Three days passed. Just three days, but they felt like such long, excruciating weeks to Jimin, who wanted every second of those days to see Yoongi, to talk to Yoongi, to know how he was doing and if he had recovered yet. He missed him. So. Badly.

Namjoon was attending class and working shifts like usual. And Jimin learned his friend hadn't been lying, in that the accident hadn't been that serious at all. There weren't any noticeable scratches on him, not that he could see, and Namjoon seemed--for the most part, that is--completely normal. Although, Jimin could detect the slightest hint of...something in Namjoon's expression, an underlying presence of an emotion he couldn't quite decipher. But he knew it had to do with Yoongi. To Jimin's understanding, when Namjoon wasn't at work or in class, he was at Yoongi's dorm, keeping the boy company every moment that he could. Namjoon wouldn't say much else, though, so this piece of information was all Jimin had to hold to, to find comfort in. It was enough. Knowing that Namjoon was there with him.  It would have to be enough.

It was painfully difficult. To refrain from texting Yoongi, calling him, seeing his face...and knowing he was locking himself away and probably suffering... It was so much worse than when the boy had burned his arm. That time, at least Jimin had been able to see him, and at least then he had been able to rest assured with the knowledge that the injury would eventually heal. Because it was only physical. But this, for whatever reason Yoongi refused to leave his dorm room, wasn't something Jimin could put to sleep in the back of his mind, not till he saw him again, not till he knew...just what was going on. Of course, he had an idea, but Jimin was aware of his own ignorance as to the extent of the situation.

He wanted to be patient. He just didn't know how much longer he could take it.

It was the night of the fifth day that Jimin received a call. He was at his dorm, lying awake on his bed with his phone lying in the palm of his open hand. He felt it vibrate and nearly jumped out of his own skin. Perhaps staring at the ceiling for five minutes straight had caused him to forget he was even holding his phone. Springing into an upright position, Jimin glanced at the caller ID, subconsciously already expecting it to be Taehyung calling to see how he was doing. But it wasn't Taehyung. It was Yoongi. And for a split second Jimin doubted his eyesight and cursed his heart for skipping such a long, uncomfortable beat and for getting caught in his throat the moment he raised the phone to his ear.

"Jimin?"

The sound of Yoongi's voice alone just nearly brought tears to Jimin's eyes. He swallowed a tough lump in his throat, biting down on his upper lip, struggling to keep his voice calm and his composure in check. "Yoongi, I-...I'm so happy to hear you again..."

"Mm." He sounded so tired. "I'm sorry for not...calling sooner-"

"Don't you dare apologize to me now, Min Yoongi, I swear..." Jimin rubbed his eyes to fight away the mist still threatening to form in them. He could hear the way his own words trembled, whereas Yoongi's were so low and lazily uttered, like sleepy whispers from a child who had stayed up way past their bedtime. He wished he could hug him through the phone. "Yoongi, how..." He held his tongue. "...how are you?"

"Better some," came Yoongi's quiet reply. Jimin breathed a sigh of relief.

"That's good...that's good, I'm glad to hear that. Is Namjoon with you?"

"No. I told Joon he could go back to his own dorm."

Jimin hadn't expected that response at all. He thought his question to be a rhetorical one--of course Namjoon was with Yoongi. But now that he learned he was mistaken, Jimin's worrisome heart caused his chest to tighten, face to become pale. His mouth fell open, but too soon, as he didn't prepare in advance what he would say, or what he should say. So Yoongi spoke first.

"Jimin, will you come over?"

It was faint, but not enough so that Jimin couldn't detect that small trace of hope in Yoongi's voice, the underlying I miss you that made his lips and fingers quiver. He inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly. "Of course I will," Jimin said. "Of course I'll come over. Do you want me to bring you anything? Something to eat, drink? I could run over to that coffee shop you like that's open late. Or what about extra blankets?"

"Just you is fine. I just want you."

"Okay. I'll be over as soon as I can. Bye, Yoongi."

"Bye."

He had to hang up quickly, fearing the tears would start flowing full force--and they almost did, they almost did this time, because of those words, those sweet, loving words that lingered in Jimin's ears and in his head long after having been spoken. He repeated them to himself in the quiet of his room. Then, after reminding himself firmly that Yoongi was waiting for him, he leapt to his feet and raced over to the door, swung it open, and set his course for Yoongi's dorm without bothering to change out of his pajamas or turn off the lamp he had left on. His roommate would be back eventually. He could turn it off then.

The driving force of Jimin's fast-paced steps brought him to his destination in what seemed like no time. When he arrived he didn't knock at the door. He opened it. And he found Yoongi standing there. Waiting. Jimin didn't hesitate to enter the dorm and capture Yoongi in a tight embrace, tighter than any other hug the two had shared before, tighter and it was so warm, holding Yoongi in his arms again felt so warm, and vice versa for Yoongi, who could have cried at the way Jimin held him, were he not too tired to do so. But it was comforting, this embrace, the combing of Jimin's fingers through his hair, the soft kiss that was pressed to the side of his head. It made him feel...so loved.

"Oh, Yoongi..."

Another kiss was given, this one to his forehead after Jimin had briefly pulled away, then pushed aside Yoongi's blonde bangs. The embrace was then re-initiated.

"I was so freaking worried about you..." Jimin uttered a shaky breath, and he gave Yoongi a squeeze, just in case they weren't already close enough. "I hope you know I haven't stopped thinking about you these past few days, not for a single second. I love you so much, Yoongi, you need to know that, I need you to know that..."

"I do know."

A minute passed in silence, the two still holding on to each other in the dim room which was lit only by the lamp beside Yoongi's bed, just as Jimin's had been. But it was enough, just enough so that when Jimin guided Yoongi by the hand to sit on the bed, he could still perfectly see the boy's face, clearly, the dark circles under his eyes, the deficiency of energy that was oh so saddening to Jimin, who wished Yoongi would smile for him. However he recalled Namjoon's message from five days ago, the reassurance he had tagged behind he's gonna need some time.

This truly was a test of Jimin's patience and love for Yoongi.

He cupped his hand around Yoongi's right cheek and gently stroked it with his thumb.

"You've been pulling all-nighters, haven't you?"

"Just two," Yoongi admitted, "but they weren't consecutive, and I'm doing better, I swear I am."

Jimin trusted him. He could hear in his voice that Yoongi was trying to reassure him, and it worked, but regardless Jimin's heart still ached for him as it soaked in the love and appreciation which poured from Yoongi's half-lidded eyes. How heavy they looked, how desperately they seemed to crave rest, how desperately Jimin wished they would rest...but, though he thought it selfish of him, he didn't want that to happen yet. He wanted a little longer to talk to Yoongi after having been deprived of it for five days.

"Yoongi..." Jimin hesitated, washing his gaze solicitously over Yoongi's motionless, but not emotionless, countenance. "...Yoongi, do you...want to talk?"

He didn't need to clarify. Yoongi knew what he meant, and he knew that Yoongi would know what he meant. So he waited as Yoongi's eyes wandered, all the way down to the hand which gripped his own so tenderly and with love. Several seconds passed. Then he nodded.

"Are you sure? If you don't want to, it's okay, Yoongi, I won't guilt you into a-"

"No, Jimin, I owe you this much."

Lifting his gaze again to connect with Jimin's, Yoongi permitted him the slightest of smiles, because he really did want Jimin to feel at ease, and he considered the fact that Jimin might still be hurting due to having essentially been ignored by him for five days. Additionally, he thought that perhaps voicing his thoughts and harbored feelings would help. Not only himself but Jimin, too.

Yoongi drew a shallow breath.

"This isn't the first time something like this has happened," he started out by explaining. "When Namjoon was seventeen--I was eighteen at the time--he...almost drowned in the ocean. Our families vacationed to the same spot every summer, and he and I spent a lot of time on the beach. But I would have never even set foot on the sand if I had known that would happen. It traumatized me, Jimin. Because that was the first time I realized that one day, Namjoon could leave me, that there could come a time when he wouldn't...be there. I was terrified at the thought of waking up without receiving one of his stupid 'good morning' texts, terrified of the mere idea of graduating without him, terrified I wouldn't be able to without him, that I'd just sink into a pitfall where I'd remain for the rest of my life because what was the point if he wasn't there with me."

There was a pause. A long pause, a stretch of silence, but Jimin knew Yoongi wasn't near finished. So again did he wait.

"It was worse then," he continued, voice a touch quieter than before. "After we got back from our vacation, I went several weeks without leaving my house. And no one understood...no one but Joon. They all told me he was fine, that he could have died but he didn't, and it was all okay. But it wasn't. It wasn't okay. Not for me. Because I couldn't stop thinking about what hell my life would become without him. He was always such a pillar for me. In high school most of all, because back then I had such terrible anxiety, so bad that at times the only way I could stay calm was if he held my hand. And he did...so often. Just for me. Just so that I could breathe. He knew it, I knew it, that there was never a romantic connection between us, but there was something just as strong, and I have no issue with admitting to myself that I love him. I love him with all of my heart, and I hate that I don't tell him enough, I hate that I can rarely bring myself to say those words to him, only once in a blue moon, or when things like this happen, and all of a sudden I'm in a mess of tears, clinging to him as though he'd die if I let go..."

Another pause. But this one wasn't enough half the length of the first, as it appeared something snapped in Yoongi's brain, a panicked realization that drove him to clench Jimin's hand and stare deeply into his eyes.

"But you need to listen to me now, Jimin." His words were firm in manner, but kind at the same time. "I don't want, not for a second, for you to ever even think about doubting yourself, or comparing yourself to Namjoon. The way I love you...is so much different. You've brought so much light into my life, you've given me so many things to look forward to, you've made me feel things I never thought that I could, because for the longest time I never thought I was even capable of falling in love, and yet here I am now...not able to imagine what my life would be like without you in it. Namjoon...and you, Park Jimin...are what give me reason enough to live."

The tears gathered at a gradual pace and fell just as gradually. Yoongi's thumb caught the first one.

"Don't be sad, Jimin. I always bounce back."

"Namjoon and I aren't going to leave you."

"...I know, Jimin. My mind just likes to spite me."

"Well, don't listen to it. Listen to me. We love you, Yoongi. I  love you."

"I know you do." He smiled. "I know you do, Jimin. And I love that you do."

Jimin moved his hand to rest against the back of Yoongi's neck. And without another word he pulled himself closer, close enough so that he could kiss Yoongi. So sweetly. So softly. Because he knew those were the kisses Yoongi liked best.

The ones where he could truly feel just how much Jimin adored him.