FIVE DAYS IN THE HOSPITAL. He hadn't spoke a word since.

One.

Namjoon had finally met Jin's mother, who was hysterical that day at the hospital. It turned out to be the same hospital Namjoon's mom died in and he realized that Nurse Kim, the one who took care of her until her last breath, was actually also Jin's mother as well.

They weren't allowed to visit Jin since he was in critical condition, except for Nurse Kim, since she worked there, so she just gave them updates, saying he was going to live but he was still really sick, but miraculously had not caught pneumonia.

Two.

Everyone—Jimin, Namjoon, Yoongi, Jungkook, and Min, followed her into the room.

He woke up as Nurse Kim touched his cheek.

"I'm here," Nurse Kim wept, moving the strands of hair out of his face. "I'm right here."

Jungkook teared up as well. "Uncle."

Jin looked over at Jungkook, eyelids barely able to separate themselves. He reached his hand slightly and Jungkook was quick to grasp it.

"I'm so sorry this happened to you," said the maknae.

Namjoon was a bit taken aback when Jimin walked over and kissed the sick boy's forehead and then his temple and then caressed his head. The affection was one a couple would probably do to each other.

"How are you doing, hyung?" Jimin asked, the front of his face nudging the side of Jin's.

A tiny part of Namjoon hoped they weren't dating and Jin didn't tell him about it.

Jin only hummed.

"What happened?" asked Jungkook.

"Who do I have to cut?" Yoongi asked.

Namjoon stood by anxiously and watched as Jin shifted slightly and took a deep breath.

"I don't think he can talk right now," Min said.

"I don't think he wants to talk," said Namjoon.

Everyone's eyes fell on him, and then they all looked at each other.

Jin pulled Jimin closed and whispered something in his ear. Jimin looked from him to Namjoon and nodded. "Hyung wants to be alone with Namjoon," he spoke up.

Everyone else looked around before slightly nodding and hesitantly left the room. Yoongi patted Namjoon on the shoulder before he followed the others through the door.

As soon as the door clicked closed Jin broke down.

"Namjoon," he sobbed, weakly reaching out his hands.

Namjoon quickly rushed over and brought Jin's head close to his chest.

Usually he found it difficult to sympathize with people, as he was always known to be emotionally detached. If someone cried he wouldn't know what to do, unless he remembered something in a book about how to react, like with Min, when he remembered it was scientifically proven that hugs calm people down the day she got angry with him.

This time it was different.

Ever since he found Jin on the street all he had wanted to do was hold him in his arms. He had never wanted to do that to anyone other than his sister before. But now he wanted to be a shield for his hyung, to protect him from anything that brings harm. It was an instinct.

"Hyung, I'm so sorry," he whispered, laying his cheek on top of Jin's head.

"It–it was a-awful," Jin choked out.

It was the first time he had seen Jin cry, but the incredible thing was that Jin waited until everyone was gone to he allow himself to be vulnerable. He put on a mask for everyone except for Namjoon—a guy he'd only known for a week.

"What happened?"

"I–I was r-raped." Jin's sobs became hysterical.

A pain, a stab, eating away at Namjoon's heart, squeezing it until it erupted to dust. It consumed his chest, a pure throb, hard and engraving its feeling, it's touch in him,

Namjoon held Jin as he wept, Jin telling him not to tell anyone about what he told him, and Namjoon waited until he fell asleep.

Two.

"I'm worried, hyung," said Jungkook to Namjoon. "He hasn't said anything all day. What'd he say to you yesterday? Please tell me."

Namjoon hadn't told anyone what Jin told him yesterday, like he asked.

"It's not my place to tell you," he said when everyone asked him. "He should tell you himself."

"Namjoon," said Nurse Kim quietly as she approached him, "please. I'm his mother. Please tell me."

Namjoon sighed. It was hard to do, but Jin was the one who told him he wasn't ready for anyone else to know.

"It's up to your son, Ms. Kim. Please understand that."

She nodded, eyes drowning in tears. "Y-yeah. You're right."

Three.

"He's still not talking?" Min asked Namjoon.

He shook his head, cooking them both dinner.

"No. Not anyone."

"Not even you?"

"Even me?"

"Well sure. He seems to trust you a lot. You were the only person he wanted to talk to. And according to what you said he also was the only one to cry in front of you."

"Yeah. Guess so."

Four, five, six, seven.

Namjoon spent those four days talking to Jin, because he only seemed to pay attention to him, as if Namjoon's words were the only ones that mattered, everyone said.

After Jin's fifth day at the hospital he stayed in his room for two days straight when he got home, not eating anything, only taking a few bites of an apple if Namjoon was there and told him to.

Namjoon just talked, even if Jin didn't respond with anything. He talked about his day, about Min, because he knew those would be the first questions that would come out of Jin's mouth.

"How was your day? How's Min been?"

He talked about how everybody missed Jin but they're trying to be understanding. He talked and talked about anything and everything he could think of and Jin just listened intently until he ran out of things and bid Jin farewell with a hug.

Eight.

"Pl–Please," Nurse Kim wept to Namjoon, who stood numbly outside of Jin's room, "j-just try to get him to talk this time. I-I don't know what else t-to do and you two s-seem so close. If–If it's anyone he'd confide in its you."

Namjoon didn't know what to say. All he could do was nod before entering the room.

Jin's attention was at the window that revealed rain pouring on trees and a street by the building with busy cars as he sat in his bed.

"The caterpillar is awake," said Namjoon. "And he's not dancing in the rain? Shocking."

Jin snapped his head in the younger boy's direction. Namjoon smiled slightly but Jin did not return the gesture.

He approached his hyung, taking his time. "I've decided to call you that now. Since I'm the butterfly you're the caterpillar. You have yet to blossom—to reach your full potential." Namjoon sat on his bed.

Jin only stared at him, eyes soft, all his focus on the younger male.

Namjoon, for once, spoke with not his brain but his heart, his emotions.

"A caterpillar waiting to spread his wings. You, Kim Seokjin, have yet to amaze me, to impress me in so many other ways, yet you keep that pretty mouth of yours shut, a mouth filled with wisdom and passion—color and view."

Jin frowned, looking down at his hands.

"Do you remember what you told me—about what happens when I hold things in? It's worse to keep it in than to let it out piece by piece."

Jin met his eyes once again, and nodded.

"I'm not going to force you to talk," he continued. "I don't care what you're friends tell me. I won't force you or push you to do anything. But I must remind you that there are people outside of this room who give a damn about you and constantly are bugging me because they love you—because they're looking for anything that they think is your best shot at getting better, and for some reason they think that person is me."

Namjoon paused and leaned closer.

"Didn't you tell me that it's more annoying to have people who don't care to bug you about what's wrong than people who do?"

A tear ran down Jin's cheek. He puckered out his bottom lip slightly, and his eyes were turning a bright pink.

"Like I said, I'm not going to force you to talk. After what happened to you, hell no. But think about what you said to me about the water through the broken dam. How long are you going to wait for the dam to break? How long are you willing to wait until all that water drowns you?" He could hear Jin's shaky breathing clearly and loudly. "You've helped me a lot, hyung. Now it's time for me to help you."

More tears raced down Jin's cheeks. He sniffed and smiled for the first time in seven days.

Chills crept up Namjoon's arms when Jin placed a hand behind his neck. The proximity between them was so close that all Jin had to do was simply lean in a few centimeters before he connected his lips with Namjoon's.

Namjoon froze, stiff as an iceberg. He couldn't even remember his name. All he was focusing on were the goosebumps all over his body and mixed feelings in his stomach.

Jin pulled away, leaning his forehead against Namjoon's. "Thank you," he whispered. "Thank you for reminding me."

Namjoon's head was running wild. He couldn't count on his mind to tell him what to do. Only his heart. And his heart, his lips, were craving to taste more of Jin. He was so busy processing what was happening he didn't get to enjoy him.

No. That's not fair, Seokjin, he thought. You caught me off guard.

Following his heart for once, he cupped a side of Jin's neck. Like magnets his lips reattached with his, tasting the older boy's salty tears. This time the kiss was deeper and more confident. As their lips moved perfectly in sync Namjoon could feel one of Jin's hands on his waist and the other on his arm.

Having his eyes closed he could see a beach and hear the waves crashing not too harshly, but proudly, as the sand stuck to the soles of his bare feet. Alongside him was Jin talking, but Namjoon could not hear what he was saying. Min and Jungkook played around in the water while Jimin and Yoongi talked and laughed together. The sunset was a pretty mix of pink and orange, and looking out at the setting sun casted a strong spell on him.

His happy place.

The vision was over when they finally disconnected their lips again, breathing not heavily and not lightly. They stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity, lost in years, hours, minutes, seconds. . . Either one unmoving as the world kept rotating.

Jin was the first to speak. His voice was delicate and hushed, a whisper in the rustling of the trees in the wind. "I'll talk to them tomorrow." He licked his lips, eyes revealing vulnerability. "Please stay until then."

Words were jumbled up in Namjoon's head. The world seemed to be spinning faster and faster, and those eighteen years of vocabulary down the drain.

He swallowed, managing only one word. "Okay."

He crawled on Jin's bed and slipped under the covers. Jin did the same and laid on Namjoon's chest while sliding an arm around his waist.

"Thank you, Joonie."

"Sleep, hyung."