The Truth Untold: Yoonmin

4

It had been a sleepless night. Jimin had tried and failed to complete his assignment but his mind kept wandering.

He thought of how much he missed dancing, how much his mark
hurt from time to time, of who his soulmate could be... and he thought of Yoongi.

Yoongi who had looked like a lost puppy under the streetlights, sharp eyes going full moon. Who still bore the remnants of that nasty bruise under his eye.

Giving him the coffee had been completely impulsive but seeing him there, eyes soft with sleepiness, it was as if some outside force had moved Jimin to get Yoongi what he thought he needed. And it had felt good to do that for him, even if it had been a tiny gesture.

It scared him to think about how much he thought about Yoongi in the last few weeks, especially since Jimin had gotten his soulmark. He was supposed to be thinking about his soulmate not some random guy from school, right? Even his longtime crush Hyungsik hadn't occupied Jimin's daydreams the way Yoongi had lately.

But Jimin didn't have a crush on Yoongi. This was different. This was...

"Confusing," he breathed out as he looked up at the night sky. He'd snuck out onto the rooftop and lay motionless, reveling in the star studded sky. The moon's brightness rivaled that of the stars but it only made Jimin scoff in bitter disdain. What was the moon showing off for, if not to mock him. Why did she have to remind him of everything that had been going wrong since she branded him with her face?

*

The next day, Jimin lay on his bed still full to the brim with confusion. He went to shower, hoping he could let the hot water wash away some of the knotted thoughts running though his mind, then texted Taehyung to see if he was busy. He didn't answer, and his family had gone out to run errands so Jimin did the only thing that would help him clear his mind.

He danced.

The studio he always went to wasn't open on the weekend as they tended to have recitals, but Jimin knew that the school's studio would be. There was always some kind of game on Saturdays, so it was easy to slip into the school undetected.

Jimin connected his phone to the speaker and let the music flood the room as he began warming up. It had only been a few days, but his body had missed the way the music curled up in his belly, expanding, like tendrils through his limbs, pushing him to move as if controlled by invisible strings. He reached and turned and flew through the moves, propelled by sheer
instinct. This is where he belonged.

This is who I am.

To deny himself this would be to deny his very existence. Why couldn't his parents see that? Why did they insist on killing that part of him?

Jimin didn't let the tears run; he let the music build him up, make him stronger. He hit each move with more force, his lines turning sharper, until he felt like he could cut down everything in his way.

Then the door slammed making Jimin miss a step and fall to the floor hard. When he looked up someone was by the door frame walking towards
him.

"Hyungsik?"

His friend smiled broadly, coming into focus, as he reached out a hand to him. "Sorry Min, I didn't mean to scare you. I saw you come in and you looked really good dancing, so I just wanted to watch a little. I guess I should've been quieter huh," he laughed good naturedly but Jimin's answering smile didn't reach his eyes. In the time before the soulmark, Jimin would've been ecstatic to bump into Hyun like that.

There was a dull pain on his wrist where he'd caught himself which shot up to his elbow. He massaged it lightly as he went to gather his stuff.

"How was the game?" he asked casually, as Hyungsik followed him out of the studio.

"Hey there's a party tonight. At Taemin's. Are you going?" Hyun said eagerly, turning to Jimin with bright eyes.

Jimin ignored the way he'd been blown off and considered his friend. Wiping the sweat off his forehead, he shook his head. "I don't know. I'm kind of tired. I–"

"Jimin, come on! You haven't hung out with us in forever. And basketball practice doesn't count."

Jimin frowned. It was true. He hadn't really gone out lately, but he'd been so distracted. Maybe a distraction from his distraction was what he needed tonight.

"I'll think about it hyung."


"You can invite Taehyung! I know Ryu has been asking about him a lot," he winked and Jimin's frown grew deeper. No way would he do that to Jungkook, but instead of arguing, he simply nodded and headed to the locker room. Hyungsik followed him and Jimin had a funny feeling of unease grow in his chest.

"Uh, I'll see you tonight then?"

"Oh! Yeah, of course!" Hyungsik's smile wasn't as bright as he waved leaving back down the hall.

The guys' baseball team would surely be in the men's locker room and Jimin didn't much feel like seeing a bunch of flaccid dicks and sweaty assess right now as they showered after their game so he made his way into the girls' room where he knew nobody would be. He'd been in here plenty of times, always careful not to be there when the girls were changing so as not to be labeled a creep. Although he was sure some of them wouldn't mind catching
him in the shower.

As he began taking his shirt off, he heard soft footsteps approaching and before he could hide somebody gasped.

"Jimin! What the hell?" It was Jieun, a pretty senior cheerleader Jimin had liked his freshman year, before he knew he liked boys better. She put her hands to her face, but didn't look away as Jimin fought to get his shirt back on, struggling with the sweat that clung to his skin.

"Noona! Sorry! I was just gonna—"

"Oh, my gosh. Wait. Is that a soulmark?" Her shock quickly dissipated into an annoying whine as she got closer to Jimin who just managed to get the t shirt over his head. "Who is it? Oh my gosh Rosie is gonna lose her shit. She's gonna be so pissed—"

"Please Jieun, don't tell anyone."

She stopped short. "What, why?"

"I... I just haven't told anyone yet and I want to wait a little." He cringed at himself as he saw her face fall.

"Oh... that's weird. Why?"

"I..." I don't know. I'm terrified. I'm desperate.

It was weird, Jimin admitted to himself, but he prayed she wouldn't question him further as he just shrugged.

"Are you two keeping it a secret?" She squinted at him, only for her eyes to grow wide again at some sort of twisted epiphany. "Oh em gee, is she ugly?" She squealed in delight and Jimin fought the urge to grab her by the arms and shake some sense into her. How the hell had he ever liked her?

"No, no it's not that. I just don't want to—"

"Jimin, you do know who it is though, right?"

"What, no, yeah, duh, I just—"

"Oh my gosh you don't! Wow. Huh... I guess whoever it is, must be hiding from you."

Her tone made him freeze. "I'm sorry what?"

"Huh? Oh, no, nothing I'm just kidding! Ha." She laughed emptily and turned around but Jimin caught her immediately cornering her before she fled.

"What do you mean hiding?"

"Nothing!"

"Jieun!" He shook her slightly, and she flinched.

"Fine! It's just that... it's obvious isn't it. If they haven't told you who they are, then they don't really want to tell you."

"Well, I haven't told them either. I mean, I don't even know who the hell it is."

"It isn't like it's hard to tell right? Isn't there someone you've been bumping into a lot? Someone who suddenly makes you feel all warm and stupid happy when you're around them? Who just feels right."

"I..." Jimin went cold. Was there? But... no. It couldn't be.

She lifted her brows as if to say, see?

"But I haven't met anyone new," he said in a tiny voice.

"It isn't always like that, Jimin. Remember in soulmate ed, they told us that the mark is triggered by something. Usually it's the first meeting because it's kind of monumental, but it isn't set in stone that that's what it is." She shrugged, casually dismissing the sudden storm raging in Jimin's head. "Sometimes it lies dormant until your soulmate needs you."

"Needs you?"

"I don't know. I'm just quoting here. Besides, you should count yourself lucky that you've finally got that thing. Some of us are still waiting." She rolled her eyes and turned to walk out of the room, leaving Jimin staring at her until she disappeared through the door.

Who? he thought desperately. Who was it that needed him?

After that, Jimin didn't feel like going home to dissect everything Jieun had said. Instead, he texted Jungkook to see if he was free.

It was around 4 pm when Jimin found himself walking up Jungkook's drive, nerves racing through him. He'd never really been shy, always gaining more confidence where he was in his element, but he always felt a rush of butterflies in his stomach at coming over to Jungkook's.

It was because of Yoongi. He knew that. There was no point denying it, to himself at least. The older boy made him nervous; he was so
foreign and hard to read that even before Jimin had known Jungkook well, Jimin had always found him to be a bit of a mystery. Jimin was scared of Yoongi. He knew there was no reason to be but the way the other boy carried himself, shoulders broad head always tilted to the side as if something was always bothering him and those eyes always sharp always analyzing everything and judging it unpleasant.

So, as he walked up to ring the bell, hands a little shaky, Jimin prayed Yoongi wouldn't be the one to answer.

Lucky for him, a brightly smiling bunny did.

Jimin and Jungkook played PS5 for what felt like hours. Despite Jimin's initial nerves, being in Jungkook's house was incredibly comforting. The house was warm and homey. Jungkook's parents weren't around but Jimin knew his mom to be as sweet as JK. He'd never really seen his stepdad, but he knew he was kind of crazy from what Tae had told him that Jungkook had revealed. Thankfully, Jimin had never had to deal with him, but he supposed it was just Jungkook himself who brought him a lot of peace.

After a while Jimin yawned loudly and Jungkook told him he should go and nap. Jimin had practically collapsed onto the bed and promptly fallen asleep, dreaming of blue butterflies in moonlight.

The flapping of their wings was soft, almost indiscernible,
but it got louder and louder until it became unbearable. It was as if they were
being chased by something, by someone trying to hurt them. He jolted awake and his eyes took a minute to adjust to the room which had been engulfed in
darkness as he slept. There was a glowing light in the corner of the room,
silhouetting a figure in the darkness.

"Jungkookie?" he croaked out dryly.

"You're awake," responded Yoongi's deep voice. Jimin's eyes widened and he clutched at the blanket which lay on top of him. Had he gotten under the covers when he fell asleep?

"Hyung?" he said in such a tiny voice he didn't know if Yoongi had heard him. He was sitting at what Jimin realized now was a computer, typing away on the keys.

"Have a nice nap?" Yoongi asked, still not turning to him but Jimin could hear a slight edge to his voice.

"Sorry, I didn't realize... I just took the first bed I found."

Yoongi could hear the sincerity in Jimin's apology, but he was still annoyed. Annoyed at Jungkook for being friends with Jimin, annoyed at Jimin for always being around, but mostly, he was annoyed at himself for not being able to just ignore Jimin when he had looked so soft as he slept all rolled up in a little ball that Yoongi thought he must be cold so he found a blanket and tucked him into his bed and let him sleep. Now the bedsheets would smell like Jimin and Yoongi was annoyed.

When Yoongi didn't say anything, Jimin unfroze and slowly peeled the blanket back from himself and made to stand.

"I'm sorry I woke you. I just needed to finish my work." Jimin stilled at Yoongi's words.

"Why are you sorry? It's your room," he replied softly.

"You just looked so..." Yoongi sighed, turning his head slightly. "Tired. So, I let you sleep."

Something tightened in Jimin's throat, and he fought to swallow through it. His eyes stung a little because yes, he was tired. He was so sick and tired of so many things he couldn't even name them. They were all just a jumble of scribbled darkness running through his head over and over like loud voices turning into static–and Yoongi had noticed it. Yoongi who could never even meet his eyes had seen it in Jimin. He wanted to take a nap until
the world stopped turning.

"It's been a long week," Jimin confessed unconsciously.

Yoongi heard the heaviness in Jimin's voice and finally turned to look at him fully. The light from his monitor illuminated him just so, that Yoongi could swear Jimin could glow from within. He looked like an angel, bone weary and sad, but an angel.

Yoongi fixed Jimin with such an intense gaze that he had to look away. "I'll just go..."

"Jimin, I–"

"Yes?"

Yoongi hesitated. He hadn't meant to call to him, but his lips moved before he could stop himself, the words tumbling out uninvited. "I..."