To Save Him | YOONMIN

Six

every revolution
starts and ends
with his lips
- rupi kaur, milk and honey

Jimin stared down at his phone screen, scrolling up with his thumb to reread his previous conversation with Yoongi. It was one day later, after a particularly painful night due to his ribs not being healed, and he was smiling fondly down at Yoongi's polite words.

Maybe... he actually cared?

They were set to meet in half an hour and Jimin had already arrived in front of the apartment complex that Yoongi lived in. He was nervous, to put it simply, and he didn't have a clue as to why.

Snow had piled up on the ground in the weeks past since the snowstorm. At that moment, it seemed as though at least two inches of fine, powdery snow covered the ground in a thick layer.

Jimin was naturally someone who got cold easily, so his cheap windbreaker and worn-out jeans didn't provide much warmth for his shivering body. He didn't know what to expect from Yoongi, but for some strange reason, thinking of the black-haired boy brought a little warmth to him.

In his hand, his phone suddenly buzzed and he looked down in surprise at the text from Yoongi that had popped up.

Yoongi
I can see you😂 come inside

Jimin let out a huff of laughter, his breath gathering in a white cloud in front of him. He glanced up at the towering building in front of him, his eyes looking for Yoongi in one of the many windows, to no avail.

His trembling thumbs hastily typed a reply to to Yoongi's teasing words, grinning in spite of himself.

Jimin
Okay😂

As soon as he stepped into the complex, Jimin felt warmer. It wasn't the nicest building, for the wooden floors were old and worn down and the wallpaper was at least twenty years outdated, but it provided warmth so Jimin didn't think much of the flaws.

302C, Jimin remembered. Yoongi lived on the third floor with a roommate he had forgotten the name of. There didn't seem to be an elevator in the complex, so he decided with dread that he'd have to climb the many stairs to Yoongi's apartment. Great.

He limped up the stairs, still sore from working the night before, a hand on his ribs to cusion the impact of each step. If he had been counting, it had to have been at least 60 steps by the time he reached the third floor. He panted, nearing the last few steps, and winced at the throbbing pain in his chest.

Making his way down the hallway, he glanced at the chipped golden number plates on the dark wooden doors of the apartments. 307, 306, 305, 304, 303-

The door to 302C opened suddenly, a smiling Yoongi standing in the doorway. "Hey."

Jimin's eyes darted to the floor as he smiled shyly at the older boy. "Hey."

"Come inside, I was just about to start making lunch." Yoongi stood aside in order to let Jimin into the apartment, smiling widely at him.

Jimin cautiously walked past Yoongi, feeling a little less anxious as he stepped through the doorway. He heard the door close behind him and Yoongi chuckle softly before putting at gentle hand on Jimin's elbow to guide him into the apartment. "It isn't much, but it's home. My roommate, Hoseok, and I split the bills." Yoongi walked forward until they were in the actual apartment and gestured towards the living room. "Here's the living room, where Hoseok and I play video games much too late into the evening."

Jimin smiled, and in turn, Yoongi smiled too. "Over here is the kitchen and the dining room but in all honesty we normally eat wherever we feel like it. I'm not the most amazing cook and neither is Hoseok, so a lot of the time we order take out unless we're especially broke at that time of the month, being college students and all." He gestured left of the living room.

The younger raised his eyebrows at that in surprise. "College student? Wow. What do you study?"

Yoongi led him to the kitchen, where minutes prior he had started making chili. "I go to that performing arts school downtown, majoring in music composition. Hoseok goes there too, but he studies dance."

Jimin grinned. "That's really cool."

Yoongi finished chopping the tomatoes and pushed them off the cutting board and into the pot with his knife. "Do you like music?" He glanced over at Jimin, who had since taken a seat at the table after he gestured to it.

"I love it, actually. I would sing a lot as a child and into my teens, but I don't think I was actually that good." He shrugged and stood up, even though he had just taken a seat. "Would you like some help, hyu-" He faltered and looked at the older sheepishly. "Can I call you hyung?"

Yoongi smiled fondly at the younger. "Yeah, of course."

"Well, would you like some help, hyung?" Jimin moved forward to help if needed.

"Ah, you don't have to. You're the guest, but if you want to, I don't mind." He shrugged.

Smiling, Jimin went to work cooking the ground beef.

"How did you learn to make this dish, considering it's primarily Western?" Jimin looked curiously over at Yoongi whilst stabbing the meat in the skillet with a metal spatula.

"Oh, Namjoon, from the coffee shop, went to study in America for a few months and brought back quite a few recipes that the rest of us have gotten hooked on." Yoongi went back to the garlic clove he was crushing.

"It seems like you're all very close."

"Yeah, we are. There's a couple more people that you haven't met yet, but they're kind of the goofballs of our little group of friends. We love them to death though."

Jimin didn't respond for a while. He longed for a friendship like what Yoongi had with the others. He didn't want to admit it, but he was envious.

Soon enough, the ingredients of the chili were all in the large pot and cooking, so Yoongi decided it was time for Jimin to meet Hoseok.