It was the day of the second bi-weekly meeting, and both Jimin and Yoongi were seriously considering not going.

"I'm not going to say anything anyway," both boys said at the same time, across town from each other.

Suddenly, Yoongi's mother entered his room. "Are you getting ready to go to the session?" she asked, a pleased tone in her voice.

Yoongi suddenly regretted having told her that he was going to attend the first meeting. He sighed, "Look, mom – "

His mother's face dropped. "Yoon – "

"It's not that I don't want to, it's just...something happened there, and I'm just not comfortable – "

His mother's eyes filled with tears. Yoongi resisted the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose. "Yoongi-yah, please. I'm not going to force you into going, but just going once isn't even giving it a real shot. Can you please just keep an open mind?"

Yoongi sighed. "You don't understand," he said as kindly as possible.

A couple of tears slid down his mother's cheeks. "I know I don't," she said quietly. "That's why I was hoping you'd go. Maybe somebody there would."

"Mom, please don't cry. I hate it when you cry. You don't know how guilty it makes me feel."

His mother quickly wiped away her tears. "I'm not trying to guilt you – "

"I know you're not. I know your feelings are real and honest. I just almost can't handle it when you cry."

"I'll do my best not to," she promised. "But I really hope you'll consider going again. Just give it one more shot."

Yoongi contemplated for a few short moments. "Fine," he finally agreed. "But if it doesn't go well, I can't promise I'll keep going."

His mother walked over to him and wrapped him in a hug. "Thank you, Yoongi-yah."

Yoongi nodded, then disentangled himself from her embrace. "I'll be home right after," he told her as he gathered his wallet and keys. His mother nodded, too.

Yoongi quickly left the house after that, trying to avoid any more tears from his mother. He slowed down outside, however, trudging slowly toward the bus stop.

-

"I don't have to say anything," Jimin reasoned with himself. "Maybe he won't even be there this time. I doubt he wants to talk any more than I do."

Jimin spun his car keys around his finger as he considered the best and worst scenarios of going back to the group. He sighed. It couldn't hurt to try one more time, right? And he'd never know if Yoongi went back if he himself didn't. Finally he snapped his wrist and caught his car keys in his hand.

"Couldn't hurt, I guess," he muttered. Yoongi still hadn't said anything to anyone at school. If he did happen to be there again, Jimin doubted Yoongi would mention it now, if Jimin just didn't say anything.

He grabbed his backpack and headed downstairs. Luckily, his parents were nowhere in sight. "I'm going tutoring," he called, then hurried out the door before either of them appeared to try to stop him.

Eventually, he pulled up to the building and slowly made his way inside. When he eventually entered the conference room, he perked up. Yoongi wasn't there.

He settled into the seat he'd sat in during the last session. More kids began trickling in, and many of them sat in the same chairs as well. Eventually, the only one that was left was Yoongi's.

But Yoongi still hadn't shown up. Jimin was feeling even better with each passing moment that the chair remained empty. He was relieved.

Maybe even relieved enough to talk today.

Suddenly, Mrs. Choi appeared in the doorway. "Hello," she said. "Is everyone ready to star – oop!"

Jimin furrowed his brow until he realized someone had appeared behind Mrs. Choi. She stepped aside to let them in, and Jimin's heart sank as Yoongi walked through the door.

He scanned his surroundings until his gaze landed on Jimin. His shoulders sank, but he made his way over the empty chair anyway.

Both boys stared straight ahead, neither wanting to look at the other. Mrs. Choi began leading the group, encouraging other kids to open up. But neither Yoongi nor Jimin heard anyone else's story. They were too busy lamenting in their heads that they'd decided to come back.

-

"Are we still banned from bothering Yoongi?" Hwang asked Jimin at school the next day.

Jimin rolled his eyes. He was in another annoyed mood, so he said, "Do whatever you want."

His three friends grinned at each other, then took off quickly to find Yoongi before class started. Jimin watched them go, hoping he hadn't just made a terrible mistake.

As he made his way to class a few minutes later, he came upon his friends and was unsurprised to see that they had found Yoongi. Junho had him pinned against a locker as Garam pulled all of Yoongi's belongings out of his backpack and tossed them across the hall.

Jimin stopped short for a split second, but it was long enough for Yoongi to lock eyes with him. There were tears in Yoongi's eyes from the force with which Junho was holding his hair in order to keep him against the locker. Jimin's heart skipped a beat for just a moment.

What was this? Was Jimin feeling...guilty? No, he reasoned with himself. He was just still concerned Yoongi would say something to somebody about the group. Especially if Jimin didn't stop his friends.

But Jimin couldn't stop them again. No, they'd know something was going on. So, Jimin ripped his gaze away from Yoongi and continued walking down the hall. After a few long moments, he heard his friends burst into laughter. He didn't dare look back at them, however. He didn't want to see what they had done now. He just tried to ignore the laughter until he was far enough away to no longer hear it.

Jimin did his best to stay away from his friends for the rest of the day. Anytime he saw any of them, they were always with Yoongi, pushing him down outside the History classroom or spitting on him at his locker or throwing food at him during lunch or shouting "faggot" at him in front of everyone else. And Jimin wanted no part of it. He couldn't risk it.

When school was over and he was walking to his car, he saw his friends once again chasing Yoongi past the school gates. He sighed. This was the worst they'd acted toward him in a very long time. He began to feel nervous. Hopefully his lack of stopping them didn't convince Yoongi to say anything to anybody about Jimin the next day.

-

Yoongi slammed the door behind him and locked it quickly. He'd finally made it home and gotten away from Jimin's friends. He leaned his back against the door for a few moments, heart racing.

Today had been bad. Much worse than any other in recent memory. Yoongi had gotten used to being left alone the past few days at school. Perhaps the boys were making up for lost time today.

Yoongi quickly went upstairs and took a shower. He was covered in spit and food, and wanted to wash away the filth of the day. Afterward, he dumped the contents of his backpack onto his bed and began sorting through it. His belongings had spent more time on the floor than inside of his backpack today.

Once he got everything back into its place, he began his homework. He was halfway through it when he caught a glimpse of something out of the corner of his eye. It was the pamphlet for the group on the corner of his desk. He stared at it for a long time.

He really did want to attend the group. He truly thought it could help him. But how could he now? Jimin kept showing up, and Yoongi knew he would never share his problems in front of Jimin. So what was the point of going back?

The next session was in just a few days. After the day he'd had, he knew he needed support from somewhere or someone. So, he made the decision in that moment to try one more time, and simply hope Jimin wouldn't be there this time.

Suddenly, there was a knock at his door. His heart jumped into his throat. Had one of Jimin's friends gotten inside?

But it was his father who pushed his door open a moment later. He must have gotten off of work early.

"Hello, Yoongi," his father said. "How was school today?"

Yoongi shrugged. "Okay, I guess," he lied.

His father nodded. "I just wanted to say that I'm glad you attended the support group yesterday. Your mother and I are grateful and proud of you for trying."

"No problem," Yoongi said with a nod, though he knew it was actually a big problem for him right now. "Mom convinced me."

"I figured," his father said. "But ultimately, you made the decision and I'm glad you decided to go. How was it?"

Again, Yoongi shrugged. "Fine, I guess."

"So you'll go to the next one?"

"I was actually just thinking about it before you came in," Yoongi said honestly. "I'll try it one more time."

His father grinned. "I'm glad to hear it. I'll leave you to do your homework," he continued as he turned to leave the room.

"Hey, dad," Yoongi said before his father closed the door.

"Yeah?"

"I...I love you. And mom. Thanks for being supportive."

His father smiled again. "Of course, Yoongi. You're the most important thing in the world to us. I hope you never forget that."

And Yoongi smiled, too.