Promise

Yoongi knew something was wrong when Jimin started skipping meals. It only happened occasionally at first, when he insisted he needed to stay for just a bit longer to practise this one move he couldn't quite perfect, but it had started getting more frequent and the only person that seemed to notice was Yoongi. The others told him to stop worrying when he mentioned it. That it was just how Jimin was and that he was fine, just let him get on with it.

Jimin always pushed himself too hard at practise, even though he was easily the best dancer in the group. He arrived the earliest and left the latest, working for hours after the others were asleep. Sometimes Yoongi liked to stay and watch, studying the younger's movements until the early hours of the morning, seeing the side of Jimin that is never let out around the others, before he decides that if they didn't sleep soon they wouldn't have any energy for their schedule the next day.

It wasn't one of those days. Jimin had said that he would come back up to the dorms at around 11 pm, it had been nearly two hours and Yoongi was starting to get worried. He had checked everywhere in the building that he knew Jimin usually liked to escape to when he was stressed or upset, but there was no sign of him.

He stumbled into the practise room for the third time that night, hoping that the boy had suddenly appeared in there within the few minutes he had been away, dancing his heart out as he usually did. Yoongi made his way across the room and peered out of the foggy window into the rain. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Jimin's figure, small and curled up, on the pavement outside. He grabbed his jacket and walked out of the door, flicking the lights off as he left.

Jimin shuddered violently as tears trailed down his cheeks. He buried his head further into his knees and hugged his jacket closer around him, whimpering as the cold seeped into his skin.

He froze when he heard footsteps echoing from the fire escape behind him. No one should be awake at this time of night, he thought carefully to find someone who would stay up this late. Only one came to mind. His eyes closed tightly and he willed his tears away as the metal stairs creaked loudly. He steadied his breathing as Yoongi placed himself beside him, resting his arm over the dancer's shoulders.

"Hi," Jimin breathed, glanced shyly at Yoongi. He dragged his foot lightly through a puddle on the road, watching his reflection as it rippled and disappeared. Yoongi's worried eyes scanned his face as he placed his other hand on Jimin's knee.

"Will you tell me what's wrong?" He whispered. "Please, Jimin."

Jimin's breath caught in his throat and his silent tears resumed falling as he began to speak.

"I can't do it any more. It's all too much, I'll never be as good as you guys. Everyone's better than me; I try so hard but I just can't do anything!" He gasped." Everybody expects me to be perfect all the time but I can't. I'm not good enough, no one even likes me. I'm nothing compared to you and the others."

Yoongi stared at Jimin's reddened eyes sadly as he poured out his feelings. They sat silently for a while, the rain falling around them, before Jimin wiped the stray tears from his face and everything shattered back to reality.

"I'm sorry, you didn't want to hear-"

"No." Yoongi interrupted quickly. "No, I wanted to know what's wrong, it's okay. I just... I didn't know that you thought anything like that."

Jimin looked down at his knees and took a deep breath. "You can go if you want," He mumbled dejectedly. "You don't need to stay out here, I get it."

The rapper looked down at him, the hurt and confusion he felt apparent. "Jiminnie, I'm not leaving you. I swear."

His expression softened when he saw the surprise that overcame Jimin's delicate features. The younger boy scanned Yoongi's face for any sign of doubt before his gaze flickered to his lips.

"Promise?" Jimin whispered hesitantly.

"Promise."

Yoongi leant forward, his eyes falling closed as he pressed his lips lightly against the other boy's.

Jimin's eyelids fluttered slightly as his mind tried to process everything that was happening. Yoongi wasn't going to leave him. Yoongi was kissing him. Yoongi was kissing him after everything that he'd just said. He quickly came to his senses and brought his hand up to rest lightly on Yoongi's face as the other boy wrapped his arms around his waist.

Yoongi pulled away slightly and opened his eyes, facing himself with Jimin's closed ones, he stared lovingly at the boy for a second before untangling himself completely.

"Please don't worry about all that stuff, Jimin. You're perfect as you are." He whispered. He then stood, paused for a second and ruffled Jimin's hair affectionately before walking back into the building.

Jimin finally opened his eyes when he heard the metal door swing shut behind Yoongi. He smiled to himself, a faint blush appearing on his cheeks. He rose to his feet and stepped forward into a puddle, making a splash before turning to follow Yoongi's path back up to the dorms. His worries fading into a blur in the back of his mind.