The Rejects [YoonMin][NamJin]

Chapter Twenty-Five

The light snores coming from the blonde boy told Jimin that he was still sleeping.

It was the first time he'd ever heard the older boy snore; he never slept deep enough usually. It was good to listen to him sleeping peacefully for the first time in years, with no signs of waking with difficult dreams.

Jimin yawned as he stretched and shuffled backwards, pushing his bare back into Yoongi's chest, closing his eyes again when the heat warmed his skin.

The elder's arm was still lazily draped around his waist, like it was staking claim and possession of the body below it.

The pink-haired boy smiled when the blonde briefly stopped snoring to huddle closer. He drew his knees up, curling their bodies together as his face tucked into the back of the younger's neck. Jimin could feel the hot breath on the back of his neck, making him shiver as the other boy began quietly snoring again.

This was Yoongi's real personality; Jimin was sure of it. Under the layers of anxiety, fear and built-up walls, the elder was soft, cuddly and affectionate. He wasn't one for grand proclamations, but more loving actions that displayed how he felt.

It had taken a month exactly to chip away at the defensive barriers to find the core of the sweet boy who craved love and understanding. To see how much damage had truly been done.

The pink-haired boy sighed when the pale arm fell limp against the mattress in front of him, revealing what the blonde had hidden from him for the last month. Or at least thought he had hidden.

Jimin spotted the baby pink, tender-looking mark weeks ago when they shared the bed for the first time in years.

Yoongi didn't know that the younger boy had woken in the night because he had been kicked several times. The elder was fidgety and clearly distressed but couldn't come back from the night terror that gripped him; he hadn't meant to lash out at the other boy.

It was during the throes of the relived horror that the pink boy saw the relatively fresh scar. He had grabbed the blonde's hand to comfort him, trying to lull him back to peace when it became deadly obvious what Jimin was looking at. After helping him settle, the pink boy cried himself to sleep, cradling the love of his life like a baby.

What if Yoongi had been successful in taking his own life? What if they never met again?

Would Jimin ever know? Would he live his life utterly oblivious to the knowledge?

The following day, he acted as if he hadn't seen it at all. The older boy was actively covering the mark, so it wasn't noticeable, and he wasn't ready to talk about it. They would discuss what happened when the time came, and the pink boy could share how glad he was that the attempt failed.

Yes, Yoongi was still suffering the effects that years of abuse had on him, but they were together again and together. They could overcome that. With therapy and a support system like the Kim family, he could be happy. They could be happy.

Jimin lightly traced his thumb over the line that permanently tainted the elder's creamy skin, feeling how raised and jagged it still was. It would be years before it healed into something unnoticeable.

He was so engrossed in examining the fragile skin he didn't hear the older boy's sleepy grumble as his eyes fluttered open.

Yoongi froze as he felt the tiny digits sliding across his sensitive skin. He had tried to hide that mark from the younger boy. He didn't want him to know, but it was too late. He should have known better.

They were laid in bed together, naked. Of course, Jimin was going to see it.

"I-I couldn't take anymore..."