehyung laughed. Jimin tilted his head in interest. 

“Oh yeah?” he challenged jumping over the counter and grabbing Taehyung in a hold. Taehyung fought to escape but couldn’t. He was laughing until all of a sudden the tight hold was too much to bear. Flashes of Jungkook’s attack flashed and he cried out, shoving against Jimin. Jimin sensed the change in the atmosphere and let go, looking at Taehyung with concern.

“I’m sorry…” Taehyung mumbled. He began to notice the breeze on his neck and color rushed to his face as he realized Jimin was staring at the marks he was trying to hide. Jimin’s mouth gaped and he rushed over to Taehyung.

“Turn around, now,” he said seriously. Taehyung didn’t bother to fight him, he knew when he was at a loss. Jimin audibly gasped at the cuts and stitches that were healing on the back of Taehyung’s head and neck. “What happened?” Jimin said softly.

Taehyung looked down silently. He didn’t know what to say, Jimin couldn’t know the truth, or the whole truth anyway. “I was mugged the other night. The guy jumped me from behind,” he said, telling a half-truth.

Jimin sighed and turned Taehyung to face him. “Why were you hiding it?” he asked. Taehyung looked at his shoes and shrugged.

“I didn’t want you to make a big deal out of it,” he said plainly. The bottom of his hoodie became the most interesting thing in the world as he stood and ran his fingers over it over and over while Jimin stood and watched him in silence.

“If I didn’t care, I wouldn’t be your friend,” Jimin frowned, glancing back at the wounds. 

Taehyung took a step back and grabbed the chips, leaving the money on the counter. “I’m gonna go…”

Jimin ran behind him and grabbed his shoulder before he could reach the door. “Hey, I don’t know why, but you and I have this connection, I can’t place it but it’s there. Call me crazy, but I value our friendship, what little time it has existed. You can come to me for good, bad, anything. I’ll always be here for you.”

Taehyung refused to face him, he didn’t want Jimin to see the tears streaming down his face. His shoulder lightly throbbed from Jimin grabbing it, but he ignored it.

“Tomorrow morning at eleven, meet me here. I’m off work and I wanna treat you. You seem to be going through hell lately and I want to see you smile,” Jimin pleaded. Taehyung nodded and shrugged Jimin’s hand off his shoulder and walked out of the door.

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” he said over his shoulder. He jogged back to his car and wiped the tears. How he would get away tomorrow to hang out with Jimin, he didn’t know, but he would deal with it when the time came.

He was about to pull up when he heard tapping on his passenger window. His face showed his surprise when he saw Irene smiling back at him. He rolled down his window and she leaned in.

“I was walking and thought it was you in here! How are you feeling?” Irene asked. T