WITHOUT YOU ||Vmin ff

CHAPTER 15

To say that the performance was a smashing  success was to put it mildly. The audience was mesmerized, which is pretty much what they were supposed to do. But because of jimin's presence, it really became something special and I think everyone there was as shocked as I was at how well the whole thing had come off. They all had that same look I did when I first saw him, and it made it more special. We finished the performance without a hitch, if you can believe it. Even Jungkook came up to me afterward and congratulated me, which after what he's said to me before was somewhat of a surprise.

"The two of you did good," he said simply. "I'm proud of you buddy."
While he said it, miss lee was crying out, "marvelous!"  to anyone who would listen to her or who just happened to be walking past, repeating over and over so much that I kept on hearing it long after I went to bed that night. I looked for jimin after we'd pulled the curtains closed for the final time.
The "right thing," i realised, wasn't so bad after all.

He got a boatload of congratulations from everyone backstage. He knew he'd done well, though he kept on telling people he didn't know what all the fuss was about. He was his normal cheerful self, but with him  looking so beautiful, it came across in a totally different way. I stood in the background, letting him have his moment, and I'll admit there was a part of me that felt really good, and a little proud, as well. When he finally saw me standing off to one side, he excused himself from the others and walked over, finally stopping when he was close.

Looking up at me, he smiled. "Thankyou, Taehyung, for what you did".
"You're welcome," I said, meaning it.
The strange thing was, when he said it, i realised that his father would be driving him home, and for once I wished that i would have had the opportunity to walk him home.

The following Monday was our last week of school before Christmas break, I had to finish my application for university, which i sort of been putting off because of all the rehearsal. I planned on hitting the books pretty hard that week, then doing the application at night before I went to bed. Even so, i couldn't help but think about jimin. Jimin's transformation during the dance had been starting, to say the least, and i assumed it has signaled a change in him. I don't know why I thought that way, but i did, and so I was amazed when he showed up our first morning back dressed like his usual self.

Oh, people were a little nicer to him, and the one who hadn't talked to him  yet told him what a good job he's done,too, but i could tell right off that it wasn't going to last. Attitudes forged since childhood are hard to break and part of me wondered if it might even get worse for him after this. Now that people actually knew he could look normal, thay might even become more heartless.

I wanted to talk to him about my impression, i really did, but I was planning to do so after the week was over. Not only did i have a lot to do, but I wanted a little time to think of best way to tell him. To be honest, I was still feeling a little guilty about the things, I'd said to him in our last walk home, in our all time together, jimin had never once been anything but kind, and I knew that I'd been wrong.

I didn't think he wanted to talk to me, either, to tell you the truth. I knew he could see me hanging out with my friends at lunch while he sat off in the corner, reading his book, but he never made a move toward us. But as I was leaving school that day, I heard his  voice behind me, asking me if i wouldn't mind walking him home. Even though i wasn't ready to tell him yet about my thoughts, i agreed. For old times sake, you see.

A minute later jimin got down to business.
"Do you remember those things you said on our last walk home?" He asked.
I nodded, wishing he hadn't brought it up.
"You promised to make it up to me," he said.

For a moment I was confused. I thought I'd done that already with my performance in the play. Jimin went on.
"Well, I've been thinking about what you could do," he continued without letting me get a word in edgewise, "and this is what I've come up with."