Dark | BTS ✓

14

When Jimin comes home from work that evening, it doesn't take him long to realize that Evelyn is exactly where he left her, the coffee he left her with long forgotten as it lays on its side, its contents spilled into the grass.

Jimin doesn't hesitate to run across the street and into her yard, keeping the umbrella over himself as the rain pours down.

As he approaches Evelyn, he sees her visibly shivering, yet she stays rooted in her spot.

Jimin sighs, taking off his white coat and placing it on top of her before kneeling down in the grass and making sure the umbrella is covering as much of her as he can cover.

"Evelyn," he says. "Please get up."

"I've seen you watching me," Evelyn says, her teeth chattering. "When I dance."

Jimin doesn't reply.

"Do you want to know why I dance every night?" she asks, turning her gaze to glance at him.

"Okay," he says, nodding.

"Every night, Hoseok and I would turn on the record player and we would dance to our song," she explains, her voice shaky as she continues to shiver. "The first night I had to be without him, I found myself putting on our song and dancing to it, and I swear I could feel him there with me. So, every night, I'd do the same thing: I'd play our song and I would dance with him."

Jimin nods, moving to push some wet hair off of Evelyn's face.

"Last night, I danced like I always do... but I couldn't feel my Hoseok there with me," she says, her bottom lip quivering. "I just felt alone."

Jimin moves to sit down in the grass, not caring about the cold water seeping through the fabric of his pants. He holds the umbrella up with one hand and moves to rub some warmth back into Evelyn's arms underneath his coat with his other hand.

"I think he saw that there was someone who was trying to be there for me," she says, her tears mixing in with the rain still on her face. "I think he decided I would be okay, so he finally moved on."

Evelyn breaks down, her sobs wracking her body as she curls in on herself. Jimin abandons the umbrella, moving to scoop Evelyn into his arms as he carries her onto the front porch. He sets her down in one of the rocking chairs and moves to place the white coat over her shoulders.

"Wherever he is now - even if you can't feel him anymore - he's still going to watch over you," Jimin says.

"Thank you," Evelyn says, her sobs slowing down until she's taking deep, shaking breaths. "You're just a stranger, but you still went out of your way to help, even when I did everything I possibly could to push you away. Thank you for being my friend."

Jimin nods, smiling as his hair drips water onto his face. "I'm here, okay?"

"I'm glad you moved in," she says, sniffling. "I didn't realize how badly I needed a friend until you inserted yourself into my life."

Jimin laughs, running a hand through his hair to get it out of his face.

"I'm going to call him tomorrow," Evelyn says as she pulls Jimin's coat around her shoulders more tightly. "Jungkook. I know I've been holding resentment against him for something that wasn't his fault. I need him to know that I don't blame him anymore. I need him to know he's still my baby brother and I still love him more than anything."

Jimin smiles, helping Evelyn stand up as she moves to her front door. She tries to hand him his coat, but Jimin holds a hand up.

"Keep it. I'll come get it in the morning when I bring your coffee," he says, sending her a friendly smile that she returns after a moment.

Jimin stays on her porch until she goes inside and shuts her door; after that, he makes his way back to his house, heading straight to his bathroom to take a hot shower. After he's showered and eaten a meal consisting of instant noodles, he lays in his bed and stares at the ceiling as a multitude of thoughts fill his mind.

"Hoseok," Jimin says out loud. "I don't know if you can hear me, but I just wanted to tell you that she's going to be okay. I don't know how long it will take, but I promise that I will be the friend she needs. I promise I'll help her re-plant her garden. I promise I'll show her how to take out the trash. I promise to be there every second that you can't be."

Jimin smiles to himself, and his eyelids flutter closed just as a slight breeze ruffles the damp hair on his head.