KLEPTOMANIA (YOONMIN)

TWELVE

"Mum, I'm home!" Yoongi yelled out as he entered the house. Unable to pick them up, Ms Min had gotten Jimin and Yoongi a taxi. Jimin had looked incredibly uncomfortable during the whole trip, appearing to be avoiding touching as much as he could, and then had stolen the driver's pen. Yoongi had chuckled, but stopped when he began to worry that Jimin would mistake his amusement for teasing.

"I'm in the kitchen." Yoongi placed their bags down in the hallway and gestured for Jimin to follow him. The smell of cookies baking grew stronger as they ft closer to the kitchen, making Jimin feel sick. He'd managed to survive the taxi drive without vomiting, but he wasn't sure how much longer he could.

Jimin and Yoongi entered the kitchen, greeted with the sight of a woman taking a tray of cookies out of the oven. The woman - Ms Min - had flour streaked across her cheek and her hair was tied back in a messy bun. She had a kind smile on her face when she looked up, but despite that Jimin was horrified.

He knew this woman.

"Oh, you're that boy from the store. How's your sister?" Ms Min asked and Jimin gulped.

"She's fine." Jimin lied, casting a quickly glance at Yoongi. Yoongi looked slightly confused as he looked back and forth between his mother and Jimin. "You know, her period's over now..."

"Oh." Yoongi said, realisation spreading across his face. "Ohh... You're that boy. Ohh, everything makes sense now."

Jimin looked at the ground, embarrassed that he was talking to the woman that had caught him stealing tampons, and because Yoongi obviously knew what he was talking about. Yoongi smiled slightly before turning to Ms Min, who was frowning a little.

"Jimin has kleptomania, Mum, he probably didn't mean to steal the tampons." Yoongi then looked at Jimin. "And I don't think he even has a sister..."

Jimin remained silent, staring at the ground. He felt an arm wrap around his shoulder and grew mildly uncomfortable, but made no effort to remove it.

"Oh. Okay.." Ms Min wasn't really sure how she should respond. Should she apologise for pointing him out that day, or just say nothing? She was just glad she didn't say anything to anyone on the day. She would've felt more bad now, if that'd happened. "I baked cookies... Do you want some?"

"Of course." Yoongi said as Jimin mumbled a 'no, thank you'. Yoongi left Jimin's side to go grab some cookies, grabbing as many as he could before Ms Min slapped his hand away. "Jimin and I will be in my room."

Ms Min nodded as Yoongi led Jimin out of the room, noticing how skinny Jimin was. She frowned, deciding to google kleptomania when she had some time to sit down. She then left the kitchen and walked out into the hallway, tripping over the bags Yoongi had dumped on the floor. She sighed and shook her head, frowning in the direction of Yoongi's bedroom.

-

Jimin sat on the bed, pinching his wrist as he waited for Yoongi to come back. He looked down at his wrist, staring as the skin pulled away under his fingers before snapping back to its original position once he'd released it. He continued to do this, so engrossed in the activity that he didn't even notice Yoongi had returned.

Yoongi watched, feeling sad at the sight of Jimin. When he pinched his skin, barely any pulled away. There seemed to be no meat on him, he was just bones and skin. Yoongi cleared his throat, not wanting to watch it anymore. Jimin slowly looked up at him, his face blank as usual. Yoongi held up the DVD.

"Got it." He said as he stepped towards the bed. He climbed on it, crawling over so he was sitting next to Jimin. He made himself smile at Jimin, whose lips twitched slightly in response. "Want some popcorn?"

"No, thank you." Jimin answered and Yoongi nodded, he'd expected that answer. But still, one could hope...

Yoongi set up the movie on his laptop and settled down in the bed. For most of the movie, Jimin was watching Yoongi. He had no interest for the movie, but he enjoyed watching Yoongi's reaction to it. Plus, as he watched Yoongi, Jimin tried to figure out why Yoongi would like someone like him, even as a friend. It just made no sense.

-

The dim glow of his phone lit up Yoongi's face, who didn't realise Jimin hadn't fallen asleep hours ago when he claimed to be tired. Jimin watched from his spot on the bed (Yoongi had insisted he sleep there) as Yoongi frowned, scrolling through something on his phone. He made sure to act asleep whenever Yoongi briefly glanced up at him, which was quite often.

Yoongi was reading a thing on anorexia nervosa, which seemed to be what Jimin had. The symptoms seemed to match Jimin's behaviour; repetitive or obsessive behaviours relating to body shape and weight, anti-social behaviour, low self esteem and perfectionism.

Yoongi sighed and turned off his phone, lying down properly in his makeshift bed. He glanced over at where Jimin was lying, feeling sad. He wanted to help him, he really did. He just didn't know how.

Jimin lay awake, staring up at the ceiling as he absentmindedly pinched at his wrist.

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