Beyond Repair (Min Yoongi)

33. Confessions

Jimin took a deep breath, leaning heavily against Taehyung as he tried to brace himself for what he was about to see. He knew from Namjoon that Yoongi was in bad shape, but even though he had witnessed most of Yoongi's torture, Jimin still didn't fully know what to expect. He didn't know how damaged Yoongi had been.

"Take your time," Jungkook had told him—it had to have been several minutes ago, now—when they'd first arrived outside Yoongi's room and Jimin had frozen with his hand hovering just millimetres away from the door handle. At some point, Jimin had started trembling, and Taehyung had wrapped his arms around Jimin from behind to keep him from collapsing altogether.

"You don't have to do this now," Tae murmured into Jimin's ear, rubbing up and down Jimin's arms to comfort him. "We understand if you need a little more time."

"I just..." Jimin let out a tiny, breathless sob. "What if I...?"

He couldn't bring himself to finish the thought, but the others knew what he meant. What if I panic? What if I can't bear to look at him? What if I somehow do something wrong?

"It'll be okay," Namjoon told him. "He's still not awake yet. You don't have to do this right now. We can go back to your room—"

"No," Jimin said, sniffling slightly, "I have to do this."

"You really don't, though," said Jungkook.

"Really, Jimin, it's okay," said Namjoon.

"It's not. I have to do this," Jimin said again. "I have to try to...to make things right. Being here for him is the least I can do, after...," he trailed off.

"What do you mean?" Jungkook asked.

"It's my fault," Jimin croaked out, the reality of the earlier events hitting him all at once. Another sob spilt from his lips and then his legs buckled and Taehyung had to catch his whole weight to keep him from crumpling to the floor. "It's all my fault!"

"What? No, it isn't—"

"You weren't there," Jimin cut Jungkook off. "You didn't see—you weren't there," he blubbered.

"It's okay. Come here, it's okay," Taehyung crooned, turning Jimin around in his arms to embrace him more fully.

Jimin buried his face in his childhood friend's chest and tried to fight the sobs rising in his sandpaper throat, his tears rapidly soaking Taehyung's jumper as he wept. He felt himself being led somewhere but he didn't lift his head and look at where they were going until he was being gently eased back into his hospital bed. He obediently stayed where he'd been placed on the edge of the bed, but he kept his arms wound tightly around Taehyung, both hands fisted in the back of Tae's jumper.

"Shh, it's okay," Taehyung whispered through his own silent tears, slowly running trembling, uncertain fingers through Jimin's hair. "It's okay. I've got you. It's okay," he said.

And ooh, Jimin practically melted.

He didn't deserve this. Jimin knew he didn't deserve all the comfort and affection he was receiving. But, God, he needed it so badly that Taehyung could have asked anything of him in return and Jimin would have complied without a second thought. But Tae was better than that—he had always been better than that, always giving whatever he could without expecting anything in return.

By the time Jimin had cried himself out, Taehyung's entire chest was drenched with tears, snot, and blood—shit, Jimin's nose was bleeding, he had bled all over Taehyung's favourite shirt—but Taehyung didn't seem to mind it. Taehyung used his sleeve to wipe Jimin's face, then pulled the jumper off and held it under Jimin's nose to soak up the blood. Taehyung was now left in just a white undershirt (which was now faintly tinged pink on the front), but he apparently didn't care about that, either, because as soon as Jimin's nose stopped bleeding, rather than look for something else to cover up with, Tae tossed the soiled shirt behind him, not even bothering to look at where it had landed. He then wordlessly crawled onto the bed beside Jimin and pulled Jimin down to lie next to him.