"You want us to what?!"

Jimin rolled his eyes at Junho. "You heard me."

"But why?" Hwang asked.

Jimin sighed. "It's just gotten boring, bothering him all the time. Don't you think we should just focus our efforts elsewhere?"

His three friends shared confused looks. "But," Garam said. "Where would we focus our efforts? We've put a lot of time and energy into Yoongi. I mean, for years – "

"Exactly," Jimin interrupted. "Years. So maybe we should just...I dunno...give the guy a break?"

"What's going on, Jimin?" Hwang asked suddenly. "You've been acting strange for weeks. It's like you care about him or something."

"What?" Jimin said with mock incredulousness. "No, of course not. I just think we have better things we can do with our time."

"Like what?"

"Like studying. Or even just playing video games. We haven't done that in like a month."

"We've just been busy – "

"Chasing Yoongi home," Jimin interrupted. "Yeah, I know. But see, that's what I'm saying. You're wasting your time when you could be doing something productive."

"I guess you're right," Garam said. "We haven't hung out with you in weeks. Why don't we all get together some night and have a tournament at my place."

"See, that's what I'd like to do," Jimin said, finally smiling at them. "Let's just put how I've been acting and how you treat Yoongi behind us. We're friends. Let's hang out and be friends."

Junho smiled. "Sounds like a great idea."

Jimin internally sighed with relief. He couldn't believe he'd managed to get his friends to leave Yoongi alone without much push back or suspicion. Maybe they were just subconsciously getting bored of their antics with Yoongi, and Jimin just pushed them over the edge to stop with his suggestions. 'Hopefully,' Jimin thought to himself. 'Hopefully they won't bring it up again.'

-

Another week passed by, and Jimin's friends had not bothered Yoongi at all during that time. Jimin was beginning to allow himself to feel some relief. They were constantly asking Jimin if he was alright, which annoyed Jimin to no end. And he had to hang out with them often, but it was a small price to pay to keep them off of Yoongi's back.

And at least they weren't asking about Yoongi.

Yoongi was quite enjoying not being bullied every day. He was surprised that Jimin had managed to pull it off, but he wasn't going to question it.

One day, however, it hit him. Now he was going to have to confide more in Jimin. He'd said he would if Jimin could get his friends to leave Yoongi alone. He felt very nervous about this; the thought of sharing more details about his depression and suicidal tendencies. He wasn't sure he trusted Jimin just quite yet.

One day after yet another session during which Yoongi had stayed silent, Jimin approached him at the bus stop.

"Hey," Jimin said timidly. "You want a ride home?"

Yoongi looked at him strangely. "What?"

"You always take the bus, but I have a car. I can drive you," he explained. "If you want, I mean. You don't have to if you don't want to."

Yoongi stared at him. "You want my faggy germs all over your car?"

Jimin sighed. Yoongi still lashed out like this every once in a while. Every time he did, it was like another stake through Jimin's heart.

"Yoongi, I don't think like that anymore, okay? I just wanted to offer because I figured maybe we could talk a little more on the way home."

"You've barely talked to me since you got your friends to back off. You're still afraid to be seen with me."

"No," Jimin said quickly. "That's not true. I – "

"Then why do you only want to talk when we're not at school?"

Jimin blinked. He didn't have an answer to that.

Because Yoongi was right. Jimin was still concerned about what it would look like if he suddenly started hanging out with Yoongi. He would be judged, he knew, and he was scared. He wanted to help Yoongi and maybe even be his friend. But he was still too worried about his reputation to try. And he felt awful about it.

"Yoon – "

"Don't worry about it," Yoongi interrupted as the bus pulled up. "I'm fine to take the bus."

"But – "

"I'll talk to you...sometime, I guess."

Jimin watched helplessly as Yoongi got onto the bus and found a seat. The bus then drove away, and left Jimin to contemplate how he could be so stupid.

-

"Yoongi," Mrs. Choi called on him. "Would you like to share today."

Yoongi's immediately response would have been 'no', but he did take a moment to pause to think about it.

"Um, I don't really know what to say," he told her honestly.

"Well," she said gently. "You mentioned a suicide attempt before. Perhaps you'd like to talk about if you've had any other suicidal tendencies since then. Or, perhaps what you're doing to manage your depression?"

"I, uh, I'm on medication," he said. "I see a psychiatrist every three months to keep up with that."

"That's good!" Mrs. Choi said happily. "I'm so glad you're getting help."

Yoongi nodded. He glanced at Jimin, who had his head down, staring into his lap. Yoongi wondered what was wrong with him.

"I haven't been suicidal again," Yoongi admitted, feeling more emboldened now. "I mean, I think about it sometimes. Okay, well, often. But I haven't felt the desire to actually try to do it again for quite awhile."

Mrs. Choi smiled. "I'm so glad to hear that, Yoongi. That's a big relief."

"I'm gay," he suddenly blurted out.

Jimin's head snapped up. He turned and looked at Yoongi, but Yoongi would not look at him.

"Sorry, I..."

"That's alright, Yoongi," Mrs. Choi said quickly.

"I just...I was sharing and then I just...I dunno. I felt a need to say that."

"That's good, Yoongi," Mrs. Choi encouraged. "That's why we're here, to talk about things on our minds."

"I've just never said that out loud to anyone but my parents," Yoongi admitted. "It's just...kinda scary to admit."

With those words, Yoongi then finally looked over at Jimin. Jimin was staring at him. He felt a twinge in his chest at the fact that Yoongi now trusted him enough to admit that in front of him.

"I'm glad to hear that your parents do not seem to have a problem with it," Mrs. Choi told him. "That's a big secret to bear, but I'm so happy your parents are open-minded enough to be there for you."

Yoongi nodded. "Yeah," he said. "Me, too."

Yoongi chanced another glance at Jimin, but he had lowered his head again. Although Yoongi didn't know what was wrong, he felt an inexplicable want to reach out and pat Jimin's shoulder reassuringly. But, he didn't. He wasn't sure if that's really what Jimin needed right now.

After a few more people had shared, the session ended. Everyone began filing out of the conference room, and Yoongi hurried after Jimin.

"Hey," he said. "How about that ride?"

Jimin looked at him with surprise. "Really?"

"Yeah, if that's okay. If you're not able to today, though, that's okay."

"No, I'm able to," Jimin quickly replied. "Um, let's go, I guess."

Yoongi nodded, then fell in step behind Jimin. They entered the car, and Yoongi gave Jimin his address. Jimin then pulled out of the parking lot and headed that way.

There was silence in the car for a few, long, awkward minutes. Finally, Yoongi sighed. "Well," he said. "Now you know."

Jimin stared out the windshield. He wasn't sure what to say. "Yeah," was all he could manage.

"I'll admit," Yoongi said quietly. "I don't really know how to help you come to terms with the fact that you're gay, but I mean, I'll listen if you ever need to talk about it."

Jimin nodded. "Thanks."

"Sure," Yoongi replied.

There was silence again. Yoongi could tell Jimin wasn't going to say anything further, so he picked up the conversation again.

"Does anyone know?"

Jimin shook his head. "I wish I could tell my parents, but they're not exactly as nice as it seem your parents must be. They would never accept it. I'd be disowned. Probably thrown out, too."

Yoongi's heart dropped. For the first time since he'd known him, Yoongi felt sorry for Jimin. Especially when he remembered that Jimin was too afraid to even admit to his parents that he was depressed. Yoongi knew that if he himself didn't have his parents' support, he'd be long dead by now.

"So," Yoongi tried to keep the conversation moving. "I know you said you're depressed. You haven't, like, ever felt the need to hurt yourself, have you?"

Jimin snorted. "Are you kidding? I think about it all the time."

Yoongi eyebrows rose. He was still finding it hard to believe that Jimin could have any problems that were similar to his. But here they were, both considering hurting themselves for their own reasons.

"If you ever feel like that, call me, okay?" Yoongi told him.

"What?" Jimin asked. "Y-You'd be willing to talk to me?"

"Well, sure," Yoongi confirmed. "Look, I know I haven't addressed it yet, but I really do appreciate you getting your idiot army off my back. I don't know how you did it, but thank you."

"You're welcome," Jimin replied.

"I just figure, you've been willing to help me, so why shouldn't I help you?"

Jimin smiled a very small smile. "Thanks, Yoongi."

"No problem."

It was then that Jimin pulled into Yoongi's driveway. "Here we are," Jimin said, looking up at the house. It was modest, but cozy looking. He wondered what it looked like on the inside.

"Let me give you my number," Yoongi said. "I mean, if you want it."

"Yeah," Jimin said, picking up his phone. "I do."

They then exchanged numbers and Yoongi finally got out of the car.

"Thanks for the ride," Yoongi said earnestly. "I appreciate it."

"Yeah, it's no problem. I can bring you home next time, too. I mean, I could pick you up, too, if you need me to."

"We'll see," Yoongi said, though he was wearing a small smile when he said it. "See ya around."

"Bye."

As soon as Jimin was out of sight of Yoongi's house, he grinned. He felt his heart lift, as though all his burdens disappeared, even if just for a few short moments. He'd never felt as free as he did right then. Someone knew his secrets and they weren't judging him or using them against him. It was something Jimin had always hoped for, though he'd never expected it to actually happen.

Jimin soon arrived home, and headed to his bedroom immediately, not even bothering to see if his parents were anywhere around. He flopped down onto his bed and then picked up his phone. He unlocked it, then stared at the new contact he'd just added a little while before. And for the first time in a long time, Jimin felt some peace.