The "bad boy"

4

Jimin took a deep breath, mustering up the  courage to talk. "Sooyoung.. I'm really sorry about ignoring you in the hallway.." he said, not wasting time on excuses since it was wrong of him to assume that he was the one that started the fight. 

Sooyoung was just looking down at the ground in silence before he heard Jimin talk. He flinched, as he didn't notice that he was there. He wiped his tears quickly to act like he wasn't just crying, though he didn't know that Jimin had heard most of it already. "Jeez... you scared me..." he said in a quiet voice as he glanced at Jimin, before looking back down. He let out a soft sigh and ran  his hand through his hair before he leaned against the wall and returned his gaze to the sky again. He was confused.. and a bit shocked. He wasn't expecting an apology.

"It's fine.." Sooyoung said quietly. "Not the first time people have ignored me getting beat up in the hallway." He said, letting out a sour chuckle. "Everyone just assumes that I'm the one that starts the fights. They assume that just because I smoke and have tattoos, as well as no friends, that I pick fights with everyone. And if I tried telling people that I only fight to defend myself when I'm hit first, no one would believe me."

Again, Jimin was shocked by how quickly his tone had changed, and slowly walked closer to him, standing next to him and leaning against the wall. Once again, he listened intently to what Sooyoung said as he looked down at the grass. His words and tone hurt, and made him feel even more guilty for being just like their other classmates. "People love to spread shit... and I'm sorry, again, for believing it all." He said with a sigh, glancing over at him.

Sooyoung noticed Jimin move closer to him, and scooted further away as he locked his hands together and kept his gaze on the ground, waiting for Jimin to say something mean, or something that would make him more upset than he already was. He didn't want to hear it, but he wasn't just going to get up and walk away in this situation.. that would be rude, and he really was not a mean person. He was just broken, and lonely.

As Jimin spoke, Sooyoung was a little shocked himself, glancing at Jimin as well, noticing the other had glanced at him, which made him look away again. He shook his head a bit. "They really do... people always judge someone before they even get to know them. I'm really not a bad person just because I make bad choices. I have my reasons for doing what I do, and no one understands." He said quietly. "I-it..." He sighed, stuttering slightly. "It's okay.. thank you for apologizing."

Jimin looked away as Sooyoung did, still having a hard time with eye contact strangely enough, but he didn't think much of it. "Thank you for accepting my apology... I promise I won't be such a shitty person towards you anymore," he said as tears pricked at his eyes. All the guilt inside of him was killing him, but he managed to stop the tears and clear his throat, not wanting Sooyoung to see him cry, not so soon at least.

Sooyoung glanced over at Jimin again, nodding. "Yeah.. you're welcome." He responded. "Forgive and forget, as my dad used to always tell me." He said with a small chuckle as he looked at the sky. "Anyways, you should probable go back inside to your friend and eat.." he said, glancing at Jimin. "He might think I hurt you, or something."

Jimin sniffled a little and chuckled along with him. He looked over, watching him look up at the sky, but once he glanced back, he could only hold the gaze for a second before looking away again.  He chuckled, following with a sigh. "As shitty as it sounds, that's exactly what he's thinking.." he responded as he felt his phone go off. He grabbed it, seeing a message from Yoongi, asking him if he's okay, followed by a 'I'm going out there.' he shook his head as he responded, 'Everything is fine, he's not as violent as people make him seem.' he then put his phone in his pocket again. "I should head inside, lunch is almost over.. what about you? Are you not going to eat?" he asked.

Sooyoung sighed softly, nodding his head. "Yeah, I know. I see how he looks at me. I think out of everyone, he seems to hate me the most." he ran his fingers through his hair. "I promise I won't hurt you though.. I don't like fighting, I don't like hurting people.. but when people come at me, I can't just sit there and do nothing." He then saw Jimin take out his phone and chuckled. "I'd imagine that's him texting you to see if you're okay."

He then shook his head. "Nah.. I didn't bring food with me today. I'm not really hungry anyways." He said, shrugging.

Jimin looked at him confused. "Come on.. I'll get you something in the cafeteria. I can't let you go without eating the whole day. By how you're talking, I'll bet you didn't even eat breakfast," he said, this time holding eye contact longer.

Sooyoung was about to speak... how did Jimin know? This guy seemed like he could read his mind right now.. he was right. Sooyoung didn't eat breakfast. He had plenty of food at home, but he didn't eat much. He only really ate when his stomach was growling at  him, which sometimes would be 10 hours after he ate. "Ah.. you don't have to.. I don't want your reputation getting ruined by being seen with me."

Jimin shook his head and pushed himself off the wall. "That's a risk I'm willing to take. Now come on before we both miss lunch." He said, walking over to the door and holding the door open for him.

"I-"Sooyoung started before he sighed. "Okay, fine." He said as he slowly stood up. He stretched  and shoved his cigarettes into a hidden pocket in his bag before he walked inside and headed towards the cafeteria, keeping his gaze away from the few people sitting in the hallways for lunch.

(Word count: 1054)