#vocals and dancing and expressions so AGGRESSIVE i’m clutching my chest lmao

[suga-kookiemonster]

ateez really on demon time, omg

[borathae]

↳ Index [#03 Act Three: Melodies in the Night]

Warnings: feels, small fight, one curseword is used like once lmao

Wordcount: 6k

Your Monday starts off normal with you having to attend your lectures and spending your lunch break on one of the benches outside before you have to get back to your studies.

You are currently on your way to European History of Music with your heart racing in your chest from nervousness because of who you will meet, when you spot Jungkook in the hallways. His head is lowered, exhaustion is written all over his features. You call his name, making him look up. His face lights up, he fixes his posture before running up to you with a bright smile.

“Hey ___ how are you?” Jungkook gives you a quick hug like he always does.

“Good, practice is killing me but otherwise good.”

“Yeah, I feel you. The teacher in my jazz vocals class thinks it’s a good idea to make me practice scat for two hours straight”, Jungkook sighs, “I swear to god if I have to sing one more boobidibibidi today I’ll literally rip out my vocal chords.”

You snort, laughing afterwards.

“Hey, don’t laugh, okay? Do you even know how annoying it can get if someone yells at your face to ‘feel the music’ and to ‘become the trumpet’?” Jungkook throws his arms up in annoyance, “How the hell do I become a trumpet?!” he squeaks, widening his eyes comically big. 

The whine in his voice and pout on his lips makes you laugh even harder. He's so adorable sometimes.

“What’s so funny?” Jimin has joined you right at this moment. He had just finished his dance practice, his whole body sweaty from the intense training, when he saw you and Jungkook laughing in the hallways. He has the strap of his gym bag draped over his left shoulder, holding it with one arm.

“Jungkook needs to become a trumpet, according to Mister Jung”, you tell him between laughter.

“What the?” Jimin starts laughing with you, holding onto Jungkook’s arm.

Jungkook just pouts, staring defeated at the hallway in front of him.

“I hate you two so much”, he mumbles with a certain whine in his voice.

“No you don’t, you love us”, Jimin teases, draping his arm over Jungkook’s shoulder to hug him aggressively.

Jungkook accepts it with a cute frown.

“Come on, cheer up Kook. You know we are not laughing at you but with you”, you say, hugging his arm and looking at him with innocent eyes.

Jungkook looks between you and Jimin before he scoffs.

“Yeah, whatever. Just get off of me, you are too hot”, he murmurs, shaking his body vigorously.

You let go of his arm, still giggling.

“But now that we have so miraculously met in the hallways, do you guys want to hang out down by the pond?” Jimin asks.

“You two go ahead. I still have a lecture in like ten minutes”, you tell him, stopping in front of a coffee vending machine.

“Noo, ___ come on please just skip it and join us. We haven’t seen you in ages”, Jimin whines, pouting.

You shake your head, pressing the button for Latte Macchiato. The machine gets to work, humming its familiar melody. Coffee pours out, light brown and watery, definitely not the most delicious looking coffee, but it has to do for the time being. Sidenote - it is definitely not worth the outrageous four bucks this godforsaken school asks for it  - sidenote end.

“I really can’t. I’m sorry guys”, you take the cup of coffee out of the machine, handing it to Jimin, “hold that for me, will ‘ya.”

You press the button once again, watching the machine work. Coffee as black as the night pours out and into the cup, it looks a lot more appetizing than your coffee, rich in color with a faint smell of roasted beans hanging in the air. Is it worth four bucks however? That is a question worth asking.

“Why do you need two cups of coffee? Or are you buying us some?” Jimin asks, his eyes sparkling in excitement at your alleged present.

You shake your head, pulling out the now finished black coffee from the machine.

“It’s not for you sorry. It’s for someone else.”

Jimin pouts, huffing out air. He was really looking forward to that coffee.

“Someone else?” Jungkook asks.

“Yep, Min Yoongi.”

Jimin nearly drops your coffee, Jungkook’s mouth falls open. They look at each other for a moment then back at you.

“Min Yoongi? What the hell ___. Why?” Jungkook asks with his brows furrowed.

You shrug your shoulders, putting a lid on both yours and Yoongi’s coffee cups.

“I don’t know. I just feel like it”, you say nonchalantly.

Jimin and Jungkook exchange another look, an annoyed one.

“Didn’t we tell you not to hang out with him?” Jimin asks, his voice is deep.

“Yeah you did and I decided to get my own idea on him. Everyone deserves a chance to prove themselves.”

“Yeah? Well, not this creep. He is dangerous ___, didn’t Jieun’s story convince you?”, Jimin looks beyond angry.

“His ex? Jimin, there are some pretty mean exes out there, who like to badmouth the other.”

“I mean, the whole school’s talking about it, so there must be some truth about it”, he retorts.

“Oh so just because the whole school is talking about it, it means that it is automatically true? You do know that that’s how bullying starts? Believing everything the others say and joining in on the hate train. But not me. Innocent until proven guilty, not the other way around, that’s my motto. So let me give him this coffee or so god help me.”

Jimin lowers his head, grinding his teeth. His eyes shoot daggers your way, they are as cold as ice, not an ounce of fondness in them. You have seen this look before, when he had yelled at Yoongi on your first day of school and you don’t like it one bit that it is directed at you this time around. But you won’t give in, you had decided to give Yoongi this coffee yesterday night when your thoughts had kept you from falling asleep. There is nothing against a little gesture of goodwill, or in your case a gesture of apology for disturbing his late night practice.

You look at Jungkook for help, only to see him gawk at you with widened eyes. But his expression changes as soon as he feels your eyes on him, now concern is washed over his face.

“Come on Jimin, control your temper. She is just trying to give him a coffee”, he says, throwing a protective arm over your shoulder.

New anger burns in Jimin’s eyes as he stares down his friend.

“Then go on and give him that stupid coffee, but don’t come crying to us when you find him taking pics of your ass or some other fucked up shit”, Jimin growls, handing you back the cup before stomping off. The cup nearly crushes in his fingers from how tightly he had pressed it into yours.

So he is actually going to just run away and leave you standing, all because you decided to give Yoongi a chance? How much hatred does Jimin have in his heart for this man? You feel sick to the stomach.

You shake Jungkook’s arm off of you, looking at him. His eyes are big, looking after the disappearing figure of his friend before looking back at you. You both stay silent for a moment, staring at each other with clenched jaws.

“I’m not going to change my mind”, you growl.

“I know you won’t, you are stubborn like that”, he murmurs, scratching the back of his head.

“Thank you Jungkook for not trying to stop me”, you smile.

He hums, nodding his head.

“Just be careful ___. I mean it”, Jungkook whispers.

His eyebrows are creased, his lips turned downwards. He doesn’t seem to be angry at you, worried yes but not angry like Jimin.

“I’m always careful”, you reassure him.

Jungkook relaxes, sending you a lopsided smile, averting his gaze to the ground shyly.

“I’ll see you soon?” it is more of a question than a statement.

“I’ll see you soon”, you tell him, nodding.

Jungkook turns on his heels, running down the corridors to catch up with Jimin.

“Oh! And Jungkook!”

He turns around with curious eyes.

“I know you two aren’t bad people, just-“, you swallow down the words you actually wanted to say, “-take good care of Jimin, yeah?”

Jungkook nods obediently, giving you a thumbs-up.

“I will, don’t you worry”, he assures you before he turns around and rushes down the long hallway.

You release a sigh. Telling them about your plan went better than you had feared. You were sure they were going to just throw you away and start treating you like they did Yoongi in the hallway all those weeks ago, but they didn’t. Your heart was right about them. Sure Jimin is angry with you, but at least he didn’t officially end your friendship and call you a ‘weirdo fetishist” in front of everyone to witness. There is still hope. You are going to prove it to them, to yourself and to Yoongi that he is worth it. With your mind set on making your goal happen, you strut to the lecture hall. Hopefully he is here today.

The lecture hall is already filled with students when you enter, most of them chatting lively over last week’s lecture. You look around the room, scanning the rows and rows of students for the man you are burning to see. You finally spot him, one row further up than last week. His hood is pulled over his head and the cords of his earbuds tangle down the side of his face. His fingers move over the table surface as if he was playing the piano, it looks mesmerizing as always. You watch him for a moment, gathering courage. You can do this, just walk up to him, smile and hand him the coffee. It’s no big deal.

Your heart beats faster with every step you take closer to him, you clutch the paper cups in your hands, they feel hot, burning your fingertips. Just two more steps. The song must have changed, Yoongi’s fingers speed up, dancing over the surface. One more step. His eyes are fixated on the sheet music on the table in front of him. The last step. You are right in front of him, getting a good look at his hands. They are big, his fingers are long, almost boney, and thick veins scatter all over his porcelain skin. His hands are the total opposite from his delicate face and petit figure. Just like his deep voice, they almost seem fake, like they don’t actually belong to him.

It takes Yoongi a moment to notice your presence. His fingers stop, his head raises. He looks at you through his lashes, being obviously on defense mode if you decide to just dump the coffee on his head. It wouldn’t be the first time someone had tried it.

“Hello. How are you?” you send him a smile.

Yoongi cocks up an eyebrow, he is suspicious of you.

“Umm, I-I bought you this coffee. It’s, it’s still warm”, you stutter, putting one of the cups down in front of him.

He stares at it, looks back at you, stares at the cup again.

“It’s not poisoned or anything, just normal black coffee”, you had only realised now how suspicious it must be for some random girl to walk up to you with a coffee she had bought for you.

Yoongi stays silent, still waiting for you to make your move and burn his skin with the second cup of coffee you are holding.

“I didn’t add the three extra shots of espresso, I really wanted to but the machine sadly didn’t let me”, you joke in reference to your run-in at the coffee shop last week.

Yoongi looks at you again with his eyes twice the size. Did you actually buy him coffee? So you aren’t here to call him a pervert and throw boiling hot liquid at his body. His lips part slightly in a silent gasp, words seemed to have left his brain.

You clear your throat, scratching the back of your neck. It seems that he is not going to answer you.

“Umm, yeah, anyways. You don’t need to drink it, you know, just throw it away if you want to. But I promise you there's not something disgusting in there or dangerous. I-I’ll get going now, the lesson’s going to start soon.”

You turn around, starting to walk back to the stairs to get to your seat, when you suddenly hear the tiniest of voices.

“T-thank you.”

You turn on your heels. Yoongi is staring at you with big puppy eyes, holding the cup in his hand. Warmth fills your chest. You smile, your eyes sparkling.

“You are welcome”, and with that you turn around and finally walk to your seat with the biggest grin on your face.

It turns out to be impossible trying to concentrate on today’s lecture. Not only because the current topic is deadly boring, but also because Yoongi is just so much more fun to gaze at. You have found the perfect seat to sit in to get the best view of his side profile. He takes cautious sips of his coffee first, probably not to burn his tongue. He stares at it with big eyes, it seems almost as if he is surprised to taste coffee in his mouth. What else had he expected? That you had pranked him and had actually gotten tea or hot chocolate? You wouldn’t do that. Yoongi looks around for a moment before he dares to smile the smallest, most delicate smiles you have ever seen. It feels like someone decided to squeeze your heart in your chest. Your present made him smile, gosh you are so happy right now. Yoongi takes another sip, longer this time. His tongue darts out, licking the coffee off his pouty lips. As if someone had pushed a button Yoongi’s face begins to practically glow, his smile growing.

He puts the coffee down, hiding his hands between his legs and lowering his head. He is still smiling, closing his eyes and scrunching his nose up, his shoulders rising to his ears. He is actually getting giddy over a cup of coffee, your heart does somersaults in your chest.

The lecture soon finds its end and as quickly as you had sat down you are up again, rushing down the stairs to catch up on Yoongi. He had walked out of the lecture hall before the professor even announced this week’s readings, throwing the empty cup of coffee into the bin and buckling his backbag. You thankfully meet him in the hallways, his head lowered and his books pressed to his chest. You tap his arm, making him flinch. He turns his head, looking at you for the briefest of moments.

“Did you like the coffee? It seemed like you did.”

Yoongi nods, clutching his books tighter to his chest.

“You know I wanted to ask you something.”

Yoongi swallows, slowing down his steps. It almost seems as if he is getting anxious.

“No, actually first I want to apologize for disturbing your practice last Saturday, I really didn’t mean to be intrusive or anything.”

Yoongi wets his lips, his fingers play with the corner of one of his textbooks.

“I-it’s okay.”

He speeds up again, seemingly less anxious than before.

“But what I wanted to ask you. Where did you learn to play like that? I have never heard anything like it before, it was amazing.”

Yoongi’s face heats up, his cheeks become deep red, so does his cute button nose.

“I t-taught it m-mys-“, Yoongi starts only to get interrupted by two girls rushing up to him.

They press themselves between you and him, their faces contorted in anger.

“Get away from her you fucking creep!” the taller of the two girls screams, pushing Yoongi back by his chest.

He stumbles backwards, nearly bumping into a guy before he manages to catch himself. The guy tells him to “be careful freak” and continues strutting down the hallway afterwards.

One of the girls turns to you, looking worried. She cups your face, examining your features.

“Did this pervert harass you? He didn’t touch you, right? Or worse, hurt you?” she asks, genuinely worried.

You shake her off.

“What? Of course he didn’t. Why should he?” you growl furrowing your brows in annoyance.

The girl's face lights up in anger. She quickly turns around now staring at Yoongi.

“You think you can get through with this, freak? I swear if you keep talking to her I’ll kill you myself”, she screams, nearly jumping at Yoongi if her friend wouldn’t hold her back.

Yoongi lowers his head, blinking rapidly.

“I-I’m s-sorry”, he whispers.  

It sounds as if he is in pain, his voice hoarse and little. It breaks your heart, your eyes burn in unshed tears.

“What was that? Speak up!” the girl yells.

Yoongi flinches, blinking again, breathing quickly.

“He said he is sorry! Are you deaf or something? Even I could hear him and I am standing right here behind you!” you say loudly, circling the two girls to stand next to Yoongi.

They stare at you as if you were crazy. As a matter of fact everyone was staring at you, frozen on the hallway and as quiet as the night. It feels as if everyone was holding their breath, waiting for what you will do next.

“Come on Yoongi, let’s leave”, you turn to him.

Gasps echo in the bright hallway before everyone starts to whisper loudly. The girls' mouths fall open, their eyes becoming big. Yoongi looks at you, just as confused as everyone else. You give him a reassuring nod, smiling. It is everything Yoongi needed to finally start moving, following you down the hallway with small steps. Eyes follow you, judging you with so much disgust it makes your chest feel tight. You try to tell yourself that this was the right decision, that you don’t need their approval and fake smiles, that being nice to someone is worth a thousand times more than getting a better “status”. But as the stares don’t stop and the mean whispered words get louder, every step you take feels heavier and heavier. Only when you are finally outside at a quiet spot in the school garden and no other person is close to you, the suffocating feeling in your chest subsides. You sit down on the bench, Yoongi follows you.

“Are you okay? Do you want to be alone?” you break the burdensome silence.

“No”, Yoongi whispers shakily. He shakes his head, having his eyes pressed closed.

“Then I’ll stay with you.”

Seconds pass, minutes, maybe even hours in which you stay by his side in complete silence. You don’t need to talk to him and he doesn’t need to talk to you, you both understand how much you each need the quiet right now. Just sitting next to each other, getting lost in your own thoughts, is enough comfort for you and him. You can watch the sun set behind your back, the shadows you and Yoongi cast getting longer and longer with every passing minute. With the warm sunlight disappearing behind the tall trees the air is getting a lot colder, cooling down your skin until goosebumps appear on it. Yoongi seems to be cold too, shivering just the slightest bit and keeping his folded hands between his legs.

“You know”, you say quietly as to not startle him too much.

Yoongi hums.

“I don’t believe the rumors, you don’t seem like a bad person to me. On the contrary, I actually think you are pretty nice.”

Yoongi turns his head to stare at you dumbfounded.

“I mean it, maybe it’s because I’m new here and didn’t really witness any of the real drama, but I just don’t believe that you are a bad person.”

Yoongi blinks as if he wanted to get rid of tears before he looks away.

“W-why n-not?”

“Why not? Well, because I just, I don’t know, I just have this feeling about you. You may be a little shy but you sure as hell aren’t evil. Also being shy isn’t a bad thing, so if that’s what people dislike about you then fuck them, I won’t join them on their stupid hate train. ”

Silence hangs between you and him as he thinks your words over. You can see his brain practically realise the importance of your words. Confusion, hurt, relief, happiness his face changes emotions every second. He blinks, a means to clear his mind and get him back down to earth.

“Thank you”, he breathes, not daring to look into your eyes as his words bare far too much importance to him and he can’t seem to get enough courage to look at you.

“Don’t mention it.”

You lean back on the bench, sighing in relaxation. The street lamps have turned on minutes ago, illuminating the white gravel paths in a cool light. Thousands of insects buzz above your heads, hyptnotised by the blinding lights. A few people have walked past you in the last hour, giving you a quick judging look before quickening their steps. Not one dares to actually talk to you. Good, you think, at least they won’t stress out Yoongi again. Let them stare, if they think this is what brings them joy in their sad lives then let them stare.

The air gets even colder, wind had started to blow, making both you and Yoongi shiver.

“It’s getting rather cold don’t you think?”

Yoongi nods, wrapping his arms around his torso as a means of keeping himself warm. His legs are shaking, the holes in his black jeans doing little to shield him from the wind. Would it be weird to offer him your scarf? Most likely it would.

“Do you perhaps want to go somewhere warmer? The cafeteria perhaps or the practice rooms?” you suggest instead, but Yoongi shakes his head.

“I want t-to go h-home”, he says, shivering even more than before.

“Home? Oh, alright sure that’s also a plan. Do you want me to accompany you?”

Yoongi shakes his head again.

“No just”, he sighs, “just s-stay away from me. It’s better for, for y-you”, he says, breaking your heart.

“But-“

“I-I’m sorry for, for e-everything”, he looks at you, his eyes glistening sadly in the dim lights.

He stands up, clutching his books like always, pulling his hood further down his face.

“Yoongi come on, don’t do this again. I’m trying to be your friend, not your enemy”, you plead, standing up as well.

You know he must be scared of the foreign feeling of someone offering him warmth, but he shouldn’t keep himself from experiencing it. He deserves to have a friend, to have someone to lean on to and someone who will be there for him when the world seems to be against him. Why can’t he see that he is worthy of friendship?

He seems to hesitate for a moment, gnawing on his lower lip.

“T-thank you for the, the c-coffee”, he mumbles finally.

“I-“, you sigh in defeat, “sure no need to thank me”, you mumble, letting your shoulders sack in sadness.

He stares at you for a moment. His whole body screams at him to reach out and pat your shoulder, to take your hand and shake it as a means to thank you. His heart yearns for him to say the right words, to tell you that he would love to hang out with you some more, that he thinks you are a good person too. But he just can’t, he can’t exploit your good heart just so he won’t be so alone anymore. It wouldn’t be fair to you, you deserve to be popular, to run around the hallways without people instantly starting to badmouth you for you to hear and you deserve to have friends, who actually know how to be a proper adult.

So just with everyone, who had tried before, Yoongi does the one thing he is best at, pushing you away, building a wall around his heart and refusing to let in the warmth you offer him.

“Bye”, he murmurs, turning around.

“Bye”, you whisper, sounding so painfully hopeless it breaks Yoongi’s heart.

You watch him walk down the gravel paths, biting your tongue to stop yourself from crying in frustration. All you do to try and get his trust seems to be wrong. You should just give up, accept that he will never accept your friendship, but dear god does this thought tear your heart apart. He may be walking away from you tonight, but you know he won’t be walking out of your heart for a long time, you grew too fond of him to let him go that easily.

Two very restless sleeps later your situation seemed to have worsened. People seem to dodge you when you walk down the hallways, giving you a wide berth when you pass them by on the hallways. You don’t hear them whisper yet, thankfully they don’t seem to dislike you that much already. But it still sucked, being practically the new attraction to stare at just because you defended a man innocent of all accusations. You really start to hate this school, you should have stayed in your little town with the mediocre music program, at least people didn’t seem to care about status or titles back there. The only important thing in their lives was music and the desire to create pieces so beautiful it made your chest glow in happiness. But now the only thing people seemed to care about was stupid rumors and how popular someone was.

You scoff, rolling your eyes when three guys pass you with judging looks. Words really seem to spread fast in this school, it seemed like everyone was against you now.

Suddenly Jimin and Jungkook appear in your vision, both of them leaned against a locker talking to a blond-haired man. You can’t make out his face, all you can see are his broad shoulders which shield half of Jungkook’s face from you.

You walk closer, watching the three men with curious eyes. Are they going to ignore you too?

“Hey guys”, you say loudly, stepping into the circle of the three men.

The conversation stops, the blond-haired man looks at you from the corner of his eyes.

“Isn’t that the girl that defended the freak? Why is she talking to us?” he asks, cocking up an eyebrow.

Jungkook and Jimin seem to be clearly embarrassed, both of them scratching the backs of their necks whilst chuckling awkwardly.

“I have a name, you know?” you spit, sending the tall man an annoyed look.

He scoffs, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

“Really? You do? That’s good for you”, he almost sounds amused by the whole situation, grinning.

“Okay Seokjin I think that’s enough now”, Jimin throws in, putting his hand on the blond man's shoulder.

Seokjin scoffs, rolling his eyes.

“Sure whatever, I don’t think I want to be here anymore. You know how to reach me if you decided what to do. See you tomorrow guys”, he says, giving both Jungkook and Jimin a brotherly pat on the shoulder with a bright smile on his face.

“See you tomorrow hyung”, Jungkook smiles, bowing his head at the blond man.

Seokjin looks at you for a moment, his eyes scanning over your features before he chuckles amusedly. He shakes his head in disappointment, turning his back to you before he walks down the hallway to chat with someone else.

“What a douchebag”, you grumble, sending a dark look down the hallway where Seokjin is currently standing.

“What else did you expect? We warned you, didn't we?” Jungkook murmurs.

You look back at your friend, surprised by his harsh words. His eyes are ice cold, his jaw clenched and veins are popping out on the side of his neck.

“So you are against me too?”

“I’m definitely not on your side no. Unlike you, I actually care what other people think of me”, he retorts.

“Are you serious right now?” you gasp, swallowing down the painful lump in your throat.

Jungkook can’t be serious right now, he wouldn’t treat you like that.

“Do I look like I’m joking to you?”

Your mouth falls open, you blink rapidly. You seem to be lost for words, dumbfounded and hurt by his cold treatment.

“Alriiight guys I think it’s time we relocate this conversation to somewhere more private”, Jimin throws in, taking both yours and Jungkook’s hands and pulling you down the hallway.

“Where the hell are you taking us?” Jungkook protests, wiggling his arm to get himself free of Jimin’s tight grip.

“The bench. You two need to talk about everything. In private”, Jimin says determinedly, pushing himself through the crowd of people.

“Yes, good idea let’s walk through the whole school where everyone can see us”, Jungkook presses out through gritted teeth.

“Hush now”, Jimin spits, squeezing Jungkook’s hand painfully hard.

The latter whines quietly, scrunching his nose up in pain. Jimin’s rough handling works, Jungkook quiets down, accepting his fate all whilst suffering in silence.

You can’t contain your smile, Jimin’s hand holding you gently comforts you in a weird way. It had been ages since someone last granted you any kind of physical affection, so it is nice not feeling like you are poisonous to touch for once.

Thankfully your spot is empty when you arrive, two birds singing in the tree the only company you have. Jimin sits both of you down, wiggling himself between you and Jungkook. He puts his hands on each your thighs, caressing your skin with gentle strokes of his palm.

“I really don’t like you two fighting like this. I know a lot of things happened lately and a lot of things changed, but please guys don’t let this get between us. We are better than this”

Jungkook scoffs, turning his shoulder to you and Jimin, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

“What are you trying to do here hyung?” he mumbles.

“Saving our friendship, so behave Jungkook”, Jimin retorts, sending Jungkook a warning glare.

The younger man grows smaller underneath Jimin’s dark eyes, gnawing on his lower lip.

“Hyung, why are you putting this on-“ he starts but Jimin interrupts him.

“Kookie, do you really think people staring will keep me from loving ___? She is our friend and I don’t abandon my friends that easily.”

“Neither do I”, Jungkook growls, “but I still don’t know why you are trying to make me the villain here”, he adds.

Jimin scoffs in frustration.

“Jungkook”, he warns, “I’m trying to help you guys here, can’t you see that ___ needs us right now?” he says as he puts a gentle hand on your thigh.

Jimin’s words hit deeper than you would have imagined. You blink, your eyes are tearing up, your lips quivering. You lower your head, folding your hands on your lap before your shoulders suddenly start to shake.

Both Jimin’s and Jungkook’s heads snap into your direction, staring at you with big eyes.

“No ___ please don’t cry, hey sweetie I am here, don’t cry anymore”, Jimin says, wrapping his arms around you and squeezing you to his chest.

“I can’t stand these people, I really can’t. Why is everyone so obsessed with status here? I hate it, I hate it so much”, you hiccup, clutching onto Jimin’s shirt.

Deep down Jungkook knows you had also meant him and his obsession with keeping his white vest clean. He lowers his eyes in shame, starting to play with the sleeves of his sweater.

“I know I’m stupid to make it my goal to befriend the one person everyone seems to hate, but do I really deserve to be stared at and ignored just because I offered someone friendship?”

You look up, staring into Jimin’s eyes. Jimin cups your cheeks, brushing his thumb over your tearstained skin. He shakes his head, not daring to speak.

“And Yoongi isn’t a bad guy. Everyone got it wrong, he is neither a pervert nor is he a creep, so stop calling him a freak, alright?”

You can’t help but send Jungkook a dark look. He starts to blush, gnawing on his lower lip.

“He really isn’t evil or dangerous, the only reason why people treat him that badly is because they know he is too shy to defend himself.”

“But everyone said that it’s true, I just followed everyone”, Jungkook mumbles, his own lip quivering.

“And you see that’s your problem Jungkook. You don’t need the opinion of every single student here, the only opinions that matter are the ones of the people you love and your own, the other ones are unimportant.”

“But I don’t want to be alone, people will hate me”, Jungkook confesses, suddenly holding onto Jimin’s hand as if seeking comfort.

“You are not alone, you have us”, Jimin says, nudging Jungkook’s chest with his shoulder, "now come here and get your cuddles.

Jungkook’s lips twitch up into a shy smile, his eyes fluttering shut before he rests his forehead against Jimin’s head. His right hand comes to rest on yours, engulfing you in warmth.

"Now apologize Kookie", Jimin whispers, playing with Jungkook’s hair.

“I'm sorry ___. You weren’t stupid, the only one who was stupid here is me. I'll trust your judgement from now on”, he gives your hand a gentle squeeze, nuzzling his nose against Jimin’s skin as he chases the comfort it brings him.

“That’s good to hear Kookie, I’m glad that your opinion on my plan changed”, you smile.

“Yeah”, Jungkook chuckles breathlessly.

“___?”

“Yeah Jimin?”

“Can you maybe tell us what exactly made you decide to give Yoongi a chance? I mean, we did warn you and you could have believed us and followed everyone but you didn’t. Why?”

“Because when I looked into his eyes, I couldn’t sense anything evil behind them, he gave me a feeling of innocence, of fear and panic, but not that of an evil mastermind planning to creep on me.”

“Hm, okay”, Jimin says.

Both Jungkook and Jimin exchange a quick look, silently communicating about your choice of words. His eyes? His eyes were the crucial factor to your decision? And they thought he may have helped you with something or rescued you out of a tricky situation.

“If you think so”, Jungkook mumbles, not daring to look into your eyes whilst speaking, too scared you may think he is insincere.

He doesn’t even know himself if he means his words or not, it’s a lot of getting used to right now, having to accept your plan on making Yoongi your friend and the judging stares that will be send their ways as well for still hanging out with you. But Jimin is right, he can’t abandon you like that, his heart would ache too much for you. So he just needs to get over his fears, no matter how hard it is.

“So we are still friends right? And I can count on you not to ignore me in the hallways?” you ask, looking between Jungkook and Jimin.

They nod without a second of hesitation.

“Sure you can”, Jimin assures you, smiling brightly.

“Thank you”, you giggle, giving Jimin’s hand a gentle squeeze.

You both look at Jungkook, waiting for his answer. He bites his lower lip in contemplation.

Jimin nudges Jungkook’s knee with his own, sending him a warning look.

“Y-yeah, you can”, he breathes, nodding his head.

“Great, I’m glad”, you pat his hand.

It makes him smile a lopsided smile, his eyes not daring to look into yours.

It’s a lot of getting used to, for all of you, but you will get through it, you are sure of it.