The first time he put a finger down his throat had been a particularly bad day.

As soon as he entered the school and walked to his locker he noticed the graffiti drawn over it. He opened the locker and took out the cleaning spray. It had become a routine to clean the outside of his locker almost every day. At first he tried to find out who had been vandalizing his locker, but after several tries he stopped caring for it.

When he finished cleaning the ink off the metal door he grabbed his necessary books and headed off to homeroom.

He walked into his class and an immediate wave of laughter traveled through the room. Ignoring the laughs and hoping someone had given the punch line to an amazing joke right as he walked into the class Jimin walked to the back of the class and sat down. It was only when he looked up at the whiteboard that he noticed the crude drawing.

Someone had drawn a dirty, hairy, fat pig on the board, except that instead of a pig’s head there was a bad, but clear enough, drawing of his own face.

The students around him pointed and laughed, whispering amongst themselves. He felt a burning sensation rushing up his body and settling down on his chest. Jimin clenched his hands and shut his eyes tightly. As much as he tried to stop it a small whimper escaped his throat, and a tear slid down his cheek. He buried his face into his hands.

“Oh my God he’s crying!” One of the girls pointed out. There was a moment of silence that was quickly broken.

“It’s because it’s so beautifully accurate. A masterpiece!” The whole class burst out laughing again.

Jimin felt more tears coming so he got out of his seat and ran to the bathroom with his hands covering most of his face. He rushed through the hallways, ignoring the other students.

In the bathroom he locked himself inside of a stall and let out a loud cry. Tears started flowing down his face.

“Why? Why? Why?” Jimin whispered to himself while he tried to hold himself together. He pressed his palms against his temples and tried calming down.

It was moments like these in which he felt every little amount of food he had put in his body.   Even a small toast, or a glass of juice would bother him, he swore he could feel it all in his stomach, weighting him down.

“I shouldn’t have eaten this morning.” He fell to his knees in front of the toilet.

The floor and toilet were dirty, but that was the last thing he cared about. Someone could have been forcing him to the toilet and still all he would care about would be the food weighting down in his stomach.

Jimin continued sniffling, but no more tears fell down his eyes. He leaned in to the toilet, hovering over it.

He had seen it being done on TV shows several times, a couple of music videos, and movies too.

He had heard about the consequences, the way it messes with your head and s up your teeth.

Jimin wished he cared about all that stuff, but all he wanted was to get rid of the damn food, no matter the cost.

He slid his finger down his throat hesitantly, poking and feeling around for some kind of reaction. He finally felt a strong sensation, making its way up his body, as if something was forcing itself up and out  his mouth. He gagged, but nothing came out.More tears fell down his face, almost hysterically.

Right when he was about to try again someone came into the bathroom.

Jimin wiped his  face and came out of the stall, finally returning to class.

~

Jimin had been mingling between diets and skipping meals. There was no definite way he went about his eating habits, he knew is that he wanted to lose weight, and the older he became the more evident that seemed. 

Everywhere he looked there were men; tall, tan, and buff men. In magazines, in TV, even the radio. Jimin learned to avoid all of those things and surrounded himself with books. At least books weren’t as bluntly obvious about what was hot.

He had been rereading one of his favorite books during lunch time and ignoring the plate of food in front of him when someone approached his table and sat beside him. The sudden appearance of another person startled Jimin and he lost his place in the page he was reading. He kept the book in front of his face to hide himself, and peeked at the new person from the top of his book.

His eyes met with hair dyed obnoxious shade of orange.

Who the would do that to their hair?, he thought.

“So?” Apparently the person in front of him had asked Jimin something but his hair had been so mesmerizing Jimin didn’t hear him.

“W-What?” He still held his book up, hiding his face behind it.

“What’s your name?  I don’t think I’ve seen you before, are you new too?” The boy seemed legitimately curious.

“I’m Park Jimin.” Jimin couldn’t remember the last time that someone from his school had talked to him without any insults in-between each word.

“Park Jimin…” The stranger repeated the name several times and smirked.

“Well, I’m Kim Tae-“He was interrupted by a bypasser.

“Hey Taehyung! How much do you think the secret service will give me for your brain?” The guy started laughing.

“What kind of insult is that?” Jimin attempted to whisper to himself, but either Taehyung had a sharp ear or he spoke too loudly.

“They think I’m weird, so they want to take my brain and give it to the secret service to dissect and stuff. I don’t know I don’t think they can come up with anything better. It’s a little sad.” Taehyung sighted.

Jimin looked at the boy for a couple more seconds and lost interest. He wanted to talk and get to know the new kid, he seemed interesting enough, but last time he tried making a friend…Well, he couldn’t remember the last time he tried.

“What are you reading?” Taehyung shifted in his seat and tried to read the title of the book.

“Uh, Flowers for Algernon.” Jimin responded shyly, trying to avoid a longer conversation.

“Hm. Never read it. Anyway, what’s your deal, why are you sitting here? Also, you gonna eat your lunch?” Again Taehyung looked genuinely curious.

“I…don’t really get along with people…And no I’m not.” Jimin finally gave up and closed his book. He wasn’t going to get any reading done with this guy talking to him. Either way, he could at least enjoy a casual conversation before Taehyung him and became another insulting stranger like everyone else he decided.

“People tend to be douchebags, I don’t blame you.” Taehyung took Jimin’s lunch and began eating it. Jimin observed as the new acquaintance took his cold hamburger and stuffed his mouth. Taehyung continued eating and Jimin observed.

There was a certain beauty to him. His skin was smooth and taken care of, and Jimin thought he could see a slight amount of makeup around his eyes. He had a handsome face and a nice body. The school uniform fit him well. What really cough Jimin’s attention was Taehyung’s wrists. Taehyung had to lightly lift his long sleeves up from his arms to not dirty them with his food and at that moment Jimin was able to spot a gauze taped to one of his wrist.

Quickly realizing what it was Jimin looked away and didn’t dare ask.

“So I’m new here.” Taehyung spoke with his mouth full of nasty, greasy hamburger. “And I managed to make everyone else hate me already, so you wanna be friends or something?” His dark eyes landed on Jimin’s and for the first time he noticed how dark and deep Taehyung’s eyes were.

“I don’t think you would want to be friends with me.” Jimin responded.

“Why not? You seem cool. Also you don’t make me want to kill myself so that’s rad.” Taehyung casually continued eating.

“I have a reputation.”

“Doesn’t everyone?”

“I’m not really someone you wanna hang out with, believe me.”

“But you’re cool. And kind of cute.”

“What?” Jimin blushed and Taehyung started laughing.

“Yeah man you’ve got a cute face. Cute fluffy cheeks, eye fat, and . I thought girls liked that, aren’t you popular around girls?”

“They don’t…”

“Oh. Well, I know guys like that.”

“I’m not sure I’m into guys?” Jimin had never thought about it before and it truly didn’t interested him. He just faced the fact that no one would ever like him no matter the of the person.

“Oh !” Taehyung exclaimed and startled Jimin.  “You’re the guy who that’s douche drew a picture of in class aren’t you?” Jimin cringed at the memory of the picture.

“Yes…”

“Fat Jimin. Wow, that’s creative.”

“Not after two years.” Jimin whispered. There was a moment a silence before Taehyung talked again.

 “What do you think cows think about when they fall sideways and they can’t get up?”

Writing, I find, in some way or another, always ends up having some kind of personal connection  or, to some degree, has a personal experience in it. 

This chapter is a little longer than the others, andd finallyTaehyung comes around! The question he asks Jimin actually becomes slightly important near the end of the fic so don't forget it~

Thank you very much to all of you who have subscribed and have commented! I really appreaciate it and I hope you enjoy reading the story as much as I enjoyed writing it!