Just Breathe | Jikook | Taeyoonseok

XXIV - Gorgeous

💥 WARNING: THIS CHAPTER MAY CONTAIN TRIGGERING SCENES OR SCENES INAPPROPRIATE FOR INDIVIDUALS UNDER THE AGE OF 18.

WARNING, the chapter may contain sexual themes, swear words, and self-deprecation.

Jimin woke up feeling a heavy weight on his body, and when he opened his eyes, he found himself face to face with Taehyung and the little Yeontan.

"Rise and shine, Sleeping Beauty!" Tae shouted, shaking his friend.

"It's Saturday, let me sleep."

"You said you'd go out with me today, you promised." Taehyung replied, pouting.

In a swift motion, Jimin covered himself with the blanket and hid from the others.

"Just five more minutes." he said, failing to fool anyone.

"Come on, lazybones." Taehyung said, jumping on top of his friend.

Realizing he wouldn't win, Jimin got up, with his hair completely messy and his eyes a bit swollen.

"Okay, wait for me in the living room, I'll just change clothes." the older one said, and even though tempted to lock the door and go back to sleep, he decided it was better to change clothes and wash his face than to listen to the younger one banging on the door for him to come out.

In the living room, Taehyung played with the puppy, happy to finish another semester of university and getting closer to the end every day. He liked the degree he had chosen, don't get him wrong, but there's a maximum number of hours a person can stand sitting in a plastic chair. He wanted to graduate, get a good job where he worked only during office hours and could enjoy the weekends (he still had the right to dream). On his days off, he would hang out with his friends, listen to good music, and enjoy life.

Jimin soon appeared in the living room and jumped on his friend as revenge for what the younger one had done earlier. A few minutes later, the two left through the front door and walked to the nearest mall.

Kim and Park had very different styles, while one was content with jeans and a white shirt, the other liked to try out different patterns, styles, and combinations. For a long time, Tae had been trying to convince his friend to buy more colorful pieces, to stray from black and white, so he forced the other to go shopping with him. At the moment, they were in a not-so-cheap store, and Chim had been sent to the fitting room with more than ten clothes under his arm.

"Tae, I'm not as tall and stylish as you, simple clothes look better on me. Besides, I gained a lot of weight in the last few days, looser things disguise it better," the older one complained, trying on the second outfit of the day.

"You have a beautiful body, Chimy, and you have to learn to highlight all that deliciousness," Kim said, pulling the older one out of the fitting room and evaluating the clothes. "Especially that butt." He said, widening his eyes and lightly slapping his friend's buttocks.

"Stop that." Jimin said, trying to see his butt in the mirror, which really seemed huge in those pants, just like his face, it would be better if he started a new diet. Not that he had eaten anything since his mother's last call.

For Jimin, eating was a pleasure that few people could enjoy, and he wasn't one of them. His mother was not a thin person by nature, and perhaps that's why she valued that beauty standard so much. In her eyes, Jimin was fat, and consequently ugly. Knowing this, the boy developed a terrible relationship with food. Gradually, he forbade himself from consuming the things he liked the most, and one day, eating anything became a reward for when he was good, and likewise, not eating anything became a punishment for when he did something wrong. More than once he reached the point of fainting from hypoglycemia. Taehyung, who was usually with him, panicked every time. He accompanied the older one, unconscious, to the infirmary and argued with the other every time. One day, the older one had to be taken to the hospital. Tae thought this time he would lose his friend, and refused to leave his side until he was better.

The long minutes in that crowded hospital room felt like years, and he felt his heart pounding with fear. Grandma Kim was the one who accompanied the two that day and supported her grandson who had a panic attack while waiting for his friend to wake up. The lady, who even though was old, continued her work in the fields and supported herself, was the only adult the two could count on. She was the only person who took care of them, and even though Jimin wasn't her grandson, she took care of him as if he were. If she could, she would have taken the boys away from their families and taken them to live with her, but the boys refused, they had their obligations to their families and were too good to turn their backs on those who had hurt them. It broke Grandma Kim's heart every time the boys arrived at her house, after a two-hour trip, and she saw the state they were in. She fought many battles, and lost most of them, just to improve the situation a little for the two, and when she returned home, she cried, begging for her boys to be okay. Jimin and Tae missed her a lot, when she was gone they lost the closest thing they had to a mother.

After trying a billion clothes, the two decided to eat at the food court, Taehyung forced the older one to order the biggest combo they found, and after the first bite, Jimin attacked the food with gusto. Already fed, he decided to start a conversation with the younger one.

"Tae, I talked to Hobi these days," he began, seeing the other widen his eyes and become paler than a sheet of paper. "Not about what you're thinking," he said, laughing. "He wanted to help me, and he told me to visit the college psychologist. I think it would be good for you too," and if before Taehyung seemed like a ghost, after that speech, he became one.

"Chimy..." he tried to say, but not even a word came out of his mouth.

"Tae, that guy was a scoundrel, and doesn't do justice to the profession. The lady I talked to is completely different, and she has a confidentiality agreement, meaning you can talk about anything you want with her, and she won't be able to tell anyone," he said, holding Taehyung's hands in his and observing the great difference in size between them. "I know there are things you'd like to talk about with someone, discuss, and receive advice."

"I'm not sick," he whispered. "There's nothing wrong with me. You're the one who made me believe that."

"I'm not dressing up for anyone, Chimy, I just like to look good, to feel beautiful," Taehyung said, giving the finishing touches to his outfit. Maybe it really was all an exaggeration, but it was the first time he was visiting a friend's house other than Chim's, he wanted everything to be perfect.

Jimin nodded in agreement, and the two grabbed their coats and left the house. Despite being a bit far, the two friends walked to the third's house. All the money for the taxi, or for the bus, had been spent on their shopping spree that afternoon. Without hurrying, they walked, enjoying the cool breeze of the night and the light of the stars.

After 20 minutes, they arrived. Jin's house was modern and at least twice the size of their old houses. The lights were on, and it was possible to hear the music playing inside, even from the opposite side of the wall. Jimin approached the gate and pressed the intercom while Taehyung continued to stare at the facade of the house. Minutes later, Seokjin appeared, a little more cheerful than usual, and opened the door, inviting them in.

Inside, Seokjin's house was even more beautiful than the outside, with a tasteful minimalist decoration, but something seemed out of place. Namjoon was lying in the middle of the living room, staring at the television, and when the other boys followed his gaze, they were faced with a microphone embedded in the screen.

"Kim Namjoon!" Seokjin shouted, cheeks flushed with anger. "I was gone for literally a minute, and somehow you managed to destroy my TV."

"Hyung!" Namjoon called out. It was the first time Tae and Chim had heard Nam refer to the older one like that, they had been friends for years, and had abandoned the formality some time ago.

"Nam, I'm going to close my eyes and count to three, and I better not see another broken TV in front of me," the older one said, and so he did.