But Then I Fell in Love

Chapter Two

It started with a bruise.

A small but dark bruise on the inside of Yoongi's wrist. A small, dark bruise shaped much like the pad of a thumb.

"What happened, Hyung?" Jimin asked during their shared music class one day.

Yoongi's eyes followed Jimin's and he immediately pulled the sleeve of his shirt over the bruise. "I-I'm not sure, honestly," Yoongi said. "It just popped up recently. Must have hit it on something and don't remember."

Jimin frowned. "That's an awfully deep bruise to not remember."

Yoongi shrugged. "You know me," he said. "I get so caught up in my studies that I often forget everything else."

Jimin nodded. That was true of Yoongi. Yoongi was a music major. The one thing - other than Namjoon, of course - that he could always rely on and find happiness in as a kid was music. That's why he'd decided to pursue it at university. And Yoongi was nothing if not dedicated. It sometimes almost became a problem. He'd forget to eat, wouldn't get enough sleep, and could often think of nothing else but his musical creations. His friends worried about him sometimes, but he always waved away their concerns.

Yoongi was also almost impossibly pale. Jimin knew that such milky white skin could show a bruise to be much darker than it actually may have been. So, for the time being, he decided to set his curiosity aside and leave Yoongi be.

But then there was another bruise. And another. And still more. And Jimin became more than concerned. He would sometimes point them out, but Yoongi would often become uncharacteristically angry when Jimin did so. So Jimin stopped mentioning them, but continued to notice them popping up all over Yoongi's wrists. He was worried there were even more, but Yoongi always wore long sleeved shirts, so Jimin couldn't be sure. His mind often wandered to the terrifying thought that Yoongi might be hurting himself. It became such a concern, that Jimin considered bringing it up to Namjoon.

But because he couldn't be sure of anything, and because of how upset Yoongi would often get, Jimin held himself back. He decided that if he ever noticed any bruises anywhere other than Yoongi's wrists, he would tell Namjoon first thing.

-

As the year trudged on, the guys began to see Yoongi less and less. They all assumed it was because he'd gotten too involved in his music as summer vacation approached. Finals were coming up, and it was understood that all of them were spending more time studying.

No one but Jimin noticed that when they did manage to get Yoongi to join them for a few short hours, Chul was never with him. Jimin would ask about him, and Yoongi would insist that Chul, much like everyone else, was deep in his studies and simply couldn't spare the time.

Jimin also began to notice that when they were all together, Yoongi was constantly checking his watch and/or phone. It never failed that after almost exactly two hours of hanging out, Yoongi would have to leave. No one knew why, but again, everyone assumed it was due to finals and the need to study and complete his music projects. They all figured that if Yoongi could be found anywhere, it would be in the production booths at the school.

But Jimin decided one day to tell his friends that he, too, needed to leave shortly after Yoongi did. And he followed Yoongi back to his shared apartment with Chul. Yoongi wasn't heading to work on his music; at least, not that day. And Jimin marched right up to the door with a made up excuse to ask Yoongi if he'd accidentally left a notebook at the restaurant where they'd all been.

He was about to knock when he heard a raised voice coming from the other side of the door.

"I'm not going to ask you again. Why are you late?"