Names- Jikook (✔️)

Chapter Thirteen

Jimin's POV

    "So let the demons go and hang me up, cos motherfucker, I ain't dead til I say to. " -Options, Hippie Sabotage

    Hoseok and Namjoon were already waiting for him by the time he reached the streetlamp, figures obscured under a lacy blanket of mist. Hoseok's eyes snapped towards him as he neared, then drifted slowly to the ground, as if reluctant to meet his gaze.

    "What's up?" He quipped, hiking his backpack further up his shoulder.

    "Hoseok outed you to the entire damn school," Namjoon snapped, obsidian eyes frigid as they scraped over the dejected body of their mutual friend. "Because apparently he's hella clueless."

    "Jimin, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to," Hoseok grabbed his wrist, exposed fingers icy as they wrapped around his tanned skin. "I swear it was an accident."

    Dismayed, Jimin pulled himself away from his friend's desperate grip. "Wait-what happened?"

    "I was explaining to him why you weren't gonna be at school, and he just shouted 'wait, Jungkook's moving? Is Jimin gonna have to break up with him?' Like the clueless ass he is, and Yeri heard- you know how she can't keep her mouth shut- and now the whole school knows you're gay." Namjoon cleared his throat. "Which, of course, isn't a bad thing, but you know how people are..."

    Jimin waited for his heart to start sinking, bracing for a wave of despair to slam into his gullet and started to crawl up his throat, but it never came. Perhaps a deeper part of him realized he'd made it this far; what were a few snarky teenagers going to do about it?

    "Jiminie, I'm so sorry," His friend's arms were snaking around his shoulders, pulling him close to the roughness of his backpack straps, the firm skin of his chest. "I didn't mean to. I can say I was just kidding-"

    "No, don't lie. I've come this far, I think I can handle it.' Jimin rested his head against Hoseok's shoulder. "I can forgive you." He felt his friend's chest rise and fall as he sucked in a relieved breath.

    "Alright, then. Let's go," Namjoon said, satisfaction evident within his fluid eyes. "If anybody says anything, I promise to personally beat their ass."

    "Thanks, Joon," Jimin straightened, freeing himself from Hoseok's arms. He managed a sliver of a white smile. "But I think I can do that by myself."

-----

    As they entered the school building, it became immediately apparent that Jimin's sexuality was now widespread knowledge; the crowd of students bustling through the halls avoided the trio like a trifecta of deadly diseases, a few going so far as to shoot them dirty glances. Jimin's tawny eyes sunk to the streaked floor, suddenly reluctant to face his peers.

    "You okay?" Namjoon whispered beside him, dark eyes scanning their surroundings from his high vantage point. "I don't see anyone from our classes yet."

    "Oh, look who it is!" Jimin cringed, fingers clenching the rough nylon of his backpack straps. He knew that voice- low and masculine, everything his high-pitched tone was not. He turned to face the speaker, auburn shoes reluctant to twist away from where they were glued to the worn tile flooring.

    The boy's stance was tall and powerful, firm legs radiating confidence in their ripped blue jeans and tanned arms folded against his chest. His teeth- straightened with the help of a dentist and a few metal-filled years- were twisted into a self-righteous smirk.

    "Hi, Jackson," He muttered, fighting to look him in the eye. The taller boy's eyes narrowed a fraction, obsidian eyes sinister under poised eyebrows. Behind him, two of his friends slunk into position on either side of him- Mark and Jaebum, school bags slung haphazardly over their shoulders in a pointless statement of carelessness. It would have been comical, how imposing the three of them looked, had Jimin not been so scared of them to begin with.