This chapter is dedicated to KaciMin1993 who is a very good friend, a phenomenal writer, and who encourages me to continue with this story. Enjoy. 💜
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It had been a few days since the incident at the grocery store and the incident with his hand. Yoongi still couldn't get over it. It tore him up, and his hand only reminded him of the damage. He had tried to lay off it as soon as he patched it up, but he would still find himself in the habit of needing to use his hand, whether it was a simple task of opening the door or playing his piano to figure out his next composition. This resulted in a lot of pain and extending the healing process. Yoongi knew he shouldn't use his hand, but he couldn't help it. He felt guilty.
It was a chilly Saturday afternoon in Seoul and Yoongi decided to take a break from being cramped in his own little studio. He needed to get away from the stuffy and desperate air. The weather was just right, so he figured it would be a good day to go to the park and have a walk. He hadn't done something like that in months and he missed having the time to himself to think in the not so dreadful thoughts he seemed to usually have. For some reason, walking in the park had been a peaceful activity for him. It calmed his mind. It was as if breathing in the fresh air and taking in the nature quelled his detrimental thoughts; it was like it cleared his mind of the fog.
The trip itself from his apartment to the park wasn't far, seeing as it was only within walking distance. The journey itself was calming and refreshing. Along the winding pathway of the nearly empty park, Yoongi closed his eyes, taking a deep and much needed breath. It was as if he was expelling all the negativity he had been surrounded by for the past couple of weeks, most of it caused by his own troubled mind. He enjoyed the serenity of the chilly park air. He walked further down the path and sat on one if the benches that sunlight shone on to warm himself, if only a little.
He felt the chill from the seat seep through his layered clothing and he shivered slightly. The starving artist wrapped his deep blue scarf around his neck tighter (careful to avoid using his injured hand), exhaling mists of fogged breath. His numbed fingers of his good hand then wrapped around the chain he wore around his neck. It was a silver-chain necklace with a sterling silver music note attached to it. The metal felt warm from being kept through nooks of his jacket and scarf. His hands shook slightly, only not from the cold this time. The necklace had a special place in Yoongi's heart; it was given to him by someone very special, and it was the most important thing to him. It helped him get through the most difficult times and reminded him of his dreams and ambitions.
Now that the troubled mind had time to think for himself, he thought about the incident that occured days ago, his bandaged hand a painful reminder. Not only did he think about that, but he also thought about his rotten luck and the suffocating slump he'd been in. The necklace had been a reminder that he had to strive through the difficult times, push forward to reach his dreams, but it was becoming more and more difficult. Yoongi found he couldn't be a proper artist or even a proper human being. It was like he was a drowning man with nothing to grasp onto in the raging stormy sea; he was simply dragged further and further from everything, deep into an abyss of despair. He was miserable. Yoongi was the poster-boy for a failure of a human being, and he couldn't help it. It seemed the walk had only cleared his mind for only a little bit until the fog seeped back in. "W-why... why..." Shakily, his good hand gripped tighter around his scarf, burying his face into the folds of the deep blue fabric as the tears threatened to spill from his defeated eyes. He trembled and found it harder to breath with every passing second.
Just as Yoongi sunk himself further into his despair, he was suddenly pulled out of his thoughts by an audible rumbling. Startled out of his mind, he turned and there was a purring cat right next to him that had somehow climbed upon the bench without him noticing. In a swift motion, Yoongi wiped the tears welling in his eyes, almost as if he were ashamed for any living thing to see him in such a state, even a furry animal. "Ah, I didn't see you there," Yoongi sniffled, realizing he was talking to a cat of all things. The feline's silver-blue orbs gazed at the man in the most piercing, almost intelligent expression. It was a curious sight coming from a beautiful fluffy feline with it's colorful and pristine spotted white, black, and orange fur. "You probably think I'm pathetic, right? I mean, I'm talking to a cat," Yoongi laughed pathetically. Yet, somehow the presence of the friendly cat eased some of Yoongi's pain. He always had a fondness for small, fluffy creatures such as the one before him. As Yoongi sighed, shakily inhaling, the most curious occurrence took place. The calico cat made its way closer to the human, placing its paw on the lap of the man before gracefully springing onto his lap and meowing. It was as if the cat understood Yoongi's pain and meant to comfort him, which was exactly what he needed.
Yoongi's bottom lip quivered, crystalline tears welling in his almond-shaped eyes, but not yet falling. His unbandaged hand delicately brushed against the soft fur of the head of the cat. In turn, the gorgeous feline rubbed its head against Yoongi's open palm, purring and not seeming to mind the male's touch. The curves of Yoongi's lips upturned into a small smile. "You're not that bad, you know?" Yoongi continued to pet the feline, a bond of mutual respect and admiration forming between the two. When the cat meowed and lifted its head to be pet some more, something shiny caught Yoongi's eye. It was a gold tag in the shape of wings attached to a red collar around the cat's neck. "Do you have an owner, little guy?" Yoongi tilted his head curiously. It would explain why the cat was well-groomed compared to if it had been a stray. He held the the tag between his fingers, seeing if he could find information about its owner, but he didn't find much. The only thing engraved onto the cat's collar was the word In-Na for graceful and delicate.
"In-Na, is that your name? It suits you." Yoongi cooed at the graceful feline in his lap, and he continued to run his nimble fingers through the soft calico fur. The cat meowed, moving its head against the palm of Yoongi's outstretched hand as if in response. Its silver eyes focused on Yoongi, and he laughed. The peculiar interaction was just what he needed to feel better. "I'll take that as a yes."
Yoongi paused, now relaxed, to check the time on his watch. He didn't realize how late it had gotten, and he suddenly became alarmed. Soon it would be dark and he'd really be in trouble. "Ahh, when did it get so late? Sorry little guy, but I better get home." Yoongi looked at the calico cat with a hint of sadness in his eyes, scratching the back of its ears fondly. He didn't want to say goodbye to his furry friend that he'd bonded with in such a short amount of time. It was a shame he couldn't keep him. He didn't even know whether he would ever see the cat around the park again since as it wasn't a stray. Yoongi was so lost in his thoughts and sadness about departing from the feline that he was suddenly startled when the calico cat lept out of his arms, the chain of Yoongi's necklace glimmering from its petite mouth. It darted away in the opposite direction as soon as Yoongi saw it, his heart dropping. "H-hey, wait!" Without a second thought, Yoongi followed after In-Na. He pursued the feline.
With Yoongi's eyes trained on the furry blur of the cat, he had followed it down so many streets and paths. He didn't realize how far away from the park and his house he was being led. His only train of thought was the single-mindedness get back his precious necklace. After what had been several minutes of exhausted running (Yoongi wasn't used to so much exertion), the cat had finally come to a stop. In-Na sat perched upon the ledge of a storefront with the necklace still dangling in its mouth. Cautiously Yoongi approached with his hands in the air as if to surrender in case the cat tried to get away again. When Yoongi had gotten closer, In-Na dropped the necklace, allowing the human to pick it up. The silver orbs of the feline focused on Yoongi as he carefully picked up the priceless treasure, warily glancing at the cat in case it tried any other tricks. Once Yoongi had safely secured the necklace and cleaned it off, he glanced at the cat, who gracefully sat there looking at him. "All that running and you give it back to me like that?" Yoongi said in disbelief. He took a moment to examine the state of the necklace, and he realized the fastened clip was broken. He frowned deeply, praying he could get it fixed with little to no cost. Yoongi pocketed the necklace in his coat for safekeeping. When he turned to bring his attention back to the cat, he realized it had vanished.
Yoongi sighed. When he looked at the unfamiliar surroundings, he'd realized he had travelled quite a long way from his house. If he didn't know any better, he would say he was lost.
Great, just my luck.
Praying for the best, Yoongi studied his surroundings, hoping to navigate his way home safely before it got dark. Before he could put a foot forward, he had heard something. He froze, training his ears to focus on the sounds. It sounded like struggling and shouts.
Biting his plump lip, Yoongi wrapped his scarf around himself tightly. He had an internal debate with himself if he should follow the source of the sound or simply walk away. The pros and cons weighed in his troubled mind.
What should I do? Someone could be in serious trouble. If I walk away, I'll feel guilty. If I step in, then I could be trouble. Fuck.
It was when he heard the distressed yelling coming from the same direction did Yoongi decide he would step in. He rushed to the source of the sound, only turning around the corner when he came upon the scene. There were three mean-looking kids cornering a smaller kid, and the older man recognized they all had to have been high schoolers. The three had ganged up and were taking turns beating the crap out of the poor kid. Yoongi's blood turned to ice. He had a deep resentment of bullies for his own personal reasons, and he couldn't stand to see those punks gang up one fragile kid. Gathering the little confidence he had and his fueled anger, Yoongi decided to step in.
"Hey, you punks, quit picking on that kid!" Yoongi's expression was calm and deadly; he always had a great way of appearing more menacing on the outside than what he really was. He learned that as a defense mechanism to compensate for his height.
The three bullies had turned to him, ceasing their actions. One of them, the biggest and perhaps the toughest said, "Stay out of this, old man! This is between us."
That earned a glare from said older man. The normally timid and shy Min Yoongi was slowly edging away with anger and indignation fueling his actions. "Yah, you kids have no manners at all do you!" He motioned with wild gesticulation, his old self rising to the surface, "Is that how you talk to your elders? And what's with all three of you beating up on one kid? Are you that much of weak cowards that there has to be three of you against one?!"
Yoongi knew now that he had angered them when the previous one who spoke came closer to him. Good, let them be angry. The kids were punks that had no right to be bullies. The oldest kid had a twisted, angry expression on his face, purposely appearing more menacing with his height and build over the older man. "What did you say, old man? We told you to stay out of this."
"Unless you want to keep your faces intact, then I suggest you all leave," Yoongi kept his expression calm but deadly, showing he wasn't phased by the punk, or at least he hoped that was how he appeared. It had been a while since he had this type of thing. That was when Yoongi held up his bandaged hand. "I may have a fucked up hand, but I don't need two hands to teach a couple of punks a lesson. I detest bullies like you. You think you're tough when you haven't seen shit in this fucked up world." Of course, Yoongi was playing his overconfidence, purposely swearing and using mind tricks to make himself more convincing. He may have been older, but he was also shorter than the other punks. Yet that didn't mean he had a weak build in the slightest and the bullies could see that. There also must have been something so unnerving in his expression that must have said it all that he was deadly serious; it told them that he was not one to be messed with, and his expression was what sealed his conviction.
"Whatever, this isn't over," the punk scowled, the confidece drained from him, but yet backed off as Yoongi had anticipated. He motioned toward the other two and they followed. They backed off and left the boy and the older man alone.
Yoongi sighed when they were out of site, glancing up and thanking the heavens. Meanwhile the boy was left in a heap on the floor. He had watched the exchange in awe. His cries had ceased but he was left bruised and bloodied. "You okay, kid? Can you get up?" Yoongi asked turning toward the young kid, but not walking any closer. Without saying a word, the kid nodded, wincing at one of the bruises on his cheek. The young boy had deep rich brown colored hair, which was in a disarray; his figure was slim and his eyes were doe-like and deep. Wincing at the pain in his body and struggling slightly, he shakily was able to stand up and gather his discarded backpack the bullies had thrown to the ground.
Yoongi watched, assessing the kid would be fine on his own. He didn't need Yoongi's assistance any further. So without sparing another glance toward the boy, Yoongi started to walk off.
"H-hey, hyung, w-wait!" The boy called after the older man, but Yoongi did not stop. The boy thought about going after him to at least thank him, but before he could, another voice called out.
"Jungkook! What happened?" The voice called after the young boy named Jungkook, who looked behind him in confusion. "I was just on my way to your house when I saw you. Are you okay?!" It had been the boy's best friend that had rushed up to him in a flurry, rushes of concern and panic coming from him. When the boy had seen the state of his friend, he gasped in horror and put his hands on the other boy's shoulders. "Oh my heavens, you're bleeding and bruised!"
"I'm fine, Jiminie, I'm fine," Jungkook said. "I would have been a lot worse if that guy hadn't helped me." Normally, Jungkook would be partial and annoyed with his best friend's fussing, but this time he seemed to be in a dazed awe, staring where the stranger had went off, his figure disappearing with each counting second.
"Who?" The boy named Jimin asked in curiosity.
"Him." Jungkook motioned toward the disappearing back of Min Yoongi, to which both boys had directed their attention to. "I didn't get his name, though, or event the chance to thank him." The younger boy frowned before turning back to his friend. "Am I glad to see you, though," he smiled.
Jimin pretended to be clueless about not knowing the man named Min Yoongi. The truth was he had watched the entire exchange from the shadows, and he had had a part in Yoongi finding Jungkook in distress. He had anticipated Yoongi coming and helping the boy. He had been keeping an eye on not only the boy who claimed to be his best friend, but also on Yoongi as a part of his duties. They were all curious of the human Min Yoongi, and Jimin had to test the man. So as Jungkook talked to him, his icy blue eyes flashed a silver as they focused on the disappearing back of Yoongi. He then turned back to Jungkook, frowning in concern. "Heavens, you look really messed up, Kookie. My parents aren't home, so let's go fix you up at my house." Jimin smiled his soft and angelic smile through his perfectly plump lips and heartwarming expression. Jungkook smiled through the pain and nodded at his best friend.