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ㅡPRESENT. "those who dream by night are unaware of many things that recoil with those who dream by day."
it had been five days since park jimin arrived at oak rehab center. the days were filled with cartoons, coloring, and playing with stuffed animals. tea parties, and the little things that could only excite such a child at heart, as was park jimin.
park jimin was rarely addressed as park jimin, though, having adapted to yoongi's several heartfelt nicknames such as minnie, jiminie, and his personal favorite, 'baby boy.'
the nights often began with yoongi and jimin heading to the cafeteria to grab a quick bite of dinner. they would make small talk to not only entertain themselves but also distract jimin from the hell that was the other patients. then, they would head back to their room and jimin would take a bath and yoongi would help shampoo his soft hair, wrapping him in a fluffy towel as jimin's teeth chattered mercilessly once he was clean.
then, yoongi would help him into his slim pajamas and tuck jimin into his bed (jimin's original bed had resorted to being a storage center of sorts for toys and coloring books) and lie next to him, reading a bedtime story in a soft voice. sooner or later, jimin would fall asleep in yoongi's arms, and yoongi would wait until he did so before shutting off the lamp and falling into the slumber he hadn't been able to muster in years.
that night was just like any other, at first. they had just finished their dinner and were walking hand in hand back to their room. it was time for jimin to take his bath. yoongi sat him down on the bed with a coloring book and a pack of crayons to keep him occupied, and then went to the bathroom to start the water.
he sat at the edge of the tub, running his had underneath the spout until the water coming out was at lukewarm, and flicked up the switch so the water would stay in the tub. he squirted about a tablespoon of a bottle of bubble bath onto the running water, which soon created pastel pink bubbles.
when the bath was full, he tiptoed back into the room and then tapped jimin's shoulder to tell him it was time to take a bath. jimin nods and walks into the bathroom. yoongi waits before hesitantly stepping in. even though this had become a daily routine for he and jimin, he would still get a bit flustered when the younger took off his clothes.
to his relief, when he stepped in, jimin was already in the bath, so the bubbles were covering everything from the lower chest down. yoongi sat on the edge of the tub and smiled, seeing as jimin was already playing with the bubbles and the toy sailboat that yoongi had carefully placed in the bath earlier.
"yoongi hyung!" jimin exclaimed, smearing a handful of bubbles on his chin and above his lip. "i'm santa!"
yoongi chuckled and ruffled the younger one's hair. he took a cupcand poured it on jimin's head to get his hair wet. he then took the bottle of strawberry shampoo and placed it in his hair.
"baby boy?" yoongi questions, running his hand through jimin's hair to get out the remaining shampoo.
"yes?" the younger is busy tracing his finger along the surface of the bubbles, trying to make shapes.
"would you like to go to the garden tonight?" jimin's face lit up with excitement and he quickly nodded. yoongi had been telling him about this garden ever since he arrived, but had never taken him.
"alright. well, let's get you dried off and then we can go, okay?" jimin nods a yes, and yoongi grabs his hand to help him step out of the tub before drying him off with the fluffy blue towel. he dresses jimin in his pair of fairy pajamas. they were mint green and had a picture of a fairy's wings plastered on the back fabric.
jimin then put on his slippers and mercilessly clung to yoongi's side as he led him into the hallways. the hallways smelled strongly of windex and vanilla, a smell yoongi had grown accustomed to but jimin hadn't. it still sent a tingling feeling down his nose, which he soon plugged.
they opened the two back doors. the garden was quite honestly the only beautiful thing that was anywhere near the hospital. even though it was still on hospital grounds, it gave a certain life to oak rehab. the grass, while untamed, was still a splash of bright and dark greens that took up the inside area of the fence. cherry blossom trees lined the said white picket fence, their petals falling down with a simple gust of wind. the trees created a shade over the picnic blanket that sat their year long, no matter the weather.
there was also a small pond, surrounded by a bit of concrete. it is full of fresh water, topped with lily pads occasionally pushed away by the three coy fish that reside there. yoongi glances to jimin and sees the shocked and happy expression on the younger's face.
they lay down on the picnic blanket and yoongi intertwined jimin's hands with his. it is already dark out, and thousands of scars speckle the sky like freckles on someone's face.
they lay in silence for a few moments, words not needed for their mutual enjoyment of each other's company. jimin pushes his head into yoongi's chest and sighs.
"yoongi?" he says. yoongi looks down at the younger and sees the seemingly nervous expression on his face.
"yes, baby boy?" jimin lifts his head up, making eye contact with the older.
"will you... uh, uhm... kiss me? i mean, you don't have to, if you don't want to. it's just, sometimes i see it on cartoons, and i don't mean like on the forehead i mean on the lips. i just really want to see what it would feel-"
jimin's rambling is only silenced when yoongi presses his lips to jimin's soft ones.
