'These are the things you are to do: Speak the truth to each other, and render true and sound judgment in your courts.'
-

As Taehyung lay with his love in his arms, a sweaty but beautiful mess, Yoongi was sat by a fire pit with Jimin at his side. The pair were laughing at old memories, something they seemed to talk about a lot. Yoongi was a sucker for nostalgia.

"And I," Jimin paused to laugh even harder, "thought you were like the coolest and hottest person on the planet when you wore that stupid hat."

Fuck, my heart's doing it again, Yoongi thought to himself, feeling his insides doing flips at Jimin's words. The warm glow of the fire made Jimin look so perfect, his flaming orange hair almost matching the soft glow of the flames.

A cold breeze whipped over the pair, and Jimin began to shiver slightly, nuzzling into Yoongi's side for warmth. As Yoongi wrapped an arm around the younger, he allowed himself to imagine for a moment that this is what it would be like if they were a couple in love, snuggling by the dying embers of a fire.

"This summer has been a wild ride," Jimin muttered, voicing whatever thoughts came into his head.

What he had always loved about his friendship with Yoongi was how much the blonde haired boy listened. How much he seemed to care about every word that came out of his mouth. Jimin began to ramble about all the drama that had ensued, his eyes fixed on the fire in front of him which was crackling and spitting like it was alive.

"I can't believe I was so obsessed with Taehyung, I feel like a total creep. Have you ever felt so totally obsessed with someone it becomes borderline stalker-y?"

"Yes."

The word fell out of Yoongi's mouth before he could control it, and he resisted the urge to slap his hand over his stupid, gaping hole which always got him in trouble. Jimin looked up at Yoongi with a raised eyebrow, now incredibly curious about the identity of Yoongi's secret crush. The boy was always so quiet about who he loved that Jimin had become convinced that he was aromantic.

"Who is the lucky boy or girl?" Jimin wiggled his eyebrows, and Yoongi felt his stomach literally drop.

This was a moment he had played in his head a thousand times. Sometimes Jimin would kiss him passionately, sometimes Jimin would push him away and say he never wanted to see him again. But in that moment, under a canopy of stars, Yoongi just thought fuck it.

"You," Yoongi replied, "I've been creepily obsessed with you."

Jimin paused for a moment, looking into Yoongi's eyes for a glint of humour. But then he realised that Yoongi was being deadly serious. Lost for words, Jimin continued to stare at the boy next to him for some kind of explanation for the bombshell that had just been dropped on him.

"I've kind of been in love with you for the past 3 years," Yoongi continued, scratching the back of his neck and diverting his eye contact away from the intense stare of Jimin.

First, Jimin was confused. Then, he was bewildered. Next, he was overwhelmed. Finally, he felt bad. He felt guilty for putting Yoongi through so much pain, that someone could go through so much pain without him even noticing.

"I'm so sorry I didn't notice Yoongi," Jimin said slowly, his brain working too fast for his mouth to move properly.

This was worse than what Yoongi had imagined. Because this was just awkward. The joyful exchanging of feelings that he had always dreamt of clearly wasn't going to happen. It hurt when Jimin straightened up a little, and Yoongi felt the fading warmth from where Jimin had leaned on him.

If only he hadn't opened his stupid mouth none of this would be happening.

"I don't expect you to say anything back, don't worry," Yoongi said, his voice full of defeat, emptiness, and most of all embarrassment.

"I care a lot about you," Jimin babbled out, "And I love you too Yoongi, like a brother. That came out wrong! I'm sorry. Fuck, I've fucked it all up."

Yoongi placed a soft hand on Jimin's shoulder to stop the younger speaking and he did his best to give a reassuring smile that everything was okay. In reality there was a rather large lump in his throat which was growing and would soon be too large to ignored.

"Let's get to bed, I don't want to get shouted out," Yoongi managed to whisper without choking, and the pair walked in uncomfortable silence to the building.

Once Yoongi was alone, he allowed his forced, plastic smile to drop and he leant against the wall of the corridor to take a deep breath. He felt so empty he wouldn't have been surprised if someone cut him open only to find him to be hollow.

All those years of pining, of wishing, of hoping had come to nothing. An awkward encounter which would linger over them for a few days before they continued on with their lives. Yoongi couldn't help feeling like the previous half an hour of his life just hadn't actually existed. He couldn't believe he had said such a thing to Jimin.

Entering his room as quietly as he could, he saw that Hoseok was still awake. He noticed Yoongi's sheepish look, and beckoned him closer for a hug.

Yoongi took up this offer immediately, needing some comfort to root him in reality. Hoseok didn't need to ask to know what was up with Yoongi. The boy looked like he was traumatised by his own actions.

Hoseok suppressed the urge to sing 'You Belong With Me' by Taylor Swift as he held the boy he loved in his arms, knowing he would never have Yoongi's courage to admit his feelings.

-

is is weird that I've been listening to Taylor Swift the entire time I've been writing these chapters? a small lil update about lil Yoongi.

also VERY EXCITING NEWS, I am doing a collab fic with ilove_joon which was published today so go and check it out. it's called 'getting bi' and it's the kind of highschool yoonmin fic I've always wanted to read so I'm super stoked to be the one writing it with such a talented author 💜💜💜