The first time Hoseok took notice of Jimin’s body figure was due to a severe weather alert.

It was winter again. The summer had breezed by as Jimin spent his days avoiding food, and growing smaller by the week. Hoseok decided he could not live with wasting Jimin’s talent and decided to give him free dancing lessons for free whenever he could, which meant seeing each other for at least a couple of hours every other day. Although Hoseok was older than Jimin by two years they still found that they had a lot of things in common. The casual late-night extended classes often ended up with intimate conversations and more than friendly touches. Still, they never took their friendship outside the studio until they were forced to.

Jimin developed a liking for dancing. He found that once he entered a kind of isolated state he no longer felt anxious and, more importantly, he was good at dancing and Hoseok never hesitated to tell him. The rare dance lessons from early spring and summer turned into nearly everyday lessons during the autumn and winter of Jimin’s senior year. Everyday Hoseok found a way to compliment Jimin one way or another, and that melted the youngster’s heart.

A severe snow storm made its way through Seoul one of the nights in which Jimin had gone over to Hoseok’s studio. Usually he would leave within the two or three hours, but when he was able to quickly get the hang of the new choreography he would often stay later and practice. Hoseok would look at him from a side, too tired from dancing for more than five hours straight (he had earlier classes before Jimin), but too mesmerized by Jimin’s smooth moves to leave the boy behind.

By the seventh time Jimin went over the choreography perfectly Hoseok interrupted his movements.

“You’re too good at this. Now I have to find something else to teach you.” He chuckled, “I’m not even sure I can really teach you anything else.” Hoseok got up from his spot next to the speakers and began packing up his stuff. “We should get going, it’s getting late.” He checked his phone for the time. “, it’s already eight thirty. Don’t you have a bed time or something kid?” 

Jimin walked over to his own pile of clothing and water bottles with a smirk on his face. “I’m not a kid. You’re only two years older than me hyung.” He whipped his forehead with his towel and quickly changed his sweaty shirt, avoiding looking into the mirror in front of him.

“Believe me there’s a big difference between being a high school senior and a college sophomore, even if it’s just two years.” Hoseok finished gathering all of his stuff and waited for the younger to get his own things ready. When Jimin had collected all of his things they both walked out to the street where they would usually walk off to their respective vehicles.

A cold breeze hit their faces and immediately turned their skin a light red. Fat snowflakes fell from the sky, and the freezing air carried the near ice flakes across the street. The road was deserted and there was a clear sign on the bus stop saying that the public transportation system would not be working that day in order to prevent accidents.

When Jimin noticed the sign he groaned.

“How are you gonna get home?” Hoseok asked. He jumped around in circles, trying to warm himself.

“I’ll just walk. It’s no big deal, I’ve done it before during summer days.” Jimin smiled when Hoseok began jumping around.

“Yeah but it’s actually freezing cold outside today. Can’t you get a ride from your parents?” Hoseok stopped jumping and stared down directly at Jimin. The younger boy noticed that his friend had gotten closer to him and he was forced to angle his head higher to look at him in the eyes.

“My mother is afraid to drive in the snow, and my father is busy with work right now. But really, it’s alright, I’ll manage.” Jimin observed Hoseok’s face as it changed expressions. He found that the slight tint of red on Hoseok’s face fitted him greatly.

“Well, I don’t want you walking alone at this time of night with this weather. You can just stay over at my place tonight if you want. It’s a Friday so you won’t need to go to school tomorrow morning.”

Hoseok’s offer was tempting. A warm place close to their current location, with a warm meal, and a nice bed, and Hoseok’s company, and his smell, and his cooking, and his- It sounded like a great plan to Jimin.

“Are you sure? I don’t want to intrude, you can just drive me home.”

“You should totally stay over! It’s really not a big deal, and I’m too lazy to drive you all the way home.”

“A-Alright, I guess.” Jimin was sure he would enjoy himself at Hoseok’s house but he didn’t want to seem a burden. At that moment a cold breeze was threatening to cause him frost bite in all ten of his toes changed his mind.

“Cool, so come this way, my car is just a block away.” The boys began walking towards Hoseok’s car and arrived there in just two minutes. As soon as they got into the old black Ford and the engine, they impatiently waited for the car engine to warm in order to heat the car.

Hoseok drove carefully because of the snow. Jimin noticed his friend kept his eyes on the road the whole time with that concentrated expression he loved so much. During the whole ride Jimin stared at Hoseok as he drove them through the snow to his apartment building on the edge of Seoul.

“Is there something on my face?”  Hoseok parked the car and unbuckled himself. He stepped out of the car and gathered all of their stuff from the backseat.

“What? No, there isn’t. What are you talking about hyung?” Jimin walked over to Hoseok and helped him with his sports bag.

“You were staring at me the whole ride. Man, I must really have a something weird in my face or I must be very handsome.”

Jimin immediately turned his red face away from Hoseok. “I wasn’t looking at you, I was just trying to figure out how you were driving. Since I’m almost 18 I’m going to be able to drive, that’s all.”

Hoseok chuckled at Jimin’s excuse but did not push the subject anymore, “Yeah sure.”

They both walked across the garage to the elevator, where Hoseok clicked the 4^th floor button.

“You should probably call your parents and tell them you’re staying over so that they don’t panic and think someone kidnapped you or something.” They walked off the elevator and Hoseok inserted his code in the number pad to open the door to his home. 

Jimin nodded and sent a quick text to his mother, telling her that he would be spending the night at a friend’s house.

When Jimin walked into Hoseok’s apartment the first thing he noticed was the distinct smell of thre-minute noodles. To the right of the entrance was a small worn-out couch, a TV, with an XBOX on the floor, and to the left was a tiny kitchen with a refrigerator (which he later found out was mostly empty), and a couple of counters. Directly in front of the entrance was a small hallway that led to the bathroom, and Hoseok’s room.

Jimin took off his shoes and settled in in the living room couch, where he expected to sleep for the night. “You should go take a shower, I’ll bring you a towel and some pajamas.”

Jimin suddenly noticed that his sweat had cooled down on his body and he probably stunk. He crinkled his nose and nodded. Hoseok gave him a towel and a pair of pajamas that Jimin knew was going to be too big for him.

“Thank you.” He whispered while taking the clothes and walking to the bathroom.

The  bathroom was small, only  giving  space  for  the sink and  toilet on  opposite  sides,  and the bathtub  at  the far end of the room.  Jimin left the pajamas on top of the toilet, not finding any other place to leave them. He walked over to the bathtub and turned the water on. When water began flowing out of the faucet he changed the flow of the water to the shower head. As the water heated up Jimin undressed himself, he very quickly glanced at himself on the mirror cabinet above the sink and shot a disgusted look at the reflected image. When he was completely and the water was nearly too hot to touch he went into the shower and put himself under the water flow.

The water hit him right on the head and flowed down his neck and shoulders to the rest of his body. Jimin sighted and did his best to relax his muscles, massaging his shoulders with his hands. He closed his eyes and stayed under the water for several minutes before proceeding to squirt some liquid soap into his hand and rub himself down to get rid of all the sweat that covered his body. He decided to wash his hair as well, and let the strong strawberry odor from the shampoo fill his nose. He was thinking about the fact that he had never seen Hoseok out of his workout clothes and had never seen him showered and tify before when he heard his friend’s voice through the door.

“I’m gonna cook some instant ramen for dinner.”

“Alright.” Jimin responded. He began wondering how much time he had been in the shower and made sure to quickly wash off the shampoo off his hair and get out of the shower.

When he wrapped the towel around his waist after coming out of the shower there was a scream and steps nearing the bathroom. Hoseok slammed through the door and the sink, putting his hand under thee flowing water. Jimin noticed blood flowing out of one of Hoseok’s fingers.

“Sorry man,” Hoseok opened the medicine cabinet behind the mirror on top of the sink and took out a bottle of rubbing alcohol and a gauze, “I cut my finger pretty badly.” He stopped the water flow and poured the alcohol onto his finger, hissing as the liquid spread across his wound and the sting of the alcohol settled. Hoseok set the alcohol down and pressed the gauze to his finger. He groaned and looked over at Jimin, 

When he noticed his friend’s eyes on him Jimin tried to hide himself behind his arms, wrapping them around his chest. Hoseok’s eyes moved up and down Jimin’s body, as if trying to memorize every crook and cranny of what he could see. He taped the gauze to his finger with a hiss and took a step towards the other. Jimin tried to take a step back but found himself pressed against the bathtub. The atmosphere changed, but he couldn’t quiet put his finger on what it had changed to.

“You’re so…” Hoseok stepped closer to Jimin with a pitiful look on his face. He reached out to Jimin with his hands.

“H-Hyung, you should keep cleaning your finger.” He wasn’t sure what to do, he couldn’t move back but moving forwards would mean bumping into Hoseok. His mind raced, jumping to conclusions and feeling nervous about Hoseok’s thoughts. Did he think he was gross? Ugly? Short?

Fat?

“Small.” Hoseok wrapped his hands around Jimin’s waist and pressed his face into the crook of his neck. Jimin dropped his hands from his chest to his sides as Hoseok pressed himself against his bare chest, trying to tighten the hug.

“I know what you’re doing to yourself.” Hoseok whispered against his neck. Jimin’s breath pitched and his whole body tensed.  His mind was tangled with thoughts all over the place. He wasn’t sure whether to completely break down in his friend’s arms or deny everything. He clutched his hands and opened his mouth, hoping something would come out, only to find that he had nothing to say.

“You don’t…” Hoseok wrapped his arms tighter around his friend and took in a deep breath. “I know you won’t believe me when I say this, but you don’t need to loose any more weight. Please stop hurting yourself.”

Jimin was paralyzed; he wanted to hug his friend back and assure him that he would recover, but he wanted to deny it all and act as if he didn’t know what he was talking about. Still Jimin wondered how Hoseok had found out, he didn’t recall telling him anything. Although they had had personal conversations before in the dance studio after practice Jimin had never told him about his preoccupation with his weight.

“Hyung…” Finally he raised his shaking arms and he wrapped them lightly around Hoseok. He grabbed Hoseok shirt, “You’re going to hurt your finger.” He let go of Hoseok and pushed him away lightly. “You should clean it and make sure you don’t need stitches.” He lightly pushed the man and walked past him.  He grabbed his clothes from the toilet and continued out of the room. Before he left the bathroom he looked back at the saddened friend, “I’ll change in your room, and finish cooking the ramen. You should take a shower.” Jimin walked out to Hoseok’s room across the hall and closed the door behind him.

He found himself in a small room with a bed to the right and small nightstand next to it. There were several posters hanging from the wall, mostly of baseball players. On the table there were some books and papers, randomly placed pictures of Hoseok and his family, and music albums. Jimin recognized a couple of names on the albums but he noticed most of them were underground.

He placed his clothes on the bed and began taking off his towel to dress in Hoseok’s pajamas. While he dressed he thought about what Hoseok had told him. His honest words threatened to bring tears to Jimin’s eyes, but he breathed deeply and sunk all the feelings deep inside. He took a deep breath, promising to punish himself of he dared shed a tear.

When he finished putting on the oversized red and black plaid pajamas Jimin walked out to the kitchen where the water had started boiling. He put the flavoring inside of the pot and put the instant ramen inside. He looked at the clock and made sure he counted three minutes. When he looked around the kitchen he noticed a pair of boiled eggs waiting to be cut in half and a bloody knife next to them.

“How did he manage to cut himself while cutting eggs in half?”  Jimin chuckled and cleaned out the knife as well as he could. He made sure to clean the eggs again just in case and the counter in which they were sitting on. He quickly cut the eggs in half and waited for the noodles to finish. After the three minutes passed he turned off the fire and moved the noodles off the counter. He searched through all the cabinets and found two bowls to put the ramen and the boiled eggs in. When he was finished he took both bowls to the low coffee table and sat down on the floor, waiting for his friend.

Hoseok came out from the shower not long after with red and white Christmas themed pajamas. Hoseok looked around the room for a moment and walked over to Jimin with a smile.   He sat down next to the body and began eating the ramen.

The quiet ruled the room, both boy unsure of what to say. Wind hit the window on the side of the apartment and threatened to break through and take away all the warmth in the room. Hoseok thought getting that repaired would be a pain in the , not to mention expensive, and everything would be a lot better if the wind died down. He didn’t have a way to reinforce the window so all he could do was wait and hope that it would be strong enough to withstand the snow storm. He continued thinking about his window.

Jimin looked around the room and began noticing new things. Hoseok seemed to own a lot of albums, most of them of indie groups and solo artists. Besides that he noticed the great amount of books and the lack of pictures. There were study books everywhere, of every size, and color. There didn’t seem to be a subject Hoseok hadn’t been studying. Unlike in his room there were no frames with pictures of his family in the living room.

They finished their food in silence. Hoseok got up from the floor and laid down on the couch. He searched for the remote control for the TV and turned it on when he found it. Jimin remained on the floor for several minutes and then stood up.

“I’m going to the bathroom.” He began walking off when someone grabbed his wrist.

Hoseok looked at him with a saddened expression.

“Don’t  go.”

Ladies and gentlemen we are full speed ahead and the end is nearing! This was definetely my favorite chapter to write.

I need to stop writing these in the middle of the night because editing them has become writing half of the chapter’s details more than anything else.

I have to admit I wasn’t fully sure on how to finish this chapter, but I’m very satisfied with the "open-ended" ending.

Did he or did he not go? It's  really up to you to determine.

That probably makes me a bad writer.