Beyond Repair (Min Yoongi) [UPDATED]

7. Happy Holidays

Originally, Yoongi was the only one who was going to be allowed to sleep in the next morning. However, when Seokjin rounded the dividing shelf of the bedroom to see Yoongi sleeping soundly with Jimin curled protectively around him, he couldn't find it in himself to pull them apart.

Little did he know the huge favor he was doing Jimin.

For Jimin, falling asleep had been the easy part. Pretending all was well grew significantly more difficult when he woke up so many times in the night to Yoongi shaking, crying, begging in his sleep for someone not to hurt him and hyperventilating through promises that he'd be good, please, he didn't need to be punished, not again. All Jimin had been able to do was keep his voice as soft and steady as possible as he assured Yoongi that everything would be okay—even when he wasn't sure of it himself—until Yoongi woke up in tears and then fell back asleep.

By the time Yoongi woke up on his own, it was just past eleven in the morning and Jimin had been awake for what must have been a solid half-hour. He'd stayed perfectly still and kept his breathing even, emitting what he hoped was a peaceful aura so Yoongi could stay asleep for as long as he needed.

"Good morning," he quietly greeted when he saw Yoongi's lashes flutter and start to part.

Yoongi's whole body went stiff when he realized the position he was in, tucked against Jimin's chest with their ankles overlapping. But before he could panic again, Jimin pulled away, terminating all physical contact.

Yoongi instantly missed the warmth of the embrace but he didn't know why. He pulled the blanket tighter around himself, but he soon discovered that wasn't the kind of warmth he was looking for.

"I'm sorry."

Jimin blinked in surprise, propping himself up on one elbow. "For what?"

"...Burdening you," Yoongi said. He could feel his face growing steadily hotter the longer he lay there under Jimin's gaze.

"You're not a burden."

Yoongi cast his eyes down.

Jimin reached up to brush a piece of hair out of Yoongi's eyes. The movement was slow enough that Yoongi had time to brace himself to be touched, but when it happened, he discovered that the anticipation was worse than the touch itself and his initial anxiety all but vanished, replaced by annoyance with himself.

He didn't know what was going on with him. It didn't make sense. It was like a switch had flipped in his brain—just a day prior, he'd flinched every time someone so much as came too close, and now, he found himself yearning for contact.

Not just any contact. Jimin.

He couldn't make sense of it.

Yoongi caught Jimin's hand in his own before it could leave his face, and he simply held it there for a minute. Slowly, tentatively, doubting himself more and more with every passing second, Yoongi inched closer and slid his hand up Jimin's wrist, past his elbow, up to his shoulder.

"I'm...is this...okay?" Yoongi asked.

Jimin frowned a little. "I was just about to ask you that." He hadn't expected Yoongi to initiate any sort of touch. A part of him hoped this was a step in the right direction, but then he remembered that before everything, Yoongi would never have asked permission for something as simple as a hug—nor would he have spoken in that anxious tone in the safety of his own home. "It's okay with me," Jimin eventually said. "Are you okay?"

Yoongi bit his lip and gave a slight nod, letting go of Jimin to tuck his hands back against his own chest. He closed his eyes so his tears of frustration and confusion wouldn't show. "I'm sorry."