The evening approached by the time Jimin finally decided he was ready to go home. He had spent the afternoon mentally preparing himself, and with Yoongi's comforting words he felt now was as good a time as ever.

He knew the confidence would fade soon. And it did, just as he stepped in front of his front door.

His eyes turned towards the ground, shaking, trembling, his whole body, shaking, trembling. Anxiety. It had its fingers securely clasped around him. Yoongi took a firm, yet gentle hold of his shoulders.

"Jimin. Jimin!" The boy didn't look up. "C'mon, Jimin, don't start hyperventilating again, please..."

Again - he said this, because Jimin had almost done so back at the coffee shop. The weight of his fear and doubts, all his stress and emotions binding his heart, it had caused his breathing to become unstable and came close to hyperventilation. And that fact scared Yoongi. Knowing Jimin was under enough stress to bring him to that point broke Yoongi's heart. But he understood it.

He understood it perfectly.

"Jimin, please look at me."

It took some time. Some coaxing.

"You're not alone. I know it's scary, okay?"

"It's too scary," Jimin blurted, voice wavering. "Jihyun most of all."

"Jimin, I need you to hear something."

It silenced him. Jimin stared at the mint-haired boy with wide-eyes. And he stared for a while, until he felt Yoongi pull him close and embrace him. Warm arms, a warmer heart, beating against his chest.

It didn't register at first that that was precisely what Yoongi had been referring to.

And he couldn't directly hear it, but he felt it, and it sent signals to his ears which gladly welcomed the sound.

"Don't get hung up on the hearts that won't beat with yours. That's what my father told me the day I came out."

Jimin's chest warmed as Yoongi slipped his fingers through his hair, caressing it softly.

"If your family doesn't accept you, if Jihyun - and I don't care how much you say he means to you, Jimin, I'm sorry - if he doesn't accept you, he's not worth your time."

It hurt to hear those words, but deep down, Jimin accepted them. With reluctance, but nonetheless he knew he would never truly be able to move on if he didn't value his own feelings more than he did now.

He respected Jihyun. He always had. As a brother, as a friend, as someone he could look up to and rely on, despite how somewhat distant they had been recently. He loved Jihyun. That was precisely why the thought of being rejected by him had been such a long-lasting fear - like a leech draining Jimin of all his energy, and if he didn't act now, he would have no more energy left to give.

Yoongi empathized. Even as he embraced Jimin, he could sense the whirlwind of emotions tormenting the boy. He vividly recalled facing that same whirlwind himself. But back then, he didn't have anyone - no one who knew, that is. He had Hoseok, who to some degree he had believed would fully accept him, but doubt still clung to him, even heavier so when he first decided to approach his mother.

No one was there to stand by him on that day. If Hoseok had known, undoubtedly he would have. But that didn't change the fact that Yoongi had faced that mountain on his own.

So right now, his goal was to convince Jimin, to paint it clear in colors so bright you could see them from space, that he wasn't alone.

Because he knew that there was nothing more painful in this world than to feel alone.

He pulled away - sadly - from the hug, soon to place his hands on Jimin's shoulders. And he smiled. Even though it hurt a little, he smiled so that his gums showed, and he hoped with every inch of his being that it acted as a sign of comfort. Something reassuring.

He watched as Jimin turned his head in the direction of the front door.

"Are you ready to go in there yet?"

He turned back abruptly, facial features visibly twitching in fear. "I-I don't know, I-"

Yoongi stepped forward to place a gentle kiss on Jimin's cheek.

And immediately the boy shut his mouth.

"It'll all be okay."

He believed him. In his heart, Jimin fully trusted Yoongi's encouragement, and not just because he wanted to, but because he knew Yoongi wouldn't lie to him. Especially about this.

Gradually, Jimin reached out to touch the doorknob, which he then rotated until he heard a click that made him jump. Finally he pushed open the door. Slow as slow could be. He stepped inside the house.

Yoongi stepped inside, too.

"Jimin, you're home!"

His mother's voice greeted him right away, and fortunately he managed to resist jumping a second time at the sound of her voice. The kitchen was the first room you arrived at upon entering the house, located at the end of the tiny hallway the door opened to, which is where both Jimin and Yoongi left their shoes.

"You said you might be late, I wasn't sure if you'd be back for dinner so I set aside some...oh, is this your friend?"

Slow steps. All of Jimin's movements were slow. His eye travel, lifting up from the ground to scan the room, specifically the kitchen table where sat his mother, his father, and Eunjin. No Jihyun.

"Jimin, c'mon, now, at least introduce us," his father said in a lighthearted tone. All three of the boy's family members present were watching him closely now. And they could all see the look on his face. The heavy-set uncertainty whether or not to speak, or to run. But they, themselves, said no more.

They only watched and waited.

They waited, knowing something was wrong, but not knowing to what extent the inner battle inside this boy was raging, the merciless waves crashing against the shore which had already taken too much damage, the rocks which had long since been reduced to mere sand.

His throat strained. Jimin felt his hands shaking, and he begged for them to stop, he begged for the world to stop moving.

But he knew it wouldn't. The world didn't stop for anyone. So he'd just have to find a way to move against it.

With great struggle Jimin lifted his arm, then put it down again so that his hand could take Yoongi's.

He intertwined their fingers.

Opening his mouth, he tried to speak, and at first no words came out. But finally his voice broke free of the cage.

"I...wanted to introduce you guys to...my boyfriend."

There was only silence that followed his statement. Silence, excruciating silence that wrapped around Jimin as he kept his head turned towards the ground.

Ages seemed to past. He didn't know how much longer he could hold his breath.

"...Jimin, sweetheart, why are you crying?"

And he let the breath go. So fast, raising his head again at his mother's delicate question, and misty eyes meeting with each of his family members at that table who all gazed at him with such genuine concern.

It broke him. It shattered that wall of his, and the tears were released from the dam, filling up his eyelids and spilling over like they had been held in there for years - and in a sense, they had. These tears. They streamed down his face, which collapsed in on itself from the weight of it all, sobs escaping through his mouth, uncontrolled, unrestrained.

The boy's parents and sister all stood up from their seats one by one and went to him.

Yoongi let go of Jimin's hand to make room for them.

Those three, who all embraced Jimin so tightly, thus drawing out more of those bitter, compressed cries which desperately needed to meet the air. Yoongi wanted to hug him, too. But he thought, he had his time, and he could have more time later. Now was Jimin's time. Jimin, and his family who evidently loved him more than he thought they did.

He wished his mother could have hugged him like that. But at the same time, he was okay with how things were. He listened to his father's advice. He loved his mom, but he didn't allow himself to wait around for her.

Somewhere amidst the family group hug, the front door opened again, and the parents of the two children pulled back enough to watch as their eldest child walked through the door. He didn't even slip off his shoes before allowing his eyes to fully drink up the sight he had just walked in on.

"What's...going on?"

It was Jimin who reacted now. At the sound of his brother's voice, he shifted his head and his family got the message to move away - Eunjin, however, was the most reluctant, but thanks to a stern glance from Jimin, she finally stepped back.

The tears on the boy's face were still visible. His eyes weren't quite done crying, either.

They locked with Jihyun's. Determined, but afraid all the same.

"Jihyun, I'm gay." His words, though filled with confidence, shook like the leaves of a tree on the verge of shedding. Yet he clung to that branch he was on. "I'm gay, and if it makes you lose any respect you had for me then so be it, I'm not apologizing. I won't lie to you anymore. So go ahead and punch me if that's what you want to do, just get it over with."

Distorted. That confidence was distorted. And it, just like his walls, shattered. His firm expression broke again.

"Just get it over with, please."

That desperation. The genuine desperation that led this boy to believing he would receive such a thing from the start, rather, believing it was what he deserved.

Expecting that his big brother would hit him...

Heartache. It bled from Jimin's voice.

And it struck Jihyun like a bullet.

Being there, seeing his little brother standing in front of him at his lowest state, crying his heart out till it probably physically hurt him, and knowing inside that he wasn't blameless for it.

He wasn't blameless at all.

Jihyun took a step forward and felt his chest compress as Jimin braced himself.

For a punch. He wasn't expecting to feel Jihyun carefully drape his arms around him.

And it took a few seconds but the boy finally relaxed into the embrace.

The tears returned full force.

"Jimin, I'm so sorry..."

It wasn't an act. Jimin could hear it, too, the subtlest tremor in Jihyun's voice, the sincerity in that brief apology.

"I'm so freaking sorry..."

*

The time it took for Jimin to stop crying and his family to stop hugging him seemed like a forever and a half, but Yoongi didn't mind. He couldn't have asked for a better reaction. Even if he'd had faith in Jimin's parents and sister, he wouldn't deny he had some doubts about Jihyun. But now that he had witnessed it all in person, he never felt so happy to be wrong.

He sat on the living room couch now, waiting for Jimin to finish talking with his family. He wanted to be patient. But it was getting more difficult by the second.

To his relief, Yoongi was soon met with the sight of Jimin finally walking into the living room again. The boy rubbed his eyes and cheeks as he walked up to the mint-haired boy.

"Sorry, Yoongi," he said softly, sniffling. "I didn't mean to take so long. Hope you weren't too bored just sitting here."

"It's alright."

He showed off a reassuring smile. Jimin nodded in vague response.

"...Yoongi, I know I've been taking a lot of your time, but..." His brows twitched with a guilt Yoongi wished could have been erased by now. "...I wanted to thank you a-"

"Can we talk in private? I think your little sister is listening in on our conversation."

Jimin craned his neck to look behind him, and surely enough, he found Eunjin standing by the doorway, poking her head in but it disappeared the moment she realized she had been discovered. Jimin sighed.

"We can...go to my room, if that's alright."

"Anything's fine, Jimin. I just want to talk to you."

He nodded again. And so did Yoongi, with a smile, as Jimin rose from his seat and the other followed him up the stairs and into his room.

He closed the door.

In a matter of seconds, the two were both seated on Jimin's bed. And Yoongi didn't wait this time, no, frankly he was tired of waiting, so he cupped Jimin's cheeks in his hands and gazed deeply into his eyes until he could be certain he had the boy's full attention.

"Jimin."

Both of their hearts were caught in their throats.

"I'm proud of you."

It held the power to make him cry again. It took everything, everything not to. "I couldn't have done it without you, Yoongi."

"Maybe so," he said with a shrug, "but you didn't need my help to make me fall in love with you. You did that all on your own."

Jimin's eyes grew wide. Yoongi's smile grew wider.

"I love you, Jimin."

He rubbed one of his thumbs against the boy's cheek.

"I really hope you knew that," Yoongi added. "I know I made up some excuses before, but I...I'd never kiss anyone the way...I kissed you."

Pastel shades of color dusted the boy's cheeks as he made a shy glance away from Jimin's face.

"And I would never want to kiss anyone else."

"I don't want to kiss anyone else, either."

Oh. He's crying again.

"Jimin..." Yoongi kissed his cheek. "C'mon, don't-"

"I love you more."

"N-no, let's not make it a competition now."

"I'm not."

"Okay, well, then, let's just-"

"Kiss me, Yoongi."

He swore his heart stopped. But in the most delicate way possible.

"If that's okay," Yoongi said, unable to mask his happiness at the request - not that he had a reason to now. "I'll gladly kiss you."

So he did. Hands still holding Jimin's face like he was the most precious thing to him, Yoongi leaned in to press a soft kiss to the boy's lips.

Sweet, like the familiar taste Yoongi remembered from the last time they kissed, mixed with the salty taste Jimin's tears had left behind. He slid one hand along the side of the boy's head to rest on the nape of his neck, while the other Yoongi moved to allow his fingers to tangle with Jimin's soft orange hair.

His body felt lighter than air, heart dancing on clouds. He felt Jimin start to move his lips against his own. Yoongi stopped him.

"Let me," he whispered, though his face was already flushed. "Don't...kiss back. Just...lie back and let me, okay?"

"But-"

"Please?"

He was embarrassed. Yoongi, even with his attempted boldness, was so clearly shy about this, and yet still Jimin could tell he wanted to do what he said, and in no way was he against it. Granted, he felt embarrassed, too, but he would take that over his confession having been turned down any day.

So he allowed his arms to go limp, for Yoongi to gently push him until he was lying on the bed, where he was then gifted with soft kisses on his cheeks, up and down his cheekbones, on his nose, his forehead, his eyelids, Yoongi's lips, Yoongi's pretty pink lips, all over his face.

Yoongi's lips, all over his lips...every collision stole his breath, but it didn't bother him one bit.

Every collision. Jimin hummed quietly, which only increased Yoongi's embarrassment, but the boy was determined to continue, so he did. He kissed Jimin deeper, but there came a point when he could no longer feel his face thanks to the blush setting it aflame, and he had to pull away.

He lay down beside Jimin, facing the ceiling. And there, the two lay in a peaceful quiet for a few minutes, in the midst of which Jimin reached for Yoongi's hand again.

"...I'm sorry for all the trouble I caused you."

"Don't be."

"Well, I am."

"Well, don't be." Yoongi stifled a laugh. He rubbed his cheek with his free hand hoping to chase away that lingering redness. "If you hadn't caused me trouble, we might not have ended up here, and I don't like that thought at all."

"Are you sure?" Jimin asked softly.

"Of course I'm sure. Don't..." He sighed. "Don't doubt yourself, Jimin, or I'll have to kiss you again."

"...you say that as though that's something I'd want to avoid."

It drew a fond smile from Yoongi, as he turned his head so that he could look at Jimin, who soon did the same. And both of them found nothing but pure love in the other's eyes.

He felt deserving for the first time since he had started to know Yoongi. Deserving, all because of the way the boy looked at him now. As his gaze held him so delicately and draped over him a blanket of compassion, Yoongi's lips showed that same emotion, like he would not, could not ever be more in love.

Like he couldn't have felt more comfortable than right here. With Jimin.

And Jimin, with Yoongi.

"My home..."

The mint-haired boy furrowed his brow at first, just slightly confused by the soft-spoken comment, but he realized before long what Jimin meant.

"I'll be your home for as long as you want me to."

"Forever?"

He felt a pleasant warmth spread throughout his body, starting from his chest and reaching out to his toes and the crown of his head. Jimin's voice, that innocent, hopeful tone that Yoongi swore he could see in the boy's face.

"Of course, Jimin." He propped himself up a bit, then shifted over so that his head hovered over Jimin's. "I love you. So...if it's okay with you, you'll never have to leave home again."

He smiled - Jimin did, more than just a slight upward tilt of his mouth, but something much fuller, to where Yoongi could actually see the boy's teeth. And what a breathtaking smile it was. Enough to make Yoongi fall in love all over again.

He returned the smile, on the verge of tears but he somehow held them back as he pressed another kiss to Jimin's lips.

"Welcome home, Jimin."

For everything you've ever done for me
I won't lie and fear no more
I hope you realize:
You kept me alive

Illenium: Only One

*

*

a/n:
lazily edited but hey long chapter lol

i'll be having a couple more chapters after this to completely close up the story, we'll see