Yoongi parked his bike to the side of the road, he glanced through his phone to check if he was at the right apartment building. He got off the motorbike, he sighed as he unbuckled the knot and took the mental container along with him as he walked into the building. It was a pretty wealthy neighborhood compare to the hole he lives in. The guard stopped him as he set foot on the building. He showed the order that was made on his phone. All of the information such as the customer’s name and apartment number were stated. The guard approved his entrance and Yoongi nodded behind his helmet.

He pressed the button for the second time and heard a deep voice from the other side of the door, “Wait a moment please.” The man spoke. Not long after that Yoongi halted to the sound of doors unlocking. As the door swung open, a fairly tall man, greeted Yoongi with a boxy smile on his face, “Mr Kim Tae Hyung?” he asked. The man nodded repeatedly, “Did you order you three jajangmyeon, one tangsuyuk and a large tteobokki?” he asked for confirmation. Taehyung responded, “Yes, that’s true. Come in.” he gave some space for Yoongi to walk in.

“FOOD!!” another voice came in screaming, making Yoongi abruptly stopped his movement and glared at the source of the sound. Thankfully his helmet was completely black and was fully covering his face.

“Calm down Jungkook.” Another unfamiliar voice spoke.

“You can place the food on the table.” Yoongi was actually stunned to how his features were resemblance to a woman. His eyes squinted as he smiled.

“You know how he is when it’s come to food, Jimin.” Taehyung swung his arms around Jungkook’s neck and ruffled his hair. The boy smiled wide, proudly showing his bunny teeth. Upon unboxing the huge metal container, Yoongi took out every single food from their order. Being the way that he was, he didn’t give a from the customer’s conversation, he just wanted to get off work quickly and gulp down some meds to ease his pain. It’s been a week; the headaches weren’t helping him at all. Good thing this is the last order before his shift end. Upon the many things they conversed about there one particular subject struck him. Parents.

Yoongi slammed the box a little bit too hard, making the three people behind him startled. He turned around to face him and slightly bowed to them, “Thank you for purchasing from Infires Restaurant. Please enjoy your meal.” His voice couldn’t be colder. He took the metal box and started to walk away, leaving the three boys dumbfounded.

~~~

Yoongi bowed to the owner of the restaurant as a sign of respect before he got off his shift. He walked out tugging on the strings of his sweater. Being deep in thoughts as he recalled the conversation between his last customer. The word parents triggered him. As it had been three years since he didn’t see them.

~Flashback~

After months of convincing Yoongi to get help for the problems that he was having, it took them several arguments both verbal and physical; for Yoongi to finally agree. Three of them sat on the couch with the 15 years old Yoongi sitting in between his parents. The psychiatrist entered the room and bowed. Both of the parents stood up and bowed as well. The boy stayed on his seat, clearly rebelling against his own decision on agreeing to come for the treatment. Mrs. Min pulled his wrist, asking him to pay his respect to Dr. Lee. He sat still with a pissed expression plastered on his face, refusing to stand up. Dr. Lee smiled and spoke, “It’s okay. Have a seat.” He politely spoke to the parents. Yoongi rolled his eyes in annoyance, “This is a waste of time.” He thought.

Dr. Lee started the session with reconfirming the basic information and the basic run through that Yoongi took right after registering his attendance a while ago. The psychiatrist gave them brief explanation on what was Yoongi seemed to be going through and possible causes. The Min couple was really focused on the briefing while the young boy was completely out of it. Thinking what the does this old man know about what he’s going through. After Dr. Lee went through a few questions with the parents, he directed his attention at Yoongi that had been quiet since they started the session. Being clear as crystal that he was a professional, Dr Lee asked, “Have you ever tried to commit suicide, Mr. Min Yoongi?”

Yoongi finally lifted his head, and maintain eye contact with the psychiatrist.

“Or perhaps harm yourself in anyway?” he continued; hands scribble away on the paper on his table.

Both Mr. and Mrs. Min directed their attention to their youngest son, hoping his answer would be negative but deep inside, they knew it won’t happened like they hoped for.

Yoongi slammed his back to the couch, he answered with no hesitation, “I have.”

Mrs. Min eye were filling up with tears, her heart broke seeing her son hurting but she couldn’t do anything about it. Mr. Min was feeling the same too. Despite being a man that rarely shows his emotions, he felt guilty for not being a good parent for his child. Yoongi didn’t even feeling anything from the sound of sniffling from his own mother. The session went on but Yoongi’s head was out of it since the very beginning.

~End Flashback~

That was when he was 15 years old, his very first session with a psychiatrist. A few months after that, he escaped to Seoul and he’s been here for three years. Living alone, work a couple of job here and there. Life wasn’t the best but at least his physical numbness makes him think about his mental health less.

As he was about to take the last corner, he bumped into a taller figure. He had no intention to bowed as he just wanted to continue walking away. But his collar was suddenly pulled, “Yah! Min Yoongi! Don’t you know how to apologize?”

Even with his hands almost choking Yoongi, the smaller boy didn’t change his expression, he stayed expressionless and spoke, “Ahh it’s you.” It was Choi Sung-Ho. Yoongi didn’t understand why this dimwit would always pick a fight with him. Whether at school or in this ty neighborhood. Of course, Yoongi could throw hands easily, but he always gave up even before the fight started. He thought it would be the best to be beat up to death. At least he won’t need to spend his energy to hurt himself.

The boys behind Sung-Ho was cracking their knuckles, eyes burning, eager to beat the out of the pale boy. “You piss me off.” Sung-Ho tighten his grip, pushing Yoongi against the wall. “Then what are you going to do about it?” Yoongi provoked the tall figure.

Before he knew it, a strike of pain lands on his cheek. Even without looking at the mirror, Yoongi knew the corner of his lips were busted. He smirked, “That’s all you got?” he spit to Sung-Ho’s face, making him loosen his grasp on his collar. Yoongi fell on the ground, not caring to stand up.

“You son of a !” Sung-Ho wiped Yoongi’s saliva on his face before landing a harsh kick to his stomach. Once the leader started the first move, the others followed his actions. Multiple of aggressive kicks was thrown to him. Whether it was on his stomach or his back or even his face, he didn’t make the effort to void them. Yoongi grunts in pain, his body was hurt but he swore that all he wanted was the pain to increase. He wanted Sung-Ho to beat the life out of his body. Maybe then he would find peace.

“Help, Mr. Officer. There’s a group of boys ganging up on this poor boy!”

All of their movements stopped and heads turned to the source of voice. Yoongi blinked a few times to see the figure, standing tall. There wasn’t a slightest fear on her face. “Ae-Ri?” he called out her name.

“There’s four boys here, or should I say worthless pigs? Hurry up sir! Before they get away!” Ae-Ri raised her voice, eyes went cold, her glare sharp as if it was piercing through their soul.

“Come on, Sung-Ho. Let’s go.” He said pulling the taller man away from the crawling Yoongi. Sung-Ho pushed his tongue to the inside of his cheeks in annoyance as he made eye contact with Ae-Ri. He wasn’t sure if there was really an officer nearby or she was jus bluffing but his boys were pestering him to run away. Something was telling him that she was totally bluffing but he didn’t want to take the risk. He spat to the side before mouthing something to Yoongi then scatter away like pigs in the mud.

“You better watch your back.” Ae-Ri read his lips. She frowned as her anger boiled.

She quickened her steps and kneeled down to Yoongi’s level, not caring that her bare knees were touching the filthy alleyway floor. Yoongi sat up and laid his back to the walls, groaning in the process. Ae-Ri try to reach his face but he slapped hands away. “What are you doing here?” His silver ring glazed on the surface of her hands. She didn’t wince, she didn’t even show any kind of reaction despite her hand was bleeding.

“Since I already saw a damsel in distress, I might as well be the knight in the shining armor right?” She joked, trying to ease the tension. But, Yoongi didn’t attempt to at least smile.

“I don’t need your ing help.” He growled.

Not getting any response that she wanted, Ae-Ri sighed, “So you’d rather, I turn a blind eye and just walk away?” her eyes soften, hands still trying to reach his face.

“Of course, why the I would want you to help me?” he yelled despite his actions will cause his already injured abdomen to ache even more. His mouth seemed to stay stubborn but not his body.

Ae-Ri already had her hands landed on his cheeks, cupping his face to force an eye contact “And do you think I give a ? I didn’t do this for you. I do it for myself. So, I’m still gonna be here whether you like it or not.” Her voice went stern; her gaze was worth the shivers Yoongi felt. None of the things that came out from was a lie. Something about her words just pierced his heart. To be honest it wasn’t really her words at all, but the way she said it. It wasn’t like those clueless friends that gave him useless advice as if they know what he’s going through. It wasn’t like those psychiatrists he went to, that talked about his diagnose as if he was just a test subject, a broken object to fix. All her words seemed to mean something to her as well. He couldn’t help it but to fall into submission. He broke his eye contact and clutch Ae-Ri’s wrist. He looked down in defeat. Even though Yoongi didn’t understand what she meant by doing this for her, but it doesn’t mean his action of rejecting her help was the right thing to do. He needed help but some part of his mind refuse it. He stayed there, lips shut as if it was glued together. Ae-Ri took his response as a sign of please help me.

She wrapped his arms around her neck, supporting his weight on her. The baffled boy finally spoke after quite a long silence, “Where are we going?”

“Anywhere but here.” She took a deep breath before starting to help the limping boy walk.

~~~

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