YOU BEFORE I KNEW | JIKOOK ✔

4. ONE STEP AT A TIME

It probably seems childish for Jimin to run off all day, unheard of until the sky becomes barren with darkness and the streetlights turn on. Maybe it is, but in Jimin's case, it's the only possible way for him to collect his thoughts and arrange them in a way that makes sense - at least slightly.

With his hands stuffed into his sweatpant pockets, it doesn't surprise him that when he approaches the sidewalk leading up to the house, that the lights are on. This is an unhealthy routine that the two brothers have found themselves in regularly. Fight, go without talking to each other the whole day, run into each other before bed, and fight again. Jin always waits, even if time breaches the early morning.

When Jimin reaches the porch, he waits for some time, simply standstill and silent. He listens to the nature that surrounds him and puts him at ease, allowing it to sink in before all hell breaks loose. The soles of his shoes shift uncertainly against the newly painted wood and his hand hangs limply against the door handle. He takes a deep breath. Here goes nothing.

Jimin pops the door open and closes it behind him quietly, leaning against it. It doesn't take him any longer than five seconds to spot Jin sitting at the kitchen table, stirring what smells to be a freshly brewed cup of coffee. He doesn't blame him for needing a booster. It's three in the morning and more than half of the neighborhood is probably asleep.

"Where were you?" Jin breaks the silence, however the tension remains stout and resilient.

Jimin doesn't look at him, instead his eyes avert to the living room and settle on the couch. "I was clearing my head," he replies quietly.

"For eighteen fucking hours? You usually at least send me a text, Jimin. You didn't even acknowledge any of the messages I had sent you. What if something bad happened?" Jimin can hear movement in the kitchen but he doesn't budge.

"What if something bad happened? It's not like you would care. You're too busy with hook-ups and partying to realize all of the shit that you've been putting me through. Jeongguk Hyung has been more tolerable than you lately and that's saying something." A hand lands next to Jimin's head, against the door. It's loud and it makes him flinch to meet Jin's eyes.

"Do you honestly think that lowly of me? You have a roof over your head because of me. You're fed because of me. Without me, you're nothing." Now that Jin is closer, breathing against his cheek, Jimin can catch the faint aroma of alcohol on his breath. And it infuriates him.

Jimin pushes Jin back by his shoulders and glares at him. "And yet I'm still the one taking care of you. We have this kind of money from mom and dad's will. And you spend it all on alcohol! They would be disappointed in you-"

Cut off by a hand colliding sharply with his cheek, Jimin drops his head and cradles where it stings, chewing on his lip to hold back tears. A suffocating silence follows where neither of them say anything.

Jimin can't seem to lift his head but doesn't find the desire to. He walks by Jin and hurries up the stairs, locking himself in his bedroom. He closes the door and slides against it slowly, allowing himself to cry. But he does it quietly, muffling whatever leaves his mouth with his hand. There isn't much that he can think of that amounts to the pain of being hit by his own brother. It stings, and not just physically.

Suddenly his phone begins to buzz restlessly. He pulls it out of his pocket sluggishly and opens up a specific notification that leads him to just exactly what he feared from last night.

Somebody had not only taken photos of Jeongguk talking to him, but also entering his bedroom. Just when he thought this night couldn't get any worse, it somehow found a way. Reading over the comments people have left makes his stomach turn.