A few days later, Yoongi and Jimin sat next to each other, each frustrated that the other was there again. They wore matching grimaces as the session started.

They were surprised to see Mrs. Choi approaching them right away.

"Would either of you like to share?" she asked.

Both immediately shook their heads. Both were thinking the same thing; if the other knew their reason for being there – their secret – they could use it against them. And Jimin wasn't willing to risk his popularity nor was Yoongi willing to risk further bullying.

"Neither of you has spoken since we started this group," Mrs. Choi reminded them. "Everyone else has shared their stories. I think we'd all like to hear yours."

They both just stared at her.

"Come on," Mrs. Choi encouraged, looking between them. "This is a safe place."

And Yoongi couldn't help it; he snorted in indignation. Mrs. Choi's eyes settled on him. "What's your name?" she asked kindly.

Yoongi supposed it didn't matter if he divulged it. Jimin already knew his name, and Yoongi didn't really care if the strangers there knew it.

"Yoongi," he muttered.

"Yoongi," Mrs. Choi repeated. "It's lovely to finally meet you." She smiled kindly, but Yoongi did not return it. "What brings you here?"

And before he could stop himself, Yoongi's eyes darted to Jimin. Mrs. Choi followed them, and a mix of understanding and concern settled on her face. "Do you two know each other?"

Both Jimin and Yoongi simply sat there. Mrs. Choi sighed. "You do, don't you?"

Again, neither made any move to confirm her suspicions. The silence was becoming so awkward that even the other kids in the group began to feel it.

"We go to the same school," Jimin piped up quietly.

Mrs. Choi nodded. "And you're uncomfortable sharing in front of each other." It was a statement, not a question.

"Well," she continued. "I think we all know how important anonymity is here. I doubt either of you would – "

Again, Yoongi snorted. Mrs. Choi looked solely at him again.

"Yoongi," she said softly. "It's alright. This young man would never – "

"Of course he would!" Yoongi argued bitterly. "He's the reason I'm here!"

Everybody froze. The next few moments felt like an eternity before Mrs. Choi finally looked over at Jimin.

"What's your name?" she asked him.

Jimin, who had gone rigid at Yoongi's words, barely managed to whisper, "Jimin."

"Jimin," Mrs. Choi said, observing him very seriously. "You understand how important is it to keep everything you hear here to yourself, yes?"

Jimin nodded. "Yes, ma'am," he said quietly.

"So, if Yoongi decided to share – "

"I'm not going to share anything," Yoongi interrupted. He stood. "I'm just gonna go."

Mrs. Choi looked up at him, concern in her eyes. "Yoongi, don't – "

"It was stupid for me to come back here after the first session anyway," Yoongi said. "Once I knew he would be here." Yoongi began walking to the door.

For some reason that he couldn't explain, Jimin's heart lurched. Before he could stop himself, he quietly called, "Yoongi."

As his hand gripped the doorknob, Yoongi surprisingly paused. He supposed he was somewhat curious as to what Jimin could possibly have to say to him right then.

"I-I'll go first," Jimin continued, despite his heart beating faster at the thought of doing so. "You don't have to say anything today. I'll do it."

Yoongi could feel everyone's eyes on his back.

"I'm-I'm sorry," Jimin offered.

Yoongi spun around at that. He narrowed his eyes at Jimin. "You're sorry?" he said disbelievingly.

Jimin hesitantly nodded, struck into silence by the fierce look in Yoongi's eyes.

"For what? For laughing at me? Or for starting rumors about me that alienated me from everyone? Or for calling me a faggot every day? Or for breaking my things? Or for dumping ketchup in my hair? Or for spitting on me? Or for encouraging your buddies to do the same and even worse by beating the shit out of me? Or for making me want to kill myself every day of my life?!"

Yoongi finally paused, breathing very heavily. Jimin had looked down in shame during the tirade, but it was Yoongi's final words that made Jimin flinch. When he finally got the nerve to look up at Yoongi again, there were tears in Jimin's eyes. Yoongi didn't care.

"Remember when I missed a bunch of school last year? Remember how I missed finals and almost failed year ten because of it? Hmm?" Jimin said nothing, so Yoongi continued. "Remember me coming back and you torturing me about where I'd been? 'Off fucking a bunch of guys.' That's what you said. 'Being made some Bubba's bitch.' That's what you said. 'Sucking cock for days.' That's what you said!" Yoongi shouted. He stared Jimin down, no longer concerned about divulging his deepest secret. "But no, Jimin. I was off recovering in the hospital after getting my stomach pumped. But I didn't swallow 'gallons of cum', Jimin. I swallowed three bottles of pills. But you probably just remember being disappointed about not having a punching bag around for two weeks!"

Tears were now mercilessly running down Jimin's cheeks. He looked like he wanted to say something, but was terrified to do so.

"Fuck this," Yoongi suddenly said. "I don't even care that you know now, but I have no desire to waste any more breath on you. I'll see you at school tomorrow? Same routine with your buddies; beat up the faggot at his locker before class while you watch and laugh, right?" Yoongi then turned on his heel and hurried out the door, slamming it shut behind him.

Yoongi had made it to the bus stop, just as the bus was approaching, when he heard heavy footsteps heading his way. He looked to the side and was surprised to see Jimin hurriedly sprinting toward him.

"Yoongi, wait! I – "

But Yoongi simply got onto the bus, took a seat and gave a final sneering glance at Jimin as the bus pulled away.

Jimin stood, stunned in the bus's wake, and began silently crying again. "I'm sorry," he whispered.

-

The next day at school, Jimin kept trying to catch Yoongi's eye, but Yoongi would have none of it. Especially after Hwang and Garam had trapped him at his locker first thing in the morning, taunting and hitting him.

Jimin wasn't sure why he'd gotten so emotional at group the day before. And he wasn't sure why he'd offered to share in front of Yoongi. And he certainly didn't know why he'd gone after Yoongi. He was very determinedly trying to convince himself it wasn't out of guilt. But he knew deep down it had to be, even if he wasn't willing to admit it to himself.

There were other reasons Jimin wanted Yoongi to acknowledge him, but he was definitely not going to address those. He pushed them deep down into his subconscious, hopefully never to be thought about again.

"Hey, Jimin." Garam suddenly appeared beside him as he walked to lunch. "I haven't seen you all day. Everything okay?"

Jimin nodded. "I've just got a lot on my mind."

"Ah," Garam replied. "Well, if you need anything, let us know."

"I will," Jimin agreed. "Right now, though, I think I just need some space."

"You've been needing a lot of space lately," Garam said carefully. "You sure everything's okay?"

"Yes," Jimin said, becoming annoyed. "I've just had a lot on my mind."

"Okay," Garam conceded. "Well, the guys and I are going to grab some ketchup for lunch today." There was a tone of mischievousness in his voice.

"You're still bothering Yoongi? You don't think you did enough damage this morning?"

Garam furrowed his brow, obviously a bit confused as to why Jimin would think that way. "Nah," he said. "It's all in good fun."

Jimin snorted. "I'm sure it's a lot of fun for him."

"Okay, what gives?" Garam asked. "Are you suddenly feeling sorry for him or something? You haven't joined in with us in days, and you keep telling us to either leave him alone or questioning what we're doing. Are you going soft on us?"

Jimin stopped short and turned to Garam. "Look, midterms are coming up and I've been studying my ass off. I can't jeopardize my grades, which is why I haven't been joining in. I need to make sure I'm concentrating on my studies right now. You might consider doing the same," he concluded pointedly.

Garam blinked, surprised at Jimin's slight outburst. "Sorry," he said sheepishly. "I didn't realize – "

"Well, you should," Jimin snipped. "Your grades aren't great. You need to ace these midterms. Maybe you should just spend more time studying instead of bothering Yoongi."

Garam just stared at Jimin. "Yeah, okay," he said. "Thanks for the advice."

"Yeah," Jimin replied. Then he adopted a softer tone as he said, "Let's just go to lunch."

Garam nodded. Jimin could tell Garam had more he wanted to say, but he appeared to be a bit scared to continue. Instead, he fell in step beside Jimin and headed to lunch.