Listen | m.yg + p.jm

A Different Point Of View

      It had been a week since Jimin last showed up to school. Now, Yoongi wasn't worried. No, he was panicked. He had no way of contacting the boy and it drove him crazy not being able to talk to him. To ask him if everything was okay. To make sure he was still alive and breathing. But those two things weren't the same thing, right?

      He paced in circles around his room, praying, hoping that Jimin was alright. He always seemed fine at school, and he was fine when Yoongi was walking him home that one day-

      Yoongi had totally forgotten that he had been to Jimin's house before. Technically, he had never been inside. But he knew where it was. Sometimes, he walked Jimin home from school to keep him company. He hadn't done that in a while.

      Yoongi scratched his head as he tried to remember where the boy lived. "T-Twenty... Twenty-second... South! Ah, he lives south of the school, on twenty-second street."

      Once he got the street name down and vaguely remembered the house, he grabbed his backpack and ran out the door.

-

      After a while of walking, Yoongi finally made it to a familiar house on a curb. He walked up the front lawn and knocked on the door. He waited. And waited. And waited. Nothing. After knocking five times and waiting even more, he decided to open the door himself. Surprisingly, it was unlocked.

      The house was nice on the inside. Small and cozy. But there was a smell of cigarettes and smoke polluting the air. Yoongi felt somewhat rude for inviting himself in, but his worrying was getting the best of him.

      He walked down a little hallway with a mirror hanging above a chair at the end. He kept his eyes down so he wouldn't see his reflection. The house was dark, not a single light turned on. He pushed open a door, the only door that was closed. Inside, there was a nice bed, a dresser, a desk, broken action figures, scattered clothes and paper, and a boy facing a window on the opposite side of the room.

"Jimin? Is that you?"

      The boy, Jimin, turned around and smiled at Yoongi when he saw him.

"Hi Yoongi. What are you doing here?" The red head asked.

"I... Uh... You haven't been at school lately. I was worried," Yoongi stuttered. He sat down on the bed next to Jimin and waited.

"Everything's okay. I'm fine. How have you-"

"Listen, Jimin. I know that everything's not okay. I mean, you haven't been to school for about a week. Where have you been? Why haven't you visited me or told me anything?" Yoongi interrupted.

"I've been here, nowhere else. I haven't been to school lately because I don't feel like it. And please believe me when I say that I don't feel like it," Jimin said, taking a more serious tone.

"Are you sick or something? What's going on? You can tell me, I'm your best friend. W-We tell each other everything, right?" Yoongi asked, his voice breaking.

"Unfortunately, not everything. But, there's some things that should be left untold, okay?" Jimin said with a weak smile.

"You're worrying me. And I don't like worrying. But if you really don't want to tell me, fine. Here's your homework," Yoongi said as he handed Jimin a stack of papers. He got up and was about to leave when a squeaky voice called out to him.

"Wait... please don't go."

      He turned around and looked at Jimin, confused. "If you're not going to tell me anything, why should I stay?" He asked, not understanding.

"I-I... I guess I'll tell you," Jimin said, taking a deep breath. Yoongi sat back down.

"Well, um. Let's see... Where to begin..." Jimin stalled. "Uh, m-my mom is missing. She disappeared a little less than two weeks ago. My dad has gotten crazier and crazier. See?" Jimin said, rolling up his sleeves to reveal cuts, lifting up the back of his shirt to reveal bruises. Sweeping the hair out of his face to reveal a black eye. Yoongi didn't gasp, he just stayed silent.

"But that's okay. Deep down inside, I always knew he was like that. I always knew he was a..." He paused before he said the word monster. "I always knew he was different," he recovered quickly.

"But it's all okay. I haven't been worrying too much about my problems, knowing that other people have it worse. I'll just leave my mask on until this all blows over," Jimin sighed.

"... And what if it doesn't just blow over?" Yoongi asked.

"Well then, I'll just have to leave my mask on. Look, I'm not going to ruin other people's days just because I had a bad one. They don't need to know. They don't need to worry," Jimin said reassuringly. Yoongi didnt know what to say.

"O-Okay. I guess I see your point. I'm sorry if I've ever worried you about my problems, or made you have a bad day," Yoongi felt his eyes start to water and he didn't know why. The dam was breaking, again.

"No, it's okay. I would rather worry about your problems than anyone else's," Jimin said with that same fake smile.

There it was.

There was his mask.

      Yoongi wanted to rip it off and see the demons, but he didn't know how to. So, he let it go.

"Well, it was good seeing you. I really hope you're at school this week. Okay? Promise? Promise you'll be there?" Yoongi asked as he picked up his bag and stood in the doorway.

"I promise," Jimin said though, there was no smile this time.

There was no mask, anymore.

Yoongi was staring right at the demons.

Right at Jimin.

      He closed the door before they could chase him out.