Just Breathe | Jikook | Taeyoonseok

XXXII - Yet another cliché

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

It was past midnight when Jimin finally decided to go 'home', accompanied by Jungkook, of course. Park's eyes were still swollen and red, and Jungkook was trying to figure out how to deal with the situation, so for the moment, the two of them were in a comfortable silence. Jimin didn't want to go home, Hobi had texted him hours before that Taehyung had fallen asleep, so he would be spending the night there. Park didn't want to be alone, so Jungkook, like a great smuggler, smuggled him into the house without anyone seeing.

As soon as they arrived at Jungkook's master suite, the youngest went into the shower, and Jimin threw himself onto the bed, relaxing a little while he waited for his friend. As soon as he returned, Jeon threw himself on the bed next to his friend, who was staring at the ceiling, lost in thought.

"Jimin," Jungkook called out, staring at the same spot on the ceiling that seemed to have caught his friend's attention. "Have you ever fallen in love with someone?" Jeon asked, trying to start a conversation about something.

"I don't know, I guess so. Have you?" Park answered, not paying much attention.

"I think once, when I was little." Replied the youngest.

"Who?" Jimin asked, now more attentive, turning to face Jeon.

"My nanny." Jeon answered, and laughed at his own answer. "Cliché, right?" He said, turning on the bed and facing his friend.

"How old were you?" Jimin asked.

"I think about ten."

"So you were a kid, it doesn't even count."

"At the time I thought she was the love of my life, the most beautiful woman I'd ever met." Said the youngest, confidently. "So it counts."

"And why did you like her?" Asked the older man.

"I don't really know. She was beautiful, and very kind. I spent more time with her than with anyone else. She looked after me."

"I can understand that. I fell in love with my dance teacher once. She was the first person, other than Tae, who took care of me."

Jungkook laughed and whispered softly "mommy issues", which made Jimin laugh too.

"Was it because of her that you started dancing?"

"More or less. I've always liked dancing. At the end of the performances, when the audience applauded and praised me, I felt a bit drunk, and I smiled without even realizing it. I loved it. My teacher only made me love it even more."

"And why did you stop? "Jeon asked, regretting it as soon as he noticed the heavy atmosphere in the room. "You don't have to talk if you don't want to."

" I don't think anything could be worse than what I've already told you, so I don't see a problem with it." Jimin replied, trying to sound more confident than he really was. He took a deep breath and began to tell. "After we moved cities, my relationship with my body got worse." He said, looking away from Jeon. "I thought I was ugly, strange, disgusting and, above all, fat. I didn't feel comfortable with all those eyes on me, and I couldn't dance as freely as I used to. Besides, I know very well that some people still link the arts, especially dance and theater, to homosexuality, so I just gave up." He recounted and only at the end did he turn his eyes to the younger man's, who stared back with pain and sadness. "But when I saw Hobi dancing with such passion and energy, I couldn't stand it. I miss the feeling that my body is mine alone and that I can do whatever I want with it. The feeling of longing to ignore the rest of the world and focus only on the beauty of the music." He said, sighing dreamily.

"And you were beautiful." Jungkook said without even realizing it.

Jimin blushed and smiled, feeling happy about the compliment, which made Kook's face turn red with embarrassment.

"Enough about me." Jimin decided, bringing his face even closer to Jungkook's, which was centimeters away from his. - Tell me about yourself.

"What do you want to know?" Asked the younger boy, laughing.

"Anything." Jimin replied. "Tell me about how you were as a child, how you fell in love with that nanny." He said, after some thought.

"Well, I was always a very shy child, I didn't have many friends, and I didn't go out much. My parents were always working, which I understand. I went to one of the best private schools in the country, had the best teachers, the most expensive toys, and lived in a huge house." Jungkook said, talking faster and faster. "All these things cost money, so my parents had to work. But I never asked for any of it either, and I would have been much happier if they had spent some time with me." He said, starting to ramble. "Of course, to make up for it they hired hundreds of nannies who were supposed to take care of every detail of my life, and when I say every detail, I really mean EVERYTHING." He said, changing his tone a little. "Jimin, I had a nanny to clean me up after I used..." He began, but interrupted himself before revealing something compromising. "I mean... I had lots of babysitters." He said, trying to correct himself. "One of those nannies was Miss Im. She was very intelligent, kind and looked after me as if I were her little brother. Unlike the other nannies, she didn't follow the rules so rigidly. My parents had a lot of rules about what I should eat, what time I should wake up. Every hour of my day was timed. But Miss Im didn't care much about that. She gave me sweets, let me play, and didn't mind if I stayed up a little longer than agreed. She respected my opinions and my decisions, and I loved her for it. At some point, I fell in love with her, but it didn't last long; my mother fired her before long. Which wasn't all bad, because after that Mrs. Jeon realized that she should spend more time at home, checking that I followed all her rules. It was during this time that she taught me to paint, and shared her love of art with me." Jungkook revealed, with a smile on his face. "But a few months later she decided that I was too big and didn't need so much supervision, so she went back to work and left it up to the maids to look after me."

"Even so, you kept your love of the arts." Jimin commented, sleepily.

"And today she regrets it so much... " Said Jungkook, laughing and watching Jimin's little eyes slowly close.

"If she knew how amazing you were, I'm sure she'd change her mind." Said Jimin, already half asleep.

Jungkook looked at the boy lying next to him and was overwhelmed by countless feelings: sadness at everything the older boy had been through, anger at the boy's parents and the man who dared to touch him, fear of being hurt again, but above all affection and admiration for the beautiful angel sleeping next to him.