REDAMANCY

Three

Chapter Three
—
Serendipity
(n.) finding something good
without looking for it
—

"Do you really have to go?" Jimin asked dejectedly.

"I'm sorry Jimin," Taehyung fiddled with the hem of his sweater. "I'll be back on Monday."

Jimin and Tae usually hung out on the weekends, but this weekend Tae's parents were away on a business trip, so Tae was being sent to stay at his uncles' house which happened to be over in Gwangju. Jimin tried not to feel down about it, but the previous weekend Tae had been at a big dancing event in Seoul, so they had not hung out properly in two weeks.

"Have fun I suppose." Jimin said as he forced a smile. Tae gave him a concerned look and stood there in Jimin's doorway looking awkward and unsure of what else to say.

"Taehyung!" Tae's mother called up the stairs to her son. "Let's get going. Your father is eager to get a move on before midday traffic."

"I'll be right there!" Tae called back. He quickly turned to Jimin and leaned forward, giving him a hug. "I'll miss you. Find something fun to do without me this weekend. And please come to school on Monday."

"No promises." Jimin replied, his voice muffled since his face was partially buried in Tae's sweater.

Tae let go and gave Jimin a small wave and his infamous rectangle smile before turning to go. Jimin retreated back to his bed and sat there, unsure of what to do. He waited until he heard the car outside speed away before deciding to go for a walk.

Outside, Jimin pulled the sleeves of his black and white sweater down over his hands and shivered. It was about 7°C so he was regretting not bringing a heavier jacket. He walked along the sparsely populated roads, and eventually began crossing the street that led up to the convenience store. Jimin felt like he was walking across glass shards. It had been a while since he had taken a voluntary walk like this. After all the last time had been with...

Suddenly Jimin began to feel extremely nauseous and his heart began to race. It felt like the air had been snatched from his lungs. He reached out to grab onto something but he was in the middle of a street so there was nothing to hold onto.

No, no, no. He thought helplessly. Not now.

He collapsed onto the cold asphalt and tried to slow his breathing and find something to focus on. Unwanted memories filled his mind, threatening his sanity.

Are you happy? He thought bitterly. You made me like this.

And then suddenly, he saw someone jogging across the street to where he was. He felt his heart rate begin to slow.

Why?

The person stopped in front of him and crouched down, looking directly into Jimin's eyes. Under normal circumstances, Jimin would feel uncomfortable with this direct eye contact. But something was different and Jimin couldn't figure out what it was. Maybe it was his state of mind or the fact that he was in the middle of a street, but everything suddenly seemed to be okay.

"Who are you?" He managed to ask. Their eyes met.

—

"Damn it." Yoongi groaned as he stared at his kitchen floor. Moments earlier he had opened his fridge, lost his hold on the milk, and it had fallen and gone everywhere.

Once he had cleaned the mess up, he knew he had to go to that dreaded convenience store again with that rude cashier so he could buy a new jug of milk.

It's too cold for me outside. Yoongi thought as he pulled a black hoodie on and grabbed his apartment keys.

As he stepped into the elevator, the temperature seemed to drop significantly. It was in that moment that Yoongi began to contemplate surviving the rest of this awful season indoors if it meant going into an elevator that felt like cold death. And he wasn't about to take the stairs down three flights. Too much work.

Jamming his hands into the pocket of the hoodie he stepped outside and cold air slapped his face. Wincing, he began to walk to the convenience store. The roads weren't busy, since people were already at work.

As he reached the end of the block he was on, he noticed someone crossing the road, despite the sign depicting the red hand symbol to stop.

"What kind of idiot— oh! It's the guy from the other day." Yoongi observed as he neared the corner. Suddenly the boy collapsed in the street, tightly clutching his sweater and breathing heavily. Yoongi was startled, instantly realizing what was happening. "A panic attack." He quickly hurried to the corner and crossed, quickly looking both ways out of newfound habit.

The boy looked over at Yoongi approaching, his gaze hazy. As Yoongi reached him, he noticed that the boy had let go of his sweater and his breathing had begun to steady. Yoongi breathed a sigh of relief and crouched down.

I'm sorry it has to be like this. He thought. I was once like you are now. I know how you feel. I want to tell you that it gets better but you would never believe me. It's ok.

Years of being around people and never being able to say a thing had given Yoongi a lot of empathy.

He saw past the professional businessmen who put on a cold facade. He knew that they were under a lot of stress at home, their wives threatening to leave them, or their financial state on the brink of corruption. He saw past the girls at school who would send that one girl death glares. He knew they were jealous of her freedom and happiness and they were struggling to find their own. He learned by studying expressions.

You can put on a mask, but anyone can take that mask off.

But here was this boy in front of him, who didn't bother to put on a mask of strength. He had simply given up.

"Who are you?" The boy asked suddenly.

Their eyes met. "I'm Yoongi." He replied.

—
A/N: I'm planning to include
all the BTS members here +
some members from other
groups they'll just come a
bit later.