drift away | j.p. + y.m. (yoonmin)

trente-quatre

"I can't believe that it's already almost time for you to leave," Jimin said sadly. "I know that summer break is always really short, but this one felt even shorter than usual."

"So basically, you're saying that you liked spending time with me so much that the time flew by?" Yoongi teased as he directed a smirk at Jimin. Jimin rolled his eyes.

"Never mind. Last time I try to be romantic with you," Jimin muttered, slinking back into the couch and pointedly staring at the TV. Yoongi pouted.

"Aw, Jimin-ah," Yoongi whined as he shaked Jimin's arm immaturely. "Don't be like that."

"Man, Mike looks good for a dad," Jimin hummed, continuing to ignore Yoongi.

"Jiminie, come on. Stop ignoring me," Yoongi complained in a childish voice. Jimin silently leaned towards the TV, faking interest. Yoongi huffed and bumped his head into Jimin's left a, frowning when Jimin didn't react. He kept colliding his head with Jimin's arm until Jimin finally stopped Yoongi's head with his hand.

"You can't just be hitting your head on things as hard and muscular as my arm. You already don't have a lot of brain cells in the first place. What are you going to do if you lose all of them, huh?" Jimin sighed. Yoongi scowled.

"Hey, I still have more brain cells than you do. Besides, your arm isn't muscular. It's soft and squishy," Yoongi told Jimin.

"Really? Then explain these guns," Jimin retorted. He held his arm up and squeezed the skin with his hand. Yoongi grinned and cuffed him on the ear.

"Nice try, but look at my muscles," Yoongi replied as he showed off his own arm. Jimin wolf-whistled.

"Damn, baby," Jimin said.

"Don't objectify me," Yoongi scoffed jokingly. Jimin let out a soft chuckle before frowning.

"What is it?" Yoongi asked worriedly.

"It's nothing bad, Yoongi-hyung, don't worry," Jimin responded. "I just realized that I'm really going to miss you when I'm gone."

"We'll still be able to text and video-chat!" Yoongi reminded him. "In fact, I'm going to text you every second the moment I leave. Just you watch."

"How annoying," Jimin huffed, though his smile implied that he was anything but angry about Yoongi's statement. Yoongi grinned happily and wrapped an arm around Jimin's shoulders, pulling the younger boy into him as he leaned back into the couch. Jimin's body relaxed, and he rested his head on Yoongi's chest comfortably.

"Yoongi-hyung?" Jimin spoke up quietly. Yoongi looked down at him.

"Hm? What is it, Jimin-ah?" Yoongi asked.

"I...I think I'm ready to talk about the thing that I've been too afraid to talk about," Jimin told Yoongi. Yoongi froze.

"Are you sure? You don't have to," Yoongi said. Jimin shook his head.

"We're dating, right? I trust you. It'll be good for me to tell you about it," Jimin responded.

"Alright. If you're sure, I guess," Yoongi conceded. He couldn't lie; he was pretty curious to find out what happened. He just didn't want Jimin to feel upset or obligated to tell him.

"I was...I think 9? Yeah, I was 9," Jimin said. "My friends and I were playing in the water and having fun, but then...um...I drifted out of the marked swimming areas."

"The area we had been swimming in was already kind of strong for a skinny, scrawny boy like me, but when I was out of the safe area, I had no strength against the water," Jimin continued. "I kept trying to swim back into the safe area, but the water kept pulling me back. Eventually, I ran out of strength to keep me above the surface, and I was pulled underwater."

"Jimin-ah," Yoongi mumbled, pressing his face to the top of Jimin's head.

"I was so scared, Yoongi-hyung," Jimin told Yoongi as tears slipped out of his eyes. "I mean, why wouldn't I be? I was still a child, and I thought I was going to die. There was so much I wanted to do, so many things I wanted to see, and I thought that I would never get to do those things. It was terrifying for me."

"I'm so sorry that this happened to you, Jimin-ah," Yoongi responded sadly. "It's okay, let it out. I'm here. You'll be alright."

"Don't apologize, it's not your fault," Jimin replied, sniffling softly. "Sorry for crying all over you. I'll continue the story now."

"You don't have to if you don't want to," Yoongi said.

"It's okay, I should at least get to the happy ending, right?" Jimin gave him a watery smile.

"One of the lifeguards-in-training heard my friends' screams, I guess, and so he swam out to save me. Taehyung said he was the one who brought me back to shore. I remember him being the first thing I saw when I regained consciousness," Jimin explained. Yoongi furrowed his eyebrows.

"What did he look like?" Yoongi questioned.

"Huh? Oh. Um, well I'm pretty sure that he had dark brown hair. It kinda looked like he had dyed it brown, and it was fading back into black. He looked like he was probably just a year or two older than you at that time, Yoongi-hyung," Jimin answered.

"And this happened at the beach we work at now?" Yoongi checked. Jimin nodded.

"Anyways, if it wasn't for him, I would probably be dead. I really wish that I had gotten a chance to thank him," Jimin finished. He grinned at Yoongi mischievously. "You know, he wasn't that bad-looking either. I bet he's really handsome now."

"Oh, he is," Yoongi confirmed with a smirk. Jimin looked up at him curiously.

"What do you mean by that?" Jimin asked.

"When I was 12, so, when you were 9, I stayed at my grandparents' house for the summer to work as a lifeguard-in-training at the beach. Fate really is amazing, huh?" Yoongi smiled. Jimin's eyes widened.

"You're kidding."

"Nope," Yoongi replied.

"I...you're the guy who saved me?" Jimin checked.

"Yup."

"This can't be real!" Jimin wailed, burying his face in Yoongi's chest in shame. "I just tried to make you jealous by calling you handsome!"

"You did." Yoongi grinned. "Nice try though."

"I don't want to live on this planet anymore," Jimin moaned dramatically. "You're never going to let me live this down."

"Never," Yoongi agreed, patting the top of Jimin's head.

"Still, I'm glad it's you," Jimin spoke up after a few moments of silence. "I can finally thank you for saving me. Thank you, Yoongi-hyung."

"You're welcome, Jimin-ah," Yoongi said. "From now on, you'll be alright. I'll protect you."

"Ew! That was so cheesy! You gave me goosebumps!"

-

uh...sorry this was late. hope you liked this chapter though! let me know what you thought! as you can probably tell, this story is coming to an end soon. we have one more chapter and an epilogue sort of thing coming up, and after those, this story will be finished! thank y'all so much for supporting it all this time! we love you guys! you guys are awesome! ty! anyways linked song is obviously "not today" by bts. that's it for this chapter! thanks again! have a great rest of your day! bye!

-nikita