RENEWAL || BTS

15

"And this is how you turn the phone on!" Hoseok chimes happily while Jimin smiles sheepishly at his new Samsung.

The boy had been curious and asked about the 'luminous thing' that everyone carries around all day. After some discussion, Namjoon and Jin decided to buy him a new phone, considering that he runs around a lot and it could come to good use if he ever gets lost.

"Wait, hyung! What about those... um... other copies of you? How do you put yourself in this thing?" The boy asks excitedly, his eyes evidently twinkling. However, the older male only stares blankly at the younger, confused.

"Hobie, I think he meant photos." The girl who had been reading her book on the sofa laughs. Placing her bookmark on her current page, she leaves the book behind and fishes her phone out as she walks over to the boys.

"Alright Jimin. See this icon here that says 'camera'? You tap on that and this will come out. You see? And then, tap on this icon... and there!" She slowly guides the boy through the steps while Hoseok watches, occasionally nodding quietly.

"Finally, do a pose and press this button!" She smiles and quickly snaps a photo; the snapping sound made Jimin flinch a little. Later, she opens the photo and starts laughing to herself. Curious, both boys crane their necks to take a look at what she's laughing at.

In the picture, there's Taehee who smiles sweetly, Hoseok who made an incredibly ugly face, and Jimin who looked very confused.

"Ahh... I didn't smile nicely..." Said boy juts his bottom lip and pouts.

"It's okay, Jimin-ah. If you don't like a photo, you can always delete it. Like this-" Just as Taehee's about to tap on the 'delete' icon, Jimin's hand reached out to grab on to hers.

"Don't! This is my first photo, I wanna keep it."

"But didn't you take photos for your identification card?"

"Y-yeah... but this is the first photo I took with you guys." His cheeks are flushed red as he says this. Her eyes turn into crescents as she smiles warmly and nods.

"Um. Jimin-ah, you can let go now." Flustered, the boy quickly lets go of her hand and scratches the back of his head, looking away to prevent eye contact.

"...what's with this awkward tension?" Hoseok, whose presence was momentary forgotten, asks with evident hesitance in his voice.

"J-Jimin-ah! Do you know how to text yet?" The girl quickly asks in an attempt to rid the awkwardness, only to have Jimin lower his head in embarrassment.

"I-I... I can't read." He is so flustered by the situation, he starts drilling into his blanket, hoping for it to cover up his embarrassing self.

"Ah yes, we haven't taught him how to read and write yet. But he's a fast learner so I'm sure he'll catch on quick!" Hoseok grins.

"We should hire a tutor!"

"Wait, no no no! I can teach him!" Jimin's eyes immediately widen at her words.

"Really?!" He shouts as he comes out from under the blanket and looks into her eyes with his filled with excitement.

"Of course! I'd have nothing to do at home anyways." She assures with a smile, which makes his heart thump faster against his rib cage. Just then, the door of the room is opened and in comes a young nurse who wears a really warm smile on her face.

"I'm sorry sir, miss, but visiting hours are over 10 minutes ago."

"Oh! Alright, we're sorry! Taehee-yah, I guess we should leave for now. We'll visit you again tomorrow, Jiminie!" Giving the boy one last side hug, Hoseok later grabs the girl's hand to pull her out. But just before they leave, Jin appears at the door.

"Oh, Jin hyung! You're late, visiting hours are over."

"I know. I requested for this since Namjoon is too busy with his work to come over. You two go back home and take some rest alright? I'll take over here. Taehee-yah, Kookie is at the lobby waiting for you, don't let him wait for too long okay?"

"Yes, oppa! Hobie, let's go. See you, Jimin!" She waves at the latter as she rushes out of the room with Hoseok.

"Okay, everything's set here. Just press this button if you need our assistance."

"Alright, thank you." Jimin says with a small bow at the nurse as she leaves the room. The boy then shifts his gaze onto Jin, who slowly puts his bag down and pulls out a few snacks and a carton of banana milk from his bag.

"Here."

"Thanks, hyung." An awkward silence takes over as Jimin takes slow, small sips of the milk, continuously throwing glances at the man sitting beside his bed. Suddenly, Jin lets out an amused chuckle, which caught Jimin by surprise.

"Um... hyung...?"

"Jimin-ah, you don't have to be so stiff around me. Just treat me like your own hyung alright?"

"Y-yes, hyung."

"I overheard your conversation with Taehee just now. You're happy that she's going to spend more time with you, hm?" To this, Jimin's face flushes a deep shade of red, and panic rises up in his chest.

"U-uh..."

"I was just teasing you, Jimin." The older male laughs.

"But you really do like Taehee, don't you?" Jimin's lips are sealed shut at his words. He knows that it's wrong when Taehee already has a boyfriend, but he just can't help it. And now, he can't lie to Jin's face either.

He doesn't want to lose his hyung's trust.

"I thought so. You fell for her, that's why you came back, isn't it?" This put Jimin into a greater state of shock.

How... How did he know?

"You're too easy to read, Jimin-ah. I can tell what you're thinking just by looking at your expression." He chuckles.

"You're clever, Jimin. So I'm guessing you already got the hang of how the human world works. Taehee is already with Jungkook. You have no idea how much he loves her." Then the man pauses. Jimin feels a lump forming in his throat.

Does Jin hate him now that he figured out his feelings for the girl? Does he feel disgusted? Does he-

"I'm not saying that you're not allowed to love her, Jimin. You can do that. But I just hope... I just hope that you can step back a little on this. She is a big part of Jungkook's life, and he'd be so lost without her. I know this is hard Jiminie, but I'm counting on you, okay?" Jin has a smile on his face as he speaks. An obviously sad smile. The younger boy can't decide which hurts him more.

Was it that sad smile, or was it the fact that he is basically not allowed to be with Taehee and grow old together like how Hoseok had explained to him in his fox days.

"I'm sorry, hyung. I'm really sorry." That was all he could say. All he could muster. To this, Jin only sighed, smiling softly as he pulls the blanket up to cover Jimin up properly.

"Rest well, Jimin-ah." He says and pats on the boy's shoulder gently, his gesture only bringing more pain to Jimin's heart.

That night, all he did was stare at the ceiling, thinking of ways to get rid of the feelings he has for her.

But is it even possible, when he's already so in love with her?