Chapter 18; Yoongi-Hyung, Maybe...

Maybe, one day, his heart would accept its own complicatedness.

───── ❝ do haru ❞ ─────

Saturday, 12th of February 2021:

'Thank you so much. I really don't know what I'd do without you guys...' Haru smiled sheepishly as she opened the door for Yoongi and Jimin. 

'No, no, we're glad to give you a hand,' said Jimin, all smiley as usual.

'Yeah, no biggie,' Yoongi added, shrugging slightly with his hands buried in his pockets. 'What's up today? You got another school project or something?' 

'No, um, it's slightly different...' Haru tugged a strand of hair behind her ear, telling her friends to take a seat on the couch. 'It's kind of a long story.'

Just yesterday, Friday, a week away from Haru's dinner with Haneul and Yoongi, Haru's professor in her clothing designing class, Mr Ryu, told her that he had a lot of faith in her work and passion. Therefore, he recommended she joined a competition that would be next Tuesday, Friday the fifteenth.

Since Mr Ryu was a designer himself, he said that he would be one of the judges in the small competition, and he obviously promised not to have preferences. He added a wink to his statement to make Haru laugh which totally worked. 

And hence, Haru accepted. She spent the whole evening of yesterday and the whole morning of today preparing clothes so that Yoongi and Jimin could try them on. She then planned to use Sunday and Monday to make a few adjustments. 

'So, I kind of need you guys to be my models again if you don't mind. But I think you'll end up on some magazine cover if I manage to win.'

'Well, I don't really care,' said Yoongi, 'but what do you get out of this competition? Like what's the prize? Money? Exposure? Meeting some famous designer?'

'Oh, well,' chimed Haru, 'I will, as I said, get featured in a magazine and a hundred pieces of clothing made by me will be sold. It will give me both, exposure and money, and perhaps, I might meet some famous fashion people.'

Haru grinned as she spoke, and both men in front of her could tell how happy she was just possibly imaging winning. And how could they refuse her? It was as if spring had bloomed right over her comely features. 

'Well, of course, I'm in!' Jimin nodded.

'Same,' Yoongi mumbled, 'you better win though.'

Haru laughed, 'I'll try my very best. Now, shall we get to work?'

───── ❝ m.yg. ❞ ─────

Yoongi sat in his small studio. All lights were off, the only thing that somewhat illumined the room was the mixture of purple, dark blue and white lights coming from his laptop.

His black and expensive headphones were placed over his head as he listed to the track he had just finished composing. Those headphones along with all his items to make music were probably the only costly things this young man owned.

A cigarette dangled between his lips as he moved it up and down with his lower lip. He nodded his head to the beat as his hands rested in his lap, his eyes closed. The first verse was satisfying, however, when it was time for the chorus, he began frowning.

Yoongi finally inhaled, the smoke settling itself into his lungs. Soon he exhaled hopelessly, a sombre, grey cloud forming in front of his face.

No, no, no.

NO!

The bloke was exhausted, he had been working on the same song for two whole months, yet it didn't sound like he wanted. It wasn't bad, it simply wasn't what he had imagined, what he needed. He was planning a song that he hoped would be a hit once he released his first mixtape, but it couldn't be a hit if the singer himself didn't like it.

Under the name of Agust D, Yoongi had only released a couple of songs, the best ones he had ever made were "Give It To Me" and "140503 at Dawn". The raps and vocals were satisfying, the beats were perfect and the quality of the production was great. Overall, he was proud of his only two known-to-the-public tracks. The rest was hidden between his thousands of drafts.

Shaking his head, the man got up, throwing his dark grey windcheater on before exiting his house, the cigarette still in his mouth.

Because Yoongi's apartment was so small, the studio was in a room that was meant to be for guests which explained why he didn't like having people over. He didn't even like his furniture since he didn't pick out most of it as it was already there.

The soon-to-be producer wanted to move out, but if he did then he would have to go tighter with his expanses on food and clothing. Thus, he had decided that until he didn't finish university, he would live there.

Yoongi's house was in a pretty poor and isolated neighbourhood, just nearby the back of an enormous IKEA shop. And because it was in fact the back of an IKEA shop, people preferred the other street, which was near the front of it. That was why he picked this neighbourhood; a good night's sleep without loud-ass music or parties was (almost) guaranteed.

It was a normal night for Yoongi; an empty Saturday night. After Haru was done with all the photos and clothes, Jimin said he needed to leave because of his job, so Yoongi decided to go as well.

As he strolled through the dark, empty streets with barely any working street lamps, he realised he had reached the back of that IKEA shop. There was a huge, white truck and a few guys loading boxes inside of it. Yoongi thought the scene was uninteresting, so he was about to walk away.

Well, that was until he had spotted a very familiar figure. The thin man wore a blue hat over his silky, golden locks as he carried boxes just like the other men. Yoongi placed his hands into the pockets of his jacket and waited, the cigarette carelessly resting in his mouth.

For what?

He had no idea, but he waited.

'Jimin-ah, will you finish up for us? There are about seven boxes left, hm?' a man who looked a lot older than Jimin took his gloves off, throwing them inside the truck.

'You will, right?' another guy, still older than Jimin, pressed, and the younger heaved a sigh before nodding, not saying anything else to his elders. Yoongi scowled at the sight, wondering if the other workers were maltreating Jimin or something.

He kept on standing still, so still that someone could've mistaken him for a sculpture. After ten more minutes of sighing, groaning and carrying boxes, Jimin had finally loaded everything into the truck. In the meantime, Yoongi had, sadly, already consumed his coffin nail, forcing himself to throw it away.

Jimin plopped down on a nearby bench, still being in Yoongi's sight. The young man slid off his blue-and-grey-coloured gloves, and Yoongi gawked at the sight of the latter's hands. They were coated in semi-dry blood, looking like they came out straight out of Seesaw.

The minty-green-haired man almost stumbled backwards. His jaw dropped open in shock.

Jimin shook his head, chest rising and falling heavily as he placed the gloves into his pocket and pulled out some wet wipes. He started wiping his hands, trying his best to get rid of the blood on his hands, continuously groaning in frustration due to some stains being extremely hard to clean.

Once his actions came to a halt, he placed his head on the back of the bench and closed his eyes in an attempt to relax. And for some reason, that snapped Yoongi out of it.

He began moving away but tripped over an empty can of Coca-Cola, making a harsh noise before and after tumbling onto the ground like a fool.

Jimin's head sharply turned towards Yoongi who was holding his knee in pain. A smirk crept up his dry lips that sought water for a whole hour. He got up and sauntered towards Yoongi.

'Well, well, well, if it isn't for Min Yoongi?'

Yoongi almost shivered when Jimin walked up to him, cracking his fingers with a cute smile. Well, he guessed it was meant to be cute, but frankly, at that moment, he simply found it creepy. 

Jimin stuck his hand out, right in front of Yoongi's face, making him flinch and shut his eyes tightly. He waited for a few seconds but nothing happened, and that was when he realised Jimin just wanted to help him get up.

The older man quickly grabbed the younger's hand and stood up, brushing the dust off his clothes. 'Hyung, what are you doing here?' Jimin piped, his big eyes brimmed with curiosity. Yoongi took a few steps away, shaking his head.

'First, you tell me why the fuck your hands were bloody,' he demanded, scowling at his friend. 

Jimin's expression dropped, he even froze for a moment, nonetheless, soon his eyes began scintillating with tears. He gestured Yoongi to follow him, the two taking a seat on the bench, both keeping a good distance from each other.

'Yoongi-Hyung, I hope you don't judge me if I tell you this.' Jimin gulped, taking in a deep breath. 'I, um... my friend and I were working and we wanted to move the truck, however, we accidentally ran a kitten over.' 

After he finished talking, he was sobbing. He slapped a hand over his mouth, trying his best to not let any more sounds escape his trembling lips.

Yoongi's heart ached at the sight of Jimin who rested his elbows on his knees, his red face hidden between the palms of his hands. The younger's blonde bangs, now brown due to all the sweat that came from his hard work, hung over his hands.

Yoongi instantly apologised, placing a hand on Jimin's back in an attempt to comfort the latter. 'I am so sorry, Jimin,' he whispered, 'How could I ever think something so terrible about you?' 

Yoongi shook his head, disappointed in his suspiciousness towards the angel-like man by his side. He was starting to understand why Haru liked Jimin so much. After all, Jimin was so soft-hearted, so pure and so naturally gentle.

'It's okay, Hyung.' Jimin instantly shook his head. 'It's all my fault! My boss even told me to go and throw the body away while my friend cleaned up. That's why my h-hands were bloody. And when we were done, the other workers came and didn't allow me to go to the washroom... it was so... just so awful...'

Yoongi gasped, 'So you worked like this the whole time?!?' Jimin pursed his lips even harder, trying not to mewl as he nodded. 'God, those motherfucking bastards!' Yoongi shook his head once again, moving closer to Jimin and hugging his friend. 'Jimin, it's alright it was an accident.'

And Yoongi felt weird in the process of wrapping his arms around an unfamiliar body. He had only ever hugged Haru, Haneul, his foster parents, Mrs and Mr Shim in the past few years; but those rushes of warmth were all familiar. Meanwhile, Jimin's was straight-up weird. Because as much as Yoongi believed he was a 'stranger', the was something very uncanny about him.

'I-I know but it was still wrong! It was so traumatic... I think I heart the little being's bones crack!' replied Jimin, clutching at his chest as he cried his heart out between Yoongi's arms.

The elder patter his head, allowing Jimin to gradually calm down. In fact, after about twenty minutes, Jimin had finally run out of tears and his sobs had faded away.

'Sorry, Hyung, I am okay now,' Jimin said reassuringly as he pulled away from Yoongi and wiped his nose. The man sniffed and stood up, 'I've kept you here for too long...' he mumbled mindlessly, his eyes trailing to the sidewalk as he had no idea of what else to say.

'No, no, it's fine.' Yoongi shrugged. 'Do you perhaps want to come over to my place?' he asked suddenly and Jimin's eyes widened in excitement. The younger boy bounced slightly as he told Yoongi that he just needed to change out of his uniform.

...

'Wow, Hyung!' Jimin chimed as Yoongi opened the door after warning him one hundred times that his apartment was in shambles. 'It's not that bad really! Mine is way worse!' he said as he took his coat off.

'Oh, damn, where do you live then? A jungle?'

'Hahaha, they're pretty similar!' laughed Jimin as he further stepped into Yoongi's apartment.

And it was weird because Yoongi barely allowed Haneul or even Haru to come over, so why was Jimin different? Or maybe he wasn't... maybe it was just the sympathy that Yoongi felt for the traumatic experience that Jimin had gone through. 

'There's really nothing special about this dump. I eat, sleep and produce music here. That's all.' Yoongi shoved his hands into his pockets, feeling slightly awkward as he rested against the counter in the kitchen. He observed Jimin looking at his photos. 

'A studio? Can I see it?' Jimin asked, becoming all happy like a child after receiving a candy, and of course, Yoongi nodded. 

The two walked through the short, dark hallway and soon found themselves in Yoongi's little studio. It was needless to say that Jimin was surprised by the sight of such professional equipment; that was when he started thinking that Yoongi wasn't joking about loving music.

'So, you play the piano, produce music, write and sing?' asked Jimin in fascination as he carefully pressed a couple of random keys on the wooden piano in the left corner of the room.

'Well, yeah.' Yoongi ruffled his hair, feeling a bit shy. 'I don't really sing, I rap. I might just sing when it's really necessary, otherwise, I am not that good.'

'Oh, I see!' Jimin shifted his attention from the old piano to Yoongi, 'Can I hear some of your songs? Or hear you play on the piano? Or both? I don't know...'

'Well, sure. I am actually working on a song for an album that I am planning to realise sometime, but it's just not good enough. Maybe you can give me some feedback?'

'I'd be honoured although I don't know much about music.' Jimin grinned, 'I played the recorder in middle school though.'

The minty-green-haired man stared at Jimin in disbelief for a few seconds before he burst out laughing. 'We all played the recorder in middle school, didn't we?'  

The elder sat on a wooden stall, meanwhile, Jimin sat in the comfortable black chair that Yoongi usually sat in. Yoongi opened up his song and gave the blonde-haired guy his headphones. Jimin bobbed his head to the beat, smiling at the heavy beats and fast raps that clouded his ears. 

When he was finished, he took the headphones. 'Wow, that was amazing! I didn't know you this good, the production was literally so clear and cool, it's like it came out of a huge company.' 

'Really?' chuckled Yoongi at the cuteness of this kid. 

And he didn't want to lie, each day he spent with this guy, he got more and more used to his bubbly persona, to him. There was still a lingering feeling of mystery from time to time, but he was genuinely starting to have faith in Jimin, and maybe, in the very end, his heart would accept that Haru was starting to fall for this guy. 

Maybe, one day, his heart would accept its own complicatedness.

↳ TO BE CONTINUED... ❞

Published date: 2/05/22.

Word count: 2,558.

—jiminandhisjams