King of My Heart | vmin

before

PART I: Delicate Hearts

Before

The first time Park Jimin met Kim Taehyung was on a bus.

Jimin, a tiny gangly seventeen-year-old, stood in the crisp cold Thursday morning, unsure of the time when the bus would come. His parents decided they didn't have time to drive him to school anymore. They simply told him he was old enough to ride the public transport, which Jimin found annoying. It meant he had to wake up at least two and a half hours before and then ride an hour to school. He thought maybe it wasn't so bad. At least he wouldn't have to listen to either of his parents complain about the other of whatever annoyed them that morning or the night before, or even what happened a week ago.

He let out a long exhale, annoyed at the bus for taking its sweet time. He stuffed his hands in his pocket and thought about his gloves sitting left behind in his room. His mom had yelled from downstairs that he was going to be late. He ran downstairs and nearly asked for a ride from her, but she was on the phone, trying to keep herself from yelling at the person on the other line. Instead, he left quietly and unnoticed.

It was getting worse as the months went on, what Jimin feared in the back of his mind. The impending doom of his parent's divorce, which Jimin refused to let his mind fully understand. It wasn't just bickering anymore, and the shouting matches outside his bedroom door were hard to ignore.

Jimin had his earphones on, listening to a band that Namjoon had recommended. It played a third time before he decided that he liked it. Namjoon had good taste in music. Jimin grew even more impatient as another minute passed with no sight of the bus. He looked up and saw a girl. She stood out in the crowd, she was walking in his direction, and he watched her. He figured she was pretty, and he guessed that she was probably a year or two older than him. She was beautiful. She had short and brown wavy hair, wide blue eyes that looked up to see where she was going. She was busy looking down at her phone, a tiny smirk forming on the corners of her red-tinted mouth. Her nose and cheeks had a slight pinkish tint to them from the cold morning. She looked up and caught his eyes, but she looked away without noticing him. She didn't notice at all that Jimin was staring, and she continued to walk past him – someone else squeezed between them and brushed up against Jimin's shoulder.

And she was completely forgotten.

He wore his hair pushed back. He wore a maroon coat over a white uniform shirt, with a pair of maroon pants and black sneakers with a grey school bag slung over his right shoulder. He made his way to the empty bus bench, his eyes preoccupied with his phone. Jimin felt the urge to walk up to him to push those bangs that fell in front of the other boy's eyes back, but Jimin thought otherwise. It wasn't socially acceptable to do such a thing to a stranger. Although, he wasn't exactly a stranger. He heard of him before, the new kid at his school. He thought of sitting next to him, but the bus decided to show up finally. The new kid was the first to enter, and Jimin followed. The bus was nearly full, with a couple of seats to spare. Jimin wondered if it would be weird to sit next to him, and maybe he would have a chance to introduce himself.

Jimin panicked, wondering where his sudden bravery came from. He sat down on the first seat he came across and settled his bag on his lap. He huffed, slightly disappointed in himself for chickening out. He pulled out his phone and found another song to play. This time, his current favourite. The Smiths' Asleep. The song began to play when he felt someone brush against his arm. He looked up to see him.

Time froze, or maybe Jimin just stopped breathing. The new kid looked back at him and gave him a crooked grin. He only glanced down to push his bag between his legs under his seat, and his smile grew bigger. Jimin saw that his mouth was moving and just about yanked his earphones off to hear what he was saying. "What is it?" The boy asked.