It had been awhile since Jimin had seen Jungkook after him leaving home to reside with Hoseok for the time being. A feeling a jealousy and discomfort withstood in his chest and as much as he tried to push it away, it's presence remained heedlessly. Stirring in his bed, time for school approached and so he threw his legs over the bed, stretching his arms into the air with a large yawn. Desperate, he stood up to look out his window and into Jungkook's. He knew better, yet his face overcast with sadness upon being met with vacancy.
Suddenly, a small knock on his door echoed throughout his room. He beckoned with a small 'come in' and so his mother did just that, opening the door. She closed it quietly behind her and approached her son who sat back down on his bed, Miss Park mirroring his actions. She grabbed his hand in her own, staring down into her lap as she brushed his knuckles. Jimin could tell that she was sad, and trying to hide it. Her eyes were heavy with bags and swollen red. He would have went to comfort her last night if he had known she was suffering so severely. But she always kept her broken heart to herself.
"How did you figure it out?" Jimin asked softly as he stared at his mother, wanting nothing more than to heal all of her wounds if he possibly could. But damaged hearts are never easy to mend.
She looked up at him briefly, evidently surprised how blunt he was in his questioning. But she didn't mull it over considering he had every right to know seeing as he was her son.
"Honestly, I kind of had a hunch ever since he started coming up with excuses as to why he was always late to come home or working over hours. He never has enough time for me and the texts I saw on his phone only prove it. I guess he just fell out of love with me," his mother lamented and she pulled her hands away from Jimin's, wiping at her eyes. The ravenette felt his own heart break as a result of her dismal state and he couldn't help but feel himself tear up.
"Have you told him yet? That you know?" Jimin asked and his mother shook her head quickly, exhaling deeply.
"I don't want him to know. Because I'm afraid that if he does, he'll take everything away from us. And I can't let him do that to you," she explained quietly as she stared up at Jimin through glazed eyes.
"What do you mean?" Jimin asked, diving into her depressed face. "Nobody works as hard as you do."
"I know, angel. I work hard but that doesn't mean the house belongs to me or the things inside of it. Yes, I have money. But that doesn't come close to the memories we've made in this house. I can't do that to you," she said and her bottom lip began to quiver once again.
Jimin sighed quietly, pulling her in for a strong embrace. He rubbed one of his small hands up and down her back tenderly, meanwhile the other thread through her long hair. He began to hum quietly as he rocked her back and forth.
"So what's gonna happen now?" he asked into her ear.
"Do what I've always been good at, angel. Pretend."
-
Despite Jimin's vehicle being fixed for awhile, he decided to walk to school this morning. He needed to clear his head and hoped that the timid breeze brushing this his hair and his clothes would be enough to do that.
With his hands stuffed into his pockets and gaze casted downward, he watched his sneakers as they kicked some stray rocks on the sidewalk. He couldn't help but dig himself into a hole of self hatred and self infliction as thoughts about his father clamored his already addled mind. He suspected long ago that his father was a cheater, yet he never brought it up because he just wasn't sure enough. But if his mom had heard the news from his son rather than a text, maybe things right now wouldn't be so bad. Key word being maybe. He'd never know how to deal with the pain of being cheated on. Just the thought of it made him bite back tears. His mother is a fighter.
"Hey, Jimin!" Said male jerked, blinking rapidly as he looked up to find an enthusiastic Eric flaging him down with a large smile on his face.
"Hi," Jimin replied in short as he continued to walk, Eric's truck stalking beside him close to the curb.
"Do you want a ride to school? It looks like it's going to rain and I don't want you to catch a cold," he suggested and Jimin's walk speed slowed until he came to a still. He peered up at the clouds and not a second later, a tear drop struck his eye and he squeaked.
This caused Eric to smile and laugh, saying a small 'adorable' beneath his breath, however Jimin very much caught it and his cheeks reddened. Without saying anything he hopped into the truck, closing the door. Immediately he sunk into his hoodie and he trained his gaze outside.
"You've been ignoring me lately," Eric pointed out as the truck began to roll and Jimin bit down on his cheek.
"No I haven't," he argued, although he knew that he had indeed been ignoring his texts and calls.
"Are you sure? Ever since I told you how I felt about you, you've rejected all of my calls and all of my texts have been left on read. I just wanna check up on you and see how things are going," Eric told as he pulled into the student parking lot, eyes searching for a vacant spot.
"I'm sorry," Jimin apologized quietly, playing with his fingers. "I've just had a lot going on lately."
Eric hummed, turning his truck off. He turned to stare at Jimin, placing a friendly hand on his shoulder. "You do know I'm still somebody you can talk to, right? I'd never judge you, Jimin. You mean too much to me. If something is bothering you, you know unequivocally that I will always listen."
Jimin looked up at Eric, smiling at him softly. "Thanks, Eric. That means a lot to me. But... what I'm dealing with right now is something I don't need to press onto other people. How about this. When the time is right, I'll let you know?" he suggested and Eric nodded his head.
"Yeah, I don't want to pressure you into anything. Now let's go before we're late, yeah?" Eric squeezed Jimin's shoulder, and the other boy smiled.
"Yeah, let's go."
They both hopped out of the truck and made their way into the school side by side. With Jimin hugging his books to his chest, Eric still carried his sports bag. He was glad that despite his crazy life currently, some things still remained the same. Almost like how things were around the start of the year. The idea of that brought solace to his mind, however caused his heart to ache just the same. He was ignorant then. Stubborn, and clueless. Close minded. He was the worst version of himself back then.
Suddenly Eric chuckled out of nowhere and Jimin looked over to him, confusion drawn on his face.
"What? What are you laughing at?" he asked anxiously, pouting his lips.
"I can see you barely talking to yourself. I just thought it was kind of funny," Eric pointed out and chuckled a little once again, causing Jimin to roll his eyes.
"You're lying. There's no way I was talking to myself and didn't notice. You're just trying to be funny," Jimin complained and Eric sniffed, shaking his head in adoration with a genial smile.
Eventually the both of them made their way into the school and walked to their lockers, putting away the things they didn't need and grabbing the things that they did. He heard a familiar voice roar through the hallway and he turned around, shocked to find Jason walking with some unfamiliar faces. He turned to Eric who seemed just as confused.
"Why is he here? I thought he was being homeschooled?" Jimin questioned and Eric shrugged his shoulders, scratching at his nape.
"I don't know, Jimin. My knowledge is probably just about at the same level as yours," he said and then his hand slid from his neck to his side.
"I mean when I went to go see him he--" Jimin started, and then immediately clamped his small hand over his mouth. He looked over at Eric who gawked at him.
"You what?!" he yelled, and the other students passing by stared at them. "What were you thinking, Jimin? You told me you wouldn't. Did he hurt you? Are you okay?" he asked more quietly this time and impatiently.
"I'm okay, Eric. He just yelled a little bit but that was it," Jimin told quickly, attempting to bring his friend's worry to a stop. "I just wanted to check up on him and make sure that he was okay. He's suffering and I know it. But he's trying to hide it," he explained, pressing his hands to Eric's chest who looked as though he was ready to pounce on Jason at any given second.
But it was clearly too late already seeing as Jimin heard Jason's voice from behind him.
"Well if it isn't my two best buds," he claimed with mock edge, and the ravenette could see a fire starting in Eric's eyes.
"Faggot one and faggot two!" he sung and students began to watch. Jimin had to muster more power in keeping Eric back, but he could only do so much against a jock.
"You can call me a faggot all you want, but if you insult Jimin one more time my fist is going to collide with your fucking nose and break it, asshole," Eric growled and Jason laughed sarcastically, swinging his head back.
"Save your anger for the bed, Eric. I'm sure despite his looks he likes it rough. Isn't that right, Jimin?" he pitched, and before anyone knew it, Jason was on the floor and Eric was on top of him.
Blow after blow, more cameras had been pulled out, flashing. Eric straddled Jason's waist and despite him knowing just how stupid of an idea it was, Jimin dove in to try and stop them. Eric's arm had swung back, hitting Jimin in the eye and the boy yelped, falling onto the floor. The look of pure shock and regret on Eric's face had Jimin's hurt wrenching in his chest. Jason took this moment of distraction to his advantage and flipped Jason over, delivering him with his own blows.
And then surprisingly enough, students started to part and Jungkook was the one to break up the fight. He gripped Jason by his arm and tugged him off of Eric, holding him back. The hallway proceeded to flood with cuss words and anger. The instigator struggled in Jungkook's clutch, and Jimin quickly scrambled over to Eric, looking at his bloodied face with worry in his eyes.
"Jason!" Mister Vallant yelled as soon as his appearance had been made, and his son freed himself from Jungkook's hold. He turned to face his father, and surprisingly, a loud slap echoed off of the walls. Silence fell and everyone watched closely.
"Get to class, now!" he yelled, and everyone did as told. They quickly grabbed their things and scurried off, however Jimin, Jungkook, Mister Vallant and Jason remained in the hallways.
"Please tell me you're okay," Jimin begged and Eric nodded his head as he sat up slowly, Jimin helping. Jungkook was quick to approach the both of them and help the ravenette's friend to his feet.
"Why are you here, Jason? You're supposed to be at home! This is unbelievable!" the principal yelled as he grabbed his son by his arm, dragging him out of said hallway and most likely into the office.
All of them watched silently until it was just the three present in the hallway.
"Thanks for your help," Eric said toward Jungkook and the brunette nodded.
"I've had my fair share of fights with that guy. He needs serious help yet for some reason his dad isn't doing anything about it," Jungkook voiced, and then he noticed Jimin's red eye. Immediately, that's where his attention slipped to. His hands begged to reach up and cup his face, however he knew better.
"Your eye," Jungkook stated and at once a guilty look overcast Eric's face. He instead had no worries about it and brushed Jimin's eye softly, causing him to recoil.
"I'm sorry, Jimin. I didn't mean to. I was trying to help and I made things worse--"
"It's okay," Jimin stated, pushing Eric's hand away gently. "I just have to put ice on it. You should be worrying about yourself. You're in much worse shape."
"I'll be in much better shape once you are," Eric claimed and Jungkook jabbed his tongue into the inside of his cheek. He recalled Jimin telling him about Eric's little crush, but also remembered how he turned him down. He tried to not let it eat away at him.
"Let's go to the school nurse and get you patched up. How about that?" Jimin suggested and Eric nodded his head, a small smile tugging at his lips. The ravenette had already started walking, however Eric turned to Jungkook for a brief moment.
"I can tell who it is that he likes, Jungkook. And I just want you to know that I'd never do that to you. Ever. You have my word, yeah? He's all yours," Eric said with assurance, placing his hand on the other boy's shoulder.
The brunette chuckled quietly, petting his hair. "Thanks. I appreciate it," he said genuinely.
Eric shone him one last smile and Jungkook watched as he caught up to Jimin, immediately engaging in a conversation. This was good for the ravenette.
Having friends you could actually count on was hard to find.
(A/N): I love Eric. :)