jimin walked into school the next day with nearly half a bottle of foundation caked onto his neck and even a thin layer on his face. his pink lips were set in a prominent frown and his eyes burned with exhaustion and overall -- he just really felt everything but okay today. he felt fragile, like a glass doll. he huffed loudly and twisted the lock on his locker, ready to stuff his bookbag into the confined metal box and get the weight off of his shoulders -- quite literally.
"jimin hyung!" jungkook's voice rings loudly through the hall, the older reflexively turning to whoever had called out to him. through the crowd he could, somehow, see jungkook running through. from where jimin was standing he could hear the bubbliness and energy in his voice -- and actions. he pants softly as he stops next to the older, a small smile playing on his lips. he's bent over slightly and his palms are pressed against his thighs, still, he smiled.
"hi, jungkookie." jimin says softly, bringing a small, yet tired smile to his puffy lips. jungkook stood up and nudged jimin gently with his shoulder as concern clouded over him. the younger leaned against the locker beside jimin's, still facing the blonde. he hadn't missed the way jimin's smile dropped at the end of jungkook's name after he turned away.
"hey, what's wrong?" jungkook asks softly. he has the urge to hold jimin's small, soft hands in his but he stops himself; he figures the night they had cuddled -- and just got very close to each other had been too far. he didn't want to come off like he was pushing himself onto the older. that was the last thing he wanted. “did something happen with…?”
jimin gives jungkook a small, sharp singular nod and shuts his locker. he turns to the taller, mindlessly allowing his body to relax against jungkook's chest. he sighs and wraps an arm around jungkook's waist, keeping his books balanced on his other arm. "i'm tired, kook." jimin mumbles. "i'm so fucking tired."
"don't think like that, hyung." jungkook frowns and pulls jimin closer to him in a tight hug. he could feel jimin's warm breath hit his neck as he inhaled and exhaled slowly.
the older pulls away from jungkook slightly, enough to look at him face-to-face. “not like that, kook. i’m tired because i’m so sick of my mom’s shit and besides, i don’t sleep much, or very well, at night. but i did when i was with you?”
jungkook felt relief flood his body, his hand unconsciously rubbing circles onto jimin’s back. the blonde was still pressed against his chest -- not that he was complaining. "something needs to be done about this, jimin hyung." jungkook says, "god knows what will happen if this continues."
"it's been going on for years, jungkook." jimin tells him. he steps back and leans against his locker, trying to ignore the slight throbbing by his right eye. "it's fine."
"jimin." jungkook says, running his fingers through his bangs. jimin had his head against the locker and his eyes were closed, eyebrows furrowed. the younger felt his heart clench at the sight -- only now, had he realized just how bad jimin looks. his eye bags were dark and jungkook had only begun to notice the slight swelling around the blonde's right eye. he let his fingers brush over it gently, jimin's eyes widening as he hissed in pain. he grabbed jungkook's wrist out of reflex and pulled his hand away, "jimin? what happened?"
"she hit me this morning." jimin mutters, he released his grip on jungkook's wrist and dropped his gaze to his beat up converse. "she...she, uh, choked me last night."
neither of them spoke for a few minutes -- jimin didn't know what to say or do, he could see the anger building up in jungkook. jungkook just repeatedly told himself to stay calm, not wanting to scare -- or worse, hit jimin.
"this is what i mean when-"
"can we not talk about it right now?" jimin cuts jungkook off mid sentence. the brunette looks as if he wants to argue against it, but instead nods and lets out a heavy sigh.
"fine, yeah. we'll drop it, for now." jungkook presses his lips into a thin line before wrapping an arm around jimin's shoulders, guiding him towards their class. "let's get to class, we're already late."
