hotel_omelas | 121418. jimin & yoongi.

WINTER.
December 14, 2018.

WHO jimin & yoongi
WHAT arrest fallout

WHERE the classroom
TIMELINE cycle 1

YOONGI Yoongi hurries to the classroom as quickly as he can. As much as he’d like to believe that, wherever Taehyung and Namjoon are, nothing is seriously wrong, that’s not the real problem here. He has a strange sense of faith that they’ll be fine, able to wriggle out of whatever trouble they got themselves into this time. Here and now, though, Jimin is upset. That’s his primary concern now.

And maybe that’s selfish in a way, his way of trying to make up for failing to be there the way he should have been the other day. He’s not sure if it matters as long as he’s there now.

He knocks at the classroom door to warn him before he slips inside. “Hey,” he says, stepping over to Jimin with arms outstretched. “You okay?”

JIMIN Jimin had faked needing to use the restroom to get away, had made it about halfway down the hall before veering wildly to run outside instead. He's halfway there when he gets hyung's message and, of course, no one else is in their classroom when he arrives. Jimin shivers against the chill, looks at the run down desk in the corner and the piano. He doesn't know what to do now that he's here, but he can't sit still anymore, can't sit in class and pretend that everything is okay, can't pretend to study cosines and integers when he has no idea what's happened. No idea where his fucking soulmate is.

The door opens only seconds later and Jimin looks up to see Yoongi-hyung slipping inside. The question is a simple one, just a yes or a no, but Jimin can immediately feel his throat closing up and his eyes start to sting as he roughly shakes his head.

It's all he can manage.

YOONGI Yoongi closes the distance between them, wrapping Jimin in a cautious hug. He’s never been the most outwardly affectionate member of the group, least of all physically, but some situations just call for it. He can’t just let Jimin stand there by himself, looking so fucking small and hurt, even afraid.

“Come here,” he says. “They’ll be alright. We’ll find them, okay?” He has no idea where to start, unless they call all the police stations and hospitals in the area. It might not be a bad idea. They’ve got to be in one or the other, and Yoongi’s not entirely certain which would be worse at this point.

JIMIN In the entire time Jimin's known him, Jimin's pretty sure he's seen hyung initiate a hug only a handful of times. It's almost disconcerting to see it now, but he can't help but sink into the embrace, ducking to rest his face on hyung's shoulder. There's no fighting the tears, especially now that hyung's essentially given him permission, but he still tries to hold them in as much as he can, swallowing past the lump in his throat.

"I don't-- what if something happened?" he says because, as much as he's been trying not to think about that, he can't help it. There's every chance the two of them just got caught doing something stupid; they're always out at night, wandering and running around and tagging. That's probably all it is.

But what if it's not?

YOONGI Yoongi runs his hand slowly along Jimin’s back, hoping the gesture is at least vaguely soothing. He’s not sure much will be until they find out what happened, but he can try, not least because Jimin really does seem to be shaking a little.

He doesn’t like hearing those words, more superstitious than he’d care to admit. It’s dangerous to voice such thoughts aloud, tempts fate. Still, it’s something they have to consider. “Then,” he says slowly, “I guess we’ll just figure out our next step when we know more. I could call the hospital and see if they were brought in.”

JIMIN Some part of him wants hyung to lie to him, to assure him that nothing bad could have happened, that Taehyung and Namjoon-hyung are both just fine. Maybe in jail, but fine.

Instead, he gets practical, because of course he does. This is Yoongi-hyung. He almost laughs, but it comes out as another half-choked sob, his face still buried. "No," he manages, but it's all clogged too. "I can't. Not yet, please. Please."

YOONGI “Okay,” Yoongi says quietly. “Okay, not yet.” Later, maybe. If they don’t hear from either Namjoon or Taehyung in a couple of hours, he and Seokjin will have to make calls. There’s no way he can let this stretch on longer than that. He’s not sure Jimin could handle more than that, and he can’t fault him for it. Yoongi’s doing his best to keep it hidden, but it’s frightening not to have any idea what’s happened to their friends.

“It’ll be okay,” he says. “They’re always in trouble for something, aren’t they?” And they always come back just fine.

JIMIN He's not wrong, of course. That's their thing, running around and getting in trouble. Jimin's always worried about them, about Taehyung, to at least some degree. Worried about his home life, worried about him getting caught by the police, worried about him getting hit by a car or falling off a bridge.

But it's never felt like this. It's never felt real until now.

And what's he supposed to do? How does a person keep going with one half of their soul missing?

The idea makes his throat clogged all over again and he turns away to wipe at his nose. "If that's all it is, I'm gonna fucking kill him myself," he finally manages, voice nearly a growl.

YOONGI "That sounds reasonable," Yoongi says, and he's not even being sarcastic. It's not that he thinks Jimin should commit murder, but he'd have every right to be furious if it turns out the others are fine. They've been worrying for hours without any kind of a sign Taehyung and Namjoon are okay. He's starting to get pissed himself.

"Or you could let me do it," he suggests. "Wouldn't want you to end up in jail."

CODE BY TESSISAMESS