Jimin hunched over in exhaustion.

Again.

He heaved himself back into the beginning stance and started once more. This dance had to be perfect. Each imaginary beat seemed to match the pounding of his heart, and he felt the liberating sensation of getting lost in it.

Then his balance wobbled and his foot slipped, his ankle twinging in pain. Jimin stopped and grabbed his black hair in frustration, growling loudly. It's always that part that fucks me up.

He gingerly walked over to his water bottle by the dance studio's wall and took an aggressive swig. He can do this. He can do this.

Oh God, what if I can't do this?

Jimin quickly recapped the bottle and went back to the center, facing the mirror. He repeated the steps slowly, murmuring under his breath while tracing the motions carefully with his feet.

After a few times, he resumed the beginning stance and tried again. The burn in the back of his mind, the drive to do better, do more, made his movements sharper. He stumbled again at the complicated footwork, and held back a sob. He had to get this right. He can't disappoint everyone. Not again.

Jimin heard the door to the studio open, but he didn't really care about who it was yet. He'll just turn around when he's finished and feign a surprised, 'Oh! I didn't see you there!' and smile. But for now, it's just him. Just the routine, just his frustration at his lack of drive.

His ankle decided that moment would be a great time to give out and he crumpled to the floor like a puppet with cut strings. He released a bark of curses, and grabbed his injured ankle.

"Oh fuck, Jimin!"

Jimin squeezed his eyes shut and quietly sighed. He just wanted to be pathetic in private, but he looked up at a worried Taehyung and smiled anyway.

"Taehyung! I didn't know you were here."

The boy kneeling next to him looked at him flatly. "Bullshit."

Jimin sighed again. "Worth a shot."

Taehyung extended a hand towards him, and Jimin defeatedly grabbed it and hauled himself up. He wrapped an arm around Taehyung's shoulders and took special care not to put pressure on his other ankle.

After a few hobbling steps towards the door, Taehyung shook his head, and said, "I got a better idea, hyung."

"What are you— agh!"

A strangled noise escapes him as the other boy sweeps him off his feet and started to carry him out of the room, princess style. His ankle twinged again slightly, but at least it wouldn't be as bad as if he walked himself out.

Still, he looked at Taehyung in disbelief. He could have at least asked first. But then Jimin saw Taehyung's awkward smile and his brief resentment faded.

"Wow, you're really light, huh?"

Jimin blew a raspberry. "I thought you were just super buff, pretty boy."

Taehyung's nose scrunched up a little. "Pretty boy?"

An alarm bell went off in Jimin's head, and he hurried to take it back. "Wait, that's not—"

"Aren't you the pretty one?"

His heart stopped, but then he rolled his eyes. Taehyung looked like he was about to start laughing.

Jimin wrapped his arms tighter around his neck, and shouted, "Yah! Don't start laughing now! I'm gonna fall out!"

The other boy snorted, then hummed in response, "Don't worry, Chim. We're almost there."

Jimin sighed. He was actually enjoying this a little bit. Well, not the injured ankle part, but the Taehyung part. Tae always had a way to make him feel better, even if it was slightly.

"Once we get to your room, I'm gonna go and grab an ice pack. Then I'll bring out my secret stash of mandatory snacks," he emphasized, "and then you're gonna get some sleep. No ands, ifs, or buts, young man."

Jimin scowled playfully. "Excuse you, I'm older than you."

"By like, a month and a half." They both laughed and Taehyung hit the button on the elevator. Once they got in, they just talked about everything and nothing, waiting for their floor.

The elevator lurched to a stop and the door slid open. Taehyung stepped out, and started walking towards the dormitory.

"You're lucky that Hobi always keeps extra ice packs," he said to the smaller boy.

"I have my own," Jimin replied quickly. He doesn't want to burden anyone else.

"Yeah, but you used them already, didn't you?"

Jimin squinted with the strain of thought, then groaned. "Fuck, you're right. I used mine this morning, goddammit." And now they're just melted bags of water. Great.

"Like I said, Hobi's got some extras." For his Sprite cooler, but no one needs to know that.

Taehyung sighed, and after a pause he said, "Look... you don't have to push yourself so hard. You... do know that, right?"

Jimin closed his eyes, and focused on the rhythm of each step. He took a deep breath. "This... this is all I got, Taehyung. I have to keep fighting for it, otherwise I get this horrible feeling in my chest and I feel useless."

Taehyung chuckled, and Jimin bounced a little on his chest. "Well, if you want to feel useful, I got a filthy room that needs cleaning."

"Tae, I'm serious."

Taehyung glanced down at his hyung, then said, "Being happy doesn't mean you're not working hard. And not working doesn't mean that you're useless. You're human, Jimin. Take a fucking break and open up a bag of Cheetos once in a while."

Jimin laughed, and Taehyung grinned as they finally made it to the door.

"Hey, uh, Jimin? Can you...?"

Jimin blinked. "Oh! Yeah," and reached out to turn the handle.

Once inside, Taehyung carried him to his room, then quickly went to grab an ice pack from the fridge. He knows that it's usually used for food, but it was the only option at hand; besides, it works better for wrapping anyways. He also took some compression tape from the cabinet drawer and a pillowcase from his own room.

While he was rushing around, Jimin felt a huge weight in his chest. He wanted to help his friend, but here he was, just another useless bump on a log. He moved to get up and help, but Taehyung saw and yelled as he passed the door, "Sit your ass down! I'm almost done!"

Jimin huffed, but complied. A few minutes later, Taehyung came back into the room, and pulled a pillow from the head of the bed. He slid it under his ankle and tossed Jimin the compression tape. He stuffed a pillowcase with the icepack, and waited for Jimin to finish wrapping his ankle.

After he finished, Taehyung carefully wrapped his ankle with the icepack, then set Jimin's foot back onto the pillow.

"Keep it elevated, yeah? And make sure to put the ice on and off, alternating every hour or so. The ice pack should last for a while, so you're good 'til then. I'll be right back."

Jimin curiously watched as Taehyung slipped back into the hallway.

A couple minutes later, he heard footsteps and crinkling in the hallway. He sat up to get a better look.

The crinkling got louder, and then suddenly there was a whole package of fudge cookies landing in his lap.

Jimin's head snapped from the cookies back to Taehyung, who had an overflowing armful of junk food.

"How the hell do you have space to hide all this crap?" Jimin asked incredulously.

"How the hell do you have no snacks in your room at all? I'm going hungry just thinking about it," Taehyung replied dramatically and sat next to him.

He opened up a bag of gummy bears, and started eating. Jimin just watched him for a few seconds, before Taehyung exasperatedly gestured at the cookies. "I didn't give you those just to warm your lap." Jimin snorted, then reluctantly opened the sleeve. He held back a moan. He missed junk food.

Taehyung thought for a moment, then added, "If I wanted to warm your lap, I would have just done it myself."

Jimin choked on a cookie.

Taehyung patted his back as he coughed, and winced in regret. "Sorry, it just slipped out."

Jimin cast him a confused glance, then continued to eat the remainder of the cookie that he hadn't coughed up.

Taehyung breaks the silence. "...Actually, I'm not."

Jimin looked at him sideways, then said, "Not what?" His heart began pounding.

"Sorry."

Taehyung looked so serious when he said it that Jimin couldn't help but giggle a little bit. Taehyung tilted his head in confusion.

"I guess I'll have to cough up cookies more often," Jimin teased. Taehyung lightly punched him in the arm, then sighed.

"You know what I mean. I guess I just..." he struggled with his sentence, while Jimin just waited. "Thoughts just spill out, don't they? Good, bad, helpful... not... helpful..." His face was slowly turning red, from his cheeks to the tips of his ears. He covered his face in his hands. "God, why is this so hard," he muttered.

Through his hands, a jumbled rush of air escapes him. "iloveyouimsosorryiwanttojumpintothesunwhydididothistomyself."

Jimin squinted. "Um... what?"

Taehyung hung his head, then sat up again. He looked Jimin in the eyes. "I said that I love you. I'm sorry that I do, but it's been eating at me for the past few years. And I want to jump either into the sun or down the stairs because this is really awkward. Okay, enjoy the snacks, bye."

Jimin grabbed his wrist before he could leave. "Taehyung. Sit. Now."

He reluctantly complied, and faced the smaller boy.

Jimin searched Taehyung's face for any signs of insincerity. There were none.

"Holy shit. Really?"

Taehyung frowned, and said, "Yeah. Can I leave now?"

Jimin shook his head in disbelief and laughed, running his hands through his hair. "Taehyung... Holy fuck, I'm so happy." His chest felt lighter than it had been in years: Taehyung liked him back.

"Wait, happy? Jimin, what the fu-"

Jimin quickly grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled him in for a kiss to shut him up. Taehyung's eyes flew open and he stiffened in shock for a split second. Then he relaxed and melted into the kiss, sliding just a little closer.

Eventually, they both paused to breathe, with their foreheads touching, nose to nose.

"You taste like fudge cookies."

Jimin grinned. Before he could say anything, though, he heard someone shout from the kitchen, "WHO TOOK MY ICEPACK? YOONGI, IF YOU TOOK IT TO COOL YOUR PILLOW AGAIN I'M CHUCKING MY SHOE AT YOU."

The duo looked at each other in unison, then started to giggle violently. It turned into a full-blown cackle, and Taehyung crumpled onto the floor, gasping for air with tears in his eyes. He waved a hand and made his way to the door, looking back one more time. "I gotta hurry and tell him before he throws a shoe at our friendly neighborhood cat."

Once he left, Jimin smiled brightly and looked down at his hands.

Besides the ankle part, this was... a pretty good day.

(oOo)

[yeah yeah, i know i should probably be working on all the unfinished stories I got up in the air. I'll get to it... eventually. I'm not dead, just really f-ing lazy. I hate it as much as you do lol.

So... this story took me a few weeks. Ok, well, i started it one day a few weeks ago then let it sit halfway finished in my notes. Today I was like "screw it" and finished it. Well, hope you liked it and have a good day!!

Borahae!]