cute

• twenty-five •

It was like there was an elephant in the room that only Jimin could see. At least, that was what if felt like because everyone seemed to be totally normal. Everyone except for him. At first, he thought he might be having a heart attack because his heart started pounding so fast in his chest, faster than it ever had before. Then he felt like his whole body was on fire because of how hot he got. There was a point where the little had convinced himself he was about to die.

But then a plate of chicken nuggets was placed down in front of him and he forgot about that thought for a moment.

Everyone seemed totally normal. Jin was stuffing nuggets into his mouth causing his cheeks to puff out and tomato sauce to smear on the corner of his lips. Namjoon was wiping at the boy's face, telling him to calm down or else he might choke on his food. Tae was feeding Jungkook who decided he didn't feel like feeding himself. The younger was smiling contentedly, swinging his feet back and forth.

And then there was Jimin with his head lowered to hide his bright red face behind his bangs. He was sitting on Yoonie's lap. He didn't know why but it was making him feel all fuzzy inside. Yoongi wasn't really helping with the way he still had one hand just barely wrapped around Jimin's waist, the other along his side to continue looking through his phone.

"Where do nuggies come from?" Jin asked as he finally managed to get through his mouthful of food.

"Chickens," Namjoon answered as he yet again wiped some sauce off the littles face.

"What? Do they have them inside their tummies?" Jungkook questioned.

Namjoon looked across the table and to the boy, unsure of how to tell him that the chickens had to be killed - he didn't want to ruin anyone's time in little space.

"Well, uh . . ."

Yoongi's attention was pulled away from his phone and instead to Namjoon who was now struggling to make up a plausible lie for the littles but his eyes were on the man for only a few seconds before he realised how . . . upset Jimin seemed? He wasn't sure. The boys head was lowered and he had been quiet this entire time. In fact, he'd barely even moved – practically frozen in his place.

"Minnie," Yoongi softly said, suddenly concerned for the boy.

"Yeah?" The boys voice was small and quiet. He was feeling awkward and didn't want to draw attention to himself.

Yoongi leaned forward, his chest pressing closer against Jimin's back which did nothing to help the younger boy's racing heart. Upon catching sight of the boy's red face, Yoongi pressed the back of his hand against Jimin's head.

The little just about fell off the seat.

As suspected, Jimin's skin was hot. Yoongi pulled away his hand and slid back in the seat.

"Excuse us for a minute."

Yoongi stood up which caused Jimin to drop onto the ground. The older man grabbed the littles hand and lead him down the hallway, pushing into the bathroom where he closed the door behind them.

"Are you feeling ok?" Yoongi questioned the boy as he turned Jimin to face him. His face was still red, still hot.

"U – uh," the younger boy didn't really know what to say because he didn't really know what this feeling was in him.

Yoongi lifted the toilet seat, "if you're going to vomit, do it in here."

Jimin quickly shook his head, "n – no."

The older man frowned as he closed the toilet lid, instead pulling Jimin over to sit on it. He bent down in front of the boy so they were almost at eye-level, Yoongi a little lower down.

"My heart is just . . . just g – going boom boom l - lots," Jimin mumbled, hitting his hand against his chest. His eyes flickered down to his lap.

An 'o' shape came over the older man's mouth. Naively, Yoongi assumed that Jimin was probably on the verge of a panic attack. He looked around the room, as if one of the shampoo bottles would give him an answer.

"Am I dying Yoonie?" Jimin asked as worried tears began to fill his eyes. He didn't want to die yet, he still had to finish his nuggets.

"No, of course not Minnie," Yoongi did the last thing he'd except himself to do and cupped the boys cheeks, "you're fine."

Jimin's heart felt like it was about to rip out of his chest. It was pounding so fast, especially with Yoongi's hands on him like this.

"Yoonie . . ."

"Yeah?"

"I – I think I'm al – allgeric to you," that could be the only reasonable explanation for this.

". . . allergic?"

Jimin nodded his head, "when you touch me my heart goes crazy."

The statement took the older man back. He was left speechless. Had Jimin really just . . . admitted that? He didn't want to jump to conclusions but it was difficult not to considering this entire situation. But he didn't want to . . . didn't want to get his hopes up.

That thought further stunned Yoongi. Was he actually getting giddy thinking that Jimin may like him more as a friend? 'That's completely absurd' he told himself. Besides, big space Jimin and little space Jimin are two different people. What Jimin said right now couldn't be taken seriously, he was in the headspace of some innocent kid. But . . . that wouldn't make sense, considering how their friends were. How their relationships were.

"Yeah, maybe you are allergic to me."

Yoongi couldn't let himself get caught up in these confusing feelings. It would be too distracting.