--
"I assume you hit it off with Taehyung?"
Jimin shrugged and yawned as he sat up, wrapping his blanket around him to cover himself up.
Taehyung. Jimin could only vaguely remember anything past the fourth beer that Taehyung offered him. He remembered Taehyung's hand in his back pocket, and his lips against his skin. His memory became hazy when he thought back to Taehyung's teeth grazing against his neck, and the hands on his hips.
"I'm pretty sure it was just a one time thing." Jimin sighed, voice still raspy. "He didn't leave his phone number or anything."
He stood up, wrapping the fabric of his blanket tighter around his bare skin so that he didn't accidentally flash something that Yoongi's probably didn't want to see. His lower back still throbbed, but it wasn't too bad. He could keep it at the back of his mind as he searched for something to wear to his classes.
He was surprised that he didn't feel more hungover, maybe he slept it off.
"I can give you his number if you'd like." Yoongi spoke, turning his back to Jimin once he heard his roommate's blanket drop to the floor. "In case you need someone to fuck your hangover out of you again."
"That's not proven to work." Jimin sighed tugging on a pair of boxers. "You can turn around now."
Yoongi nodded, raising an eyebrow as Jimin walked closer to him. "Look at this, by the way." He pointed to an red, raised mark right above the waistband of his boxers. "It popped up a few minutes after I was done with Taehyung. Do you know how hard it is not to cry while you can literally feel your skin burning?"
"I can't say I do." Yoongi sighed, bringing his hand up and pressing his thumb against the wound softly. He stopped when he heard the hiss that left Jimin's lips. "At least bandage it. I'll get a cold cloth."
Jimin nodded, watching as the older got up and walked towards their bathroom. He tugged on a pair of black jeans, letting the waistline rest low on his hips so that he could still bandage his burn. "Alright." Yoongi sighed, walking back into the room with two bandaids and a wet cloth. "C'mere."
The younger nodded once more, walking closer and sighing once Yoongi pressed the cloth against his skin. It felt so nice, the cold temperature counteracting the warmth of his skin. "What are we going to do about this Jimin? How many years have you had to deal with this again?"
Jimin thought for a moment, watching as Yoongi used the fabric of his t-shirt to dry his skin.
"It started back when we were in America, and has continued on since we moved here... About seven years?" He sighed softly as Yoongi stuck the first bandaid to his skin. "Yeah, because it started around the time I was fifteen."
"I remember how scared you were." The older replied, sticking the second bandaid on the cover the rest of the wound. "You were convinced you had some bad rash."
Jimin chuckled softly, pulling up the waist of his jeans before walking to his closet for a shirt.
"And now that I know what it actually is, I'm even more scared." He let out another small laugh, although there was no humour to it, as he tugged on a striped t-shirt.
"And you have no idea who your soulmate could be?" Yoongi asked, Jimin shaking his head and picking his denim jacket up off of the floor.
"They could be anywhere. Hell, they might not even be in Korea!" He frowned as he pulled the jacket on. "What if I left them back in America without even realizing?"
"Then it's going to be a lot harder to find them." Yoongi shrugged. "But you never know, they could be on campus right now."
"Yeah, right." Jimin rolled his eyes, slinging his bag over his shoulder and slipping on his shoes. He paused before leaving. "Hey Hyung, thank you."
Yoongi smiled softly, nodding in acknowledgement.
"It's no problem."
-
"Your painting must contain at least one person, whether they be the focal point or not. As well as that, an emotion or feeling must clearly be conveyed through your artwork - how you choose to do this is purely up to you."
Jimin hummed softly to the music playing in his headphones, turning to swirl his paintbrush in the water cup beside him. He stepped back for a moment, taking in what he had done so far. There was a little bit of progress. The skin tones still looked too dull, but he could fix that.
What emotion had he chosen to convey? Pleasure. He was originally going to pick something more grim, such as pain or grief. He had already done so many assignments with those themes though, he was afraid that his professor would get bored of it.
It was even more risky, as he had chosen to paint himself. He became almost shy when he was asked to show people what he had done so far, because how couldn't he be when it was his own face on the canvas? Although there was an arm covering the eyes, the silvery hair was a dead give away. He felt that he had depicted his own lips well too, definitely looking like his as he painted them slightly parted on the canvas.
A self portrait was something Jimin always wanted to attempt, but now that he had done it he felt... Almost, embarrassed. It wasn't near done, and he could already tell that it was going to starkly resemble himself when it was.
Where would he even put it when he was done?
He'd probably shove it in the back of his closet in all honesty.
It was when he was done swiping a deeper red colour against the lips that he was painting, that he let his gaze wander to the canvas of the person next to him.
The first year. Jimin remembered, focusing on the person standing in front of the canvas instead. He was a smaller guy - not height wise, he was definitely a few inches taller than Jimin - but he was just... Thinner. His hair was a nice caramel brown, obviously lightened, falling in front of his eyes as his paintbrush danced across the blank surface.
His skin was tan, a mole on his neck that peeked out from under his scarf, and a small scar on his cheek that reminded Jimin of his own. He was... Cute.
His painting, however.. A mixture of shades of greys and black were blended together, a figure sat in the middle of all of the darkness. Their skin was bare, from what Jimin could see, a mask held in front of their face.
It wasn't done, and Jimin could already tell that it was going to be stunning.
Jungkook knew that Jimin was looking at him. He could feel the older's gaze burning trails on his skin. Why? Why was Jimin looking at him, when there where so much prettier faces all around him? He dared to sneak a peek at the older, quickly looking away once he noticed that Jimin was looking at his painting.
It wasn't done. It didn't look good right then. Jimin was probably judging him harshly. Why is this first year trying to act like he can paint?
Jungkook made sure that Jimin wasn't looking when he snuck a glance as the older's painting, feeling heat spread to his face once he did. He could tell it was a self portrait, but the expression was very suggestive. Lips parted, forearm flung over his eyes, a blushing pink tone to his skin.
Jungkook had to look away.
And as he thought about how superior Jimin's painting was to his, Jungkook realized that the emotion he chose really did suit him.
Insecurity.
--
