January 2nd. Things would be going back to normal in terms of Yoongi's schedule. Today, his workplace would be opening up again, and he had a shift starting about an hour after his morning classes, as they were starting up again, as well.

It was what he needed, Yoongi told himself. Too much free time wasn't good for him.

His first class was at nine that morning. He was up before eight, dressed by eight, and out of the house by 8:10. From there it was a relatively calm walk to his college campus. A bit cold, but no clouds in the sky, there wasn't much wind, and aside from cars passing by, there wasn't too much noise, either.

Yoongi made it to his first class with time to spare - as he typically did. And once again, as was also typical, Yoongi took out his notes to review in that spare time he had.

"Yoongi, hey!"

He tried, anyway.

A familiar face, a classmate of Yoongi's approached him to pull out the chair beside the blond and sit down. He combed back his own lilac hair and threw his book bag onto the table.

"Morning, Wooyoung," Yoongi said for the sake of being polite. Wooyoung beamed with joy.

"How was your break, hyung? Exciting plans? Spend the holidays with your family?"

"Just friends," he replied. "And it was alright. I've been bored, though."

"Oh, I hear ya." Wooyoung chuckled, digging into his bag to pull out a stack of books. "Nothing like a good ol' computer class to get your blood pumping, right?"

"Mm. Absolutely."

Somehow it made him feel even worse to hear those words from someone else's mouth, and not his own. Yoongi had thought this would be good for him. Going back to classes, to his usual schedule, getting back into studying more, as this was his second to last year and he should be excited about taking steps towards graduating.

On the contrary. Yoongi never felt more unwilling to be here.

All he could think about was Jimin. The holidays. Christmas and New Year's. Watching the sky with him. Talking to him. Being kissed by him.

Jimin. The most interesting part of his boring life right now. Although, sadly, Yoongi couldn't say for sure he held that same position in the dancer's eyes.

In the novel of Yoongi's mind, Jimin was a main character but to Jimin, Yoongi could very well just be a supporting character, he thought.

He didn't like that thought at all. Yet still, it didn't stop Yoongi from thinking about him. From replaying the kiss in his head, scribbling in the corner of his notebook during class instead of paying attention to what his professor was saying. The way Yoongi's name rolled off the dancer's tongue, and that teasing nickname, too, the sweet, odd pleasantness of it.

His laptop in front of him, Yoongi stared at the hand resting on the keys, the same hand he still vividly remembered being granted a soft kiss that night he met Jimin.

Late November when it happened. It was January 2nd now. Not even a month and a half, and it had completely spun Yoongi for a loop. He didn't want to leave the dancer alone.

He still worried about him, too. Knowing the majority of Jimin's income went towards Taehyung rather than being split evenly among Taehyung and himself.

Right now, as Yoongi sat in his computer science class, barely even pretending to be paying attention, Jimin could be outside in the cold, buying time because he couldn't afford anything else.

At least he has a coat this time.

Yoongi had to sigh. He knew he could never tell Jimin what to do, but he also really wished the dancer would be more honest with Taehyung.

But what did his opinion matter to Jimin? Again, for all he knew, none at all. It could mean nothing. He could mean nothing.

Yoongi knew this.

Yet it did nothing to change his mind, either. His desire to be around Jimin. To get to know him. And perhaps more, if he could ever come to understand the dancer.

"Hey, Yoongi."

"Mm?"

Only at the sound of Wooyoung's voice did Yoongi finally snap out of his daze. He found the younger boy staring at him expectantly with his hands tightly grasping his notebook. "I fell asleep in class," he said with a sheepish smile. "Do you think I could see your notes?"

"Notes? Oh." It shook the realization into Yoongi that in a sense, he had also fallen asleep. "I didn't take any, either," he confessed. "Sorry."

"Really?" Genuine shock. "You always do."

"Felt tired. Sorry."

"Oh, no, it's fine," Wooyoung chuckled, then opened his book bag to shove away his notebook. "I'm just surprised. It's cool, I'll just read over the chapter or get them from someone else. No worries! See ya later, hyung."

The boy smiled widely and waved to Yoongi before skipping away to exit the classroom.

Yoongi did as well. Much slower, however, as he was a man who took his time with most things, and there was a large enough gap between now and his next class that he could afford not to rush.

He wasn't in any hurry to get to it, either. A secondary business class. Arguably even less exciting than his major. But it went hand in hand with a handful of majors, so that was what Yoongi chose.

It ended the same as his first class. With his thoughts drifting towards the dancer once more, Yoongi faced the inability to focus on what he should have been focusing on, and went through roughly an hour of mindlessly staring both at his desk and at the professor. It wasn't like him. To have his mind on anything other than his studies, at least while in class.

If this kept up, Yoongi believed he might actually start falling behind for the first time in his education.

It should have sounded more serious than it did to him.

After classes were over, Yoongi made his way back home, then soon after drove the short distance to his workplace. Being that today was the first day it opened since the renovations started, he expected they would get a fair amount of business - which was okay. Yoongi didn't actually despise the busy days. They made the time go by faster, and besides, he considered himself to be pretty skilled at his job and never had much trouble accommodating to a little pick-up in the pace of customer visits.

"Yoongi! Long time no see!"

Upon entering the shop, the blond was immediately greeted by Namjoon who had seemingly just arrived a moment ago, as well. Yoongi shook his head.

"I saw you New Year's Eve."

"I know," Namjoon said with a laugh. "I was just kidding. Anyways, ready for a busy day?"

"Mm."

And it was busy. A great many customers, both frequenters and newcomers, stopped by for some coffee or boba drinks and to see the newly designed interior of the shop which had been fixed up quite impressively for the period of time the place was closed.

Again, Yoongi didn't mind. The time seemed to fly by, and in what felt like minutes his shift was over, and the blond was saying goodbye to his co-workers before getting in his car and driving home.

Back to square one.

Bored and with nothing to do. He thought about texting Jeongguk, but decided against it after but a moment. The younger was probably still at work right now. Same with Hoseok. Those two had later classes than Yoongi, so they typically worked till later, too. That was how things worked out. It wasn't an issue for them, seeing as both Jeongguk and Hoseok loved to go out and do things no matter what the time of day.

Yoongi, however, preferred to be inside by nine, cozy and warm in the winter, or with the air on in the summer.

Sadly the idea of staying inside doing nothing didn't appeal much to him now.

He went out.

Bundled up in his jacket, a scarf, and some old gloves he hadn't pulled out in at least a year, Yoongi left his apartment once again to go on a leisurely walk. It was no coincidence his walk led him to retrace the steps that had led him to his second encounter with the dancer. A part of Yoongi, though extremely doubtful, held the slightest bit of hope that he would see Jimin.

He didn't genuinely believe he'd find him there again.

But he did.

There, in that very same spot on the side of the road, was the dancer, lying on the ground with his head resting on the cold concrete.

He jolted into an upright position the moment Yoongi stepped up to him.

"Jimin-"

"Why'd you-" Though he was quick to cut the other off, Jimin's own words faltered. "Where, I mean, why'd you come here?"

"Bored," Yoongi said. His eyes poured sympathy openly over the dancer. "Kinda happy I ran into you, but also...not...happy." A deep breath passed through his lips. "Jimin, what are you doing?"

"Sleeping."

"You have a home."

"It's too early to go home."

"It's not even early, though." Yoongi lifted his head to look out around them, gesturing at the sky which had been growing dark since late afternoon. "Would it really seem suspicious for you to go back now? Don't you think Taehyung would be happy for you to go back?"

"Not my point."

"Well, tell me what your point is, then, 'cus I'm not seeing it."

"Yeah, you wouldn't."

Yoongi watched as Jimin crossed his arms and stubbornly turned his head away from the other. Such a childish act, but Yoongi couldn't say he was surprised. Unfortunately for Jimin, Yoongi could also be pretty stubborn when he wanted to be.

"C'mon. I'll walk you home."

"No, you won't."

The blond stifled a laugh. "I mean, I will? But if you'd prefer we can just walk back to my apartment since it's much closer, and I could drive you home from there. Actually, that sounds like a much better idea. Let's do that. C'mon. Gimme your hand."

Jimin didn't listen. To Yoongi's surprise, though, the dancer did stand up and appeared ready to follow Yoongi despite his apparent opposition.

So Yoongi started to go back. Retracing his steps yet again, this time with a feeling of warmth in his chest and the slightest smile on his face.

Having Jimin walk beside him. It made the bitterness of the cold dissipate almost entirely, that persistent loneliness biting at Yoongi's heart fluttering away. Jimin walked slowly. Yoongi matched his pace without a problem. He didn't mind at all, in fact. The longer their walk, the longer he could spend with the dancer.

"Tomorrow's Friday, so I guess you'll be going to Cat's Eye?" Yoongi asked at one point, hoping to spark conversation. His gaze traveled to Jimin's face.

It looked awfully pale, even in the dim light of the evening.

Not to mention the boy appeared discomforted, as well, for whatever reason.

"Jimin? Are you feeling well?"

"Fine," he blurted.

Too quickly. It wasn't just suspicious. It was obvious.

"You can tell me if you're not," Yoongi said.

"Doesn't matter."

"But it does."

"Shouldn't matter to you."

"...but it does."

Now he couldn't tell if Jimin's unstable breathing was from poor health or simply his growing frustration with Yoongi. Possibly both. Likely both.

Definitely the first.

The dancer must have been making an effort to keep it together till the moment they arrived at the apartment building, Yoongi guessed, as it was mere moments afterwards that Jimin collapsed. Knees buckled and hit the sidewalk, but Yoongi thankfully managed to catch him before he could tip over all the way and hit his head.

From there Yoongi didn't hesitate to get him inside, into his apartment, and lay him on his bed. Jimin hadn't lost consciousness. After feeling the dancer's forehead, Yoongi found that although it was a bit warm, it was no surface-of-the-sun level fever that begged the need of professional medical attention. Yoongi wasn't an idiot. He knew basic medical care and a handful of home remedies. He trusted himself to nurse the boy back to health.

More so, he wanted to.

"I'm gonna get you some water, Jimin, okay?"

"Leave me alone..."

"...no."

—