reset ; ym

Thirty six minutes later

Pay attention to the titles of the chapters.

~

Sobbing hurt Jimin's throat. Crying hurt his eyes. Moving hurt his limbs.
Everything hurt.

It had been exactly thirty six minutes since Jimin had called Taehyung who had promised to come over as fast as possible. How soon was as fast as possible?
Was thirty six minutes - no, thirty seven now - fast? Not for Jimin. He needed his best friend now, he had never needed him more in his entire life. He needed him right now to cry about his stupid, shitty asshole-ex boyfriend Min Yoongi, and by crying Jimin meant that he was ready to scream his lungs out and Taehyung was probably the only one who could keep him from doing so.

The picture of Yoongi and Jimin was crumpled-up in Jimin's hand. Jimin had cleaned it from the shards, careful not to get hurt, then he had cried even harder - that was only five minutes after Yoongi had left - and had been about to throw the photo away, but he just couldn't do it. Memories of that exact day had flashed his mind and Jimin remembered how happy they had been back then. When everything was still okay.
So Jimin kept the photo.
And now he was sat on his couch with his knees pulled up to his chest, crying and crinkling the photo a bit more.

The sound of the door bell made relief wash over Jimin. It was, what, forty minutes since he had called Taehyung? Yeah, what a great best friend.
"Oh my God, I'm so sorry, Jimin, I tried to be here earlier but the grocery store was unbelievably full and every single traffic light seems to hate me today -" Taehyung blurted out the second Jimin opened the door. He walked in, breathing heavily, probably from the stairs he had just run up, and set a plastic bag on the ground.
"It's okay," Jimin mumbled, too scared to speak up. His voice would probably crack.
Taehyung took off his jacket, his eyes not leaving Jimin, then he stepped forward and pulled him into a tight hug.
Jimin immediately started sobbing again.

"I'm going to kill that guy," Taehyung said.
He already knew what had happened. The moment he had picked up his phone forty two minutes ago Jimin had cried out, "Yoongi just broke up with me," and that was about their conversation - Jimin had to promise Taehyung to stay where he was and that he would hurry up, then he had hung up and made his way to the grocery store to buy some stuff because he knew that Jimin needed him, not only for that afternoon, but for the evening as well and Taehyung needed to be prepared for that. And ice cream and chocolate were just as much of a part of emotional support as hugs and cuddles.

Jimin chuckled at Taehyung's words. "Please," he mumbled against his chest. For a moment, they just stood like that. Then, Taehyung pushed Jimin away gently and smiled slightly, his hands still resting on Jimin's shoulders.
"Hey, I'm going to put the ice cream in your freezer so we can eat it later and you're gonna sit down on your couch. I'll be right back, okay?"
Jimin nodded. "Thank you."
Taehyung smiled again and softly squeezed Jimin's shoulders before grabbing the plastic bag and walking into Jimin's tiny kitchen.
Jimin sighed and walked over to his couch where he sat down.
He dried his face and took a deep breath in when suddenly, suddenly, he became awfully aware of the smell surrounding him.
He looked down at his shirt - Yoongi's shirt, it was still his goddamn shirt, and Jimin had already gotten so used to the smell that he didn't really notice it except for when he really paid attention to it, but now his mind just thought fuck you, you deserve to be extremely aware of your ex's wonderfully pleasant smell that's basically clinging to you right after he broke up with you because why not?
And Jimin was crying again.

Taehyung returned into the living room and without saying anything, he positioned himself behind Jimin and wrapped his arms around him, pulling him close until he was leaning against Taehyung's chest.
And for a few minutes, both of them stayed quiet, and Jimin just silently cried while squeezing the photo in his hand a bit tighter.
He wanted to get rid of the shirt so badly, the smell was burning in his nose, but he couldn't. At the same time, it was oddly comforting, it felt like not Taehyung, but Yoongi was sitting behind him.

"I miss him so much..." Jimin gasped.
Taehyung rested his chin on top of Jimin's head. He held the snarky remark that Yoongi was only gone for like, what, forty five minutes? back and instead whispered, "I know... I'm so sorry..."
"He couldn't even tell me why... am I just that awful to be around?" Jimin asked and glanced up at Taehyung.
"What? No! Don't say that, you're a wonderful person, and if Yoongi can't appreciate that then that's his loss. Don't let it drive you crazy, yeah?"

I already am crazy, Jimin thought. But instead of saying it out loud, he snuggled up to Taehyung and closed his eyes.
"How am I supposed to ever get over him?" he whispered. Taehyung chuckled.
"First of all, you have to take this off," he said and tugged at Jimin's - Yoongi's, for God's sake - shirt, then he grabbed Jimin's wrist and carefully opened his hand. "Then, you're gonna throw this away, and all the other pictures you have of him. Where is your phone?"
Jimin nodded towards he small coffee table and Taehyung leaned forward, grabbed the phone and then sat back down properly.

"And change your lock screen, really," Taehyung sighed as he turned on the phone and handed it to Jimin.
"I like this picture," Jimin whispered. He looked down at the display and the picture of Yoongi he had set as his lock screen a few weeks ago. Did Yoongi think about breaking up with him back then as well?
Just the thought of that made Jimin feel like a complete fool.
"Jimin, how are you supposed to get over him when every time you try to use your phone, you see this?" Taehyung asked and pointed at Jimin's phone.
Jimin shrugged.
"Give me your phone," Taehyung said. Jimin gave it to him a bit reluctantly.
Taehyung unlocked it and opened the camera, then he held the phone up and grinned.
"Smile!"
Jimin quickly turned his head away and hid it against Taehyung's chest, but he couldn't help the smile that was tugging at his lips.
"Perfect." Taehyung lowered the phone again, then he set the photo as a lock screen.
"Now get up and change your shirt."

Jimin sighed as he got up and walked into his room.
The broken picture frame was still laying on the ground.
Jimin opened his wardrobe and pulled out a clean sweater, then he quickly got changed and neatly folded Yoongi's shirt.
He knew he shouldn't keep it, but as Jimin looked down at the shirt he just couldn't throw it away. Instead, he opened the bottom drawer of his wardrobe and hid the shirt and the crinkled photograph underneath his socks.
It's been fifty two minutes, he couldn't just let go of Yoongi like that.

"Ahh," Taehyung made when Jimin walked into the living room again, "Perfect. Now give me the photograph -"
"I... already threw it away," Jimin said quietly and pulled the sleeves of his sweater over his hands. Taehyung raised his eyebrows. "Really? Wow, okay, now sit down again, we're gonna talk now."
Jimin chuckled and sat down on the couch. Taehyung settled himself on the opposite side.
"And he didn't give any reasons at all?" Taehyung asked.
Jimin pulled his knees up to his chest. "Well, I mean, kind of... he said we were always arguing and he couldn't do this anymore..." He sighed. "I wasn't making him happy anymore."

Taehyung leaned his head against the back rest. "Couldn't you have talked it out?" he asked.
"Apparently not."
"Mhm."

It was quiet for a while.
"Do you think he -" Taehyung started, then he stopped himself. He didn't dare look at Jimin.
"Jiminie, I love you, a lot, but do you think he may have found someone new?"
Jimin closed his eyes. They were stinging with tears again.
"He said he didn't," he mumbled.
"Do you believe him?"
"Yes," Jimin immediately said. No, he thought.
Taehyung hummed.
"If he cheated on you, I'm really going to kill him," he murmured. Jimin smiled.
"Of course you will."

When Taehyung left that evening, around eleven, maybe, Jimin didn't feel better. But it was more bearable now, somehow. He was just hoping that it wouldn't take him too long to get over Yoongi.
But right now, it was okay for him to be sad and to cry, and that's why he opened the bottom drawer of his wardrobe and pulled out Yoongi's shirt and the photograph.
Again, his smell was so prominent, it was as if he was lying next to Jimin.
But he wasn't, and he never would again, so all that Jimin had were the shirt and the stupid, crinkled photograph in his hands as he fell asleep crying that night.