--
Jimin could remember how much he used to love the night when he was younger. Unlike many of the children his age, Jimin had a certain fascination towards the dark, and the characteristics of nighttime in general.
It was only now, in his early twenties, that it scared him.
He woke with a start, a cry leaving his lips before he could even stop it. The pain seemed to spread up his side, making it almost hard to breathe as tears beaded up in his eyes. He wore a sweater, but every time he moved the fabric scratched against the new wounds and caused even more pain.
"Why?" Jimin whispered into the dark, attempting to be as quiet as possible as he brought his hands up to his face and cried softly into his palms. He didn't want to wake Yoongi - if he hadn't already.
It didn't let up. Why didn't it let up? Usually it would be over by now, his soulmate would've had enough, and Jimin wouldn't have to suffer any longer. But this time it felt like it would go on forever; sweat beading up against his skin as he sniffled against his hands. He would kick the blankets off of him, if he had the strength.
"Jimin?" Jimin recognized Yoongi's voice immediately, as well as the sound of his door creaking open. So he had woken him up, after all.
The younger of the two didn't move, keeping his hands over his eyes as he listened to Yoongi's footsteps pad across his floor. He flicked on Jimin's lamp before sitting on the edge of his bed. "What's wrong?"
Yoongi's voice was soft and thick with sleep as he spoke. Jimin felt bad for burdening him like this.
"It just hurts so much." Jimin's voice cracked as he spoke, more tears rolling down his face as the fabric of his sweater rubbed against the burns once more.
The older frowned, reaching down and moving Jimin's hands from over his face. His heart ached once he did, Jimin's red and teary eyes hurt him to look at.
"Hey, it'll be alright." Yoongi whispered, brushing a few strands of hair out of Jimin's eyes. "Can you sit up?"
Jimin shook his head immediately, looking away from Yoongi's gaze. "I know you can." The older sighed, "I can't help you if you just lie here Min." Yoongi never formally pleaded, but using nicknames in his speech was his discreet way of doing so. He knew that nicknames struck a chord in people.
'Min'. Jimin always found it to be an amusing nickname that Yoongi coined him with, considering that it was the older's surname as well.
Jimin didn't mind it though, he was actually quite fond of it. Always had been, ever since Yoongi gave it to him when he was sixteen.
He nodded softly, wincing as he slowly propped himself up on his elbows. It had dulled down to a slight sting as Jimin fully sat up, and he was grateful. His soulmate must have a higher pain tolerance than him to keep such an intense pain going for so long.
Or maybe their pain tolerance was the same as Jimin's, and they just liked it to hurt that badly.
"C'mere." When Yoongi outstretched his arms, Jimin all but collapsed into him, arms around his neck as his tears dripped onto the older's shoulder.
"It's not fair." Jimin cried. "When I was younger I thought that the idea of having a soulmate was the best thing ever. But now.." He took a deep breath. "Why did I get stuck with such an irresponsible soulmate? Do they not realize that it's not just their body? That I have to suffer ever time they hurt themselves?"
His breath was ragged, and Yoongi frowned, combing his fingers through Jimin's hair in attempts to calm him down. "I understand that they must be hurting but there are other ways to deal with it! Other ways that down cause pain to someone else."
"Sometimes," Jimin sniffed, "I wish that my soulmate would just decide that its game over for them, and for me. And that sounds fucked up, I know, but I just want to stop hurting Hyung!"
Yoongi's eyes widened, pulling Jimin in closer as he felt tears prick at his own eyes.
"You've persevered for so long, don't fall apart on me now Jimin." He tried his hardest to keep his voice from cracking, but he failed halfway through his sentence. "Don't break on me now."
Yoongi pulled away, tilting Jimin's chin up with his fingers. "You're going to stay strong, and you're going to graduate, and you're going to keep doing what you love. You'll sell your art for millions of won per piece, and you'll be featured in art galleries. You're going to keep living, and you're going to be amazing. Got it?"
Jimin nodded weakly, closing his eyes as Yoongi wiped more tears off of his face. "You need to get bandaged up okay? I'll be back."
The younger nodded once more, watching as Yoongi walked to the bathroom and turned on the light. He didn't really know what he felt as he sat on his bed. Tears were still rolling down his face, but his chest didn't ache anymore. He was just tired. He was drained. Both physically and emotionally. "Alright.. Let me see the damage."
Jimin looked up, nodding slowly before he pulled up the hem of his sweater. He didn't look down at the wounds. He didn't want to see what imperfections he'd now have to add to his growing collection. By the way he heard Yoongi hiss, he knew that they weren't pretty.
He sighed softly as Yoongi pressed a cool cloth to his skin, closing his eyes and letting the older bandage him up. He felt so horrible. Yoongi did so much for him, and yet Jimin was still looking for a way to repay him.
"I'm sorry." Jimin mumbled, pulling his sweater back down once Yoongi was finished. "You have morning classes tomorrow don't you? And I've woken you up at this time.." He glanced over to the illuminated numbers on his clock.
2:37 am.
"Don't worry about it Min." Yoongi smiled, but Jimin could see how exhausted his eyes looked. "I just want to make sure the you're alright." He flicked Jimin's lamp out, the younger carefully lying down once he did so. "Get some sleep. You have morning classes too."
Jimin closed his eyes, listening to Yoongi walk away once more, closing the door behind him. It was silent again, and Jimin felt like he could drown in it. He didn't open his eyes, willing himself to go back to sleep as his fingers gripped the fabric of his pillow.
Nothing can hurt you while you're dreaming. Not as much as it can in real life, at least.
He brought his hand down, fingers slipping under the fabric of his sweater and grazing over the bandaids Yoongi had stuck to his skin. They were just above the waistline of the sweatpants we wore. He couldn't fall asleep with all of the thoughts on his mind, so he decided that he could quiet at least one of them as he reached for his phone and turned it on.
The screen was far to bright for his eyes in the dark, Jimin squinting as he tapped on Yoongi's contact.
'Thank you.' He typed out. 'Really, I mean it."
It was only moments after he sent the message that he got a reply.
'As I said before, I just want to know that you're alright.'
--
