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Jimin stepped out on his balcony. The night couldn’t have gotten darker even if it wanted to. The clouds covered whatever light the moon would’ve provided. Three months. Three months. Three months. The words kept bouncing around his head. Three months. All the time he had left. Three months. No more dancing. His body was far too weak for that. Three months. No more performing with his friends. Three months. But what really hit Jimin was all the people he was leaving behind. Taehyung. Jungkook. Hoseok. His mom and dad. That big date looming over their heads. Knowing his time with those people was limited. His throat closed up. He came out for fresh air, but the intense darkness of the sky only made the pounding in his chest increase. The darkness was destined to be his future. An eternity of darkness. Five months had shrunk to four. Four to three. During the fifth month, he held the ones he loved and they cried together. During the fourth month he cried, but alone. He’d never felt this alone before. Despite the constant support from his friends and family, this dark pit was eating him from the inside out. Both figuratively and literally. At the beginning of the third month, this month, he’d run himself dry of tears. Hoseok had kept telling him he needed a miracle. Something to make the figurative pit disappear. All his friends did their best. Sleeping over. Cooking meals. Driving to doctors appointments. The most important thing to Jimin though was treating him like nothing was wrong. Of course, they couldn’t forget the problem altogether, but it helped him deal with the figurative pit. Laughing during movie nights. Teasing each other over badly cooked meals and ordering out instead. Singing at the top of their lungs in the car rides to the doctor’s office. It was the moments like that when he could forget he was fatally ill. The little moments where his friends didn’t look at him like he could break at any moment. Everything felt normal.During the middle of the third month though, he met his miracle. Min Yoongi. A chance meeting that Jimin could only peg as fate, which was something he didn’t really believe in. Heavy rain fell that day. It fell in sheets, soaking everything that touched it. He had a doctor’s appointment and no ride. Jimin wasn’t allowed to drive on doctor’s orders, otherwise, he would have driven himself. He didn’t expect his friends to always drop everything to take him to the doctors. His parents were back at home taking care of a few problems with the people renting out their house while they were with him. This left him with no way to get to the doctors. Walking wasn’t an option. He wasn’t supposed to put any physical strain on his body. The bus it was.With his umbrella popped open, he made his way to the bus stop. What he hadn’t considered though was the absurdly harsh wind. It was a miracle his umbrella stayed in one piece. And of course, as his luck was already going so well, he got to the bus stop as soon as it was leaving. His shoulders slumped. He was utterly frustrated and upset. Screw it if this stupid rain gives me the damn flu. He knew he shouldn’t be thinking like that, especially with his current state. It was hard not to when his clothes were drenched and he was bone-deep cold. He plopped himself down on the bench at the bus stop not bothering to hide his tears. Who would be able to tell them from apart from the rain soaking his face?“Hey, do you need a ride?” he looked up at the shadow cast over his body.Jimin just stared for a few seconds, “No. I don’t want to trouble you. I’ll just wait for the next bus. Thank you though.”He guessed his shaky smile hadn’t convinced the stranger.“Where are you going?” he held out his hand to help him up. The thought of a car with heating had enticed him. He took the stranger’s hand. “Uh the hospital,” he mumbled.The stranger’s hold on his hand didn’t drop. He glanced over at Jimin before nodding and leading them to his car.“Do you want dry clothes? I can drive you by your house,” the car was already running when they reached it. Jimin let out a little sigh of relief as he sunk into the passenger seat letting the warm air from the vents warm his body. The man let out an amused noise, a smile spreading across his face. “Mmm, that would be nice. No offense, but I’m not sure if I’m ready for you to know where I live yet,” Jimin smiles nervously at the man next to him.The man’s eyes widened, “Oh. No. That’s not how I meant it. I should introduce myself huh?”His face went red and there was a slight stumble in his words, “I’m-my name is Yoongi. Min Yoongi. Not that you’d really need to know my last name. But you know it might be useful- I’m going to shut up now.”Jimin laughed as the man-Yoongi- turned to face the front, his hands clasped in his lap. It was kind of cute seeing the man flustered, “I’m Jimin. Park Jimin if we’re exchanging last names.”“Well Park Jimin, going to the doctors doesn’t seem too fun to begin with. I can’t imagine going in wet clothes. We could stop by my place and I could let you borrow some?” he pressed his foot on the gas, turning off onto the road. He thought it over. Three months. What the hell, let’s do it. “Sure. Thank you,” he turned to smile at Yoongi.“So if you don’t mind me asking why you’re going to the hospital?” his hands tapped on the steering wheel.Jimin debated whether to tell Yoongi the entire truth or not. It would be nice to make a new friend who doesn’t know that he’s going to die in a few months. But then when his time did come what would he tell Yoongi? The truth would come out eventually and what would he think then? He thought back to all the people at school and how they started treating him after they found out his life was going to be cut short. Everyone looked at him like he was made of glass. If you’re not careful enough he just might break. He decided that Yoongi could find out the truth later.“Just a check-up,” his half-truth wasn’t a complete lie. They pulled up to Yoongi’s apartment with fifteen minutes to Jimin’s appointment. It turned out he lived in the top floor of a very nice apartment building that Jimin could only dream of living in. The niceness of the lobby in no way compared to his actual living space.“Woah,” he turned taking in the spacious living room with the kitchen branching off to the left, separated by a breakfast bar. Yoongi laughed leaning against the back of the couch, “It’s a little messy right now I apologize. I work from home sometimes so things get a little cluttered.”“Messy?” Jimin scanned the room and apart from a few scrapped papers on the piano and some dishes in the sink the place was practically spotless, “My apartment has never been this clean.”“Not very tidy huh?” Yoongi pushed himself off the back of the couch, “Let’s get you some dry clothes.”Jimin happily followed his wet jeans starting to become uncomfortable. If Jimin thought the living room was extraordinary he wasn’t prepared for the bedroom. It was huge. His bed was in the center of the room, two giant window panes on either side of it. Light from the window spilled over his small recording area in the corner of the room. To the left, there was a door that opened up to a closet the size of Jimin’s bathroom. Yoongi flipped the switch illuminating a plethora of clothes. “Take your pick,” Yoongi leaned against the wall with his ankles crossed watching as Jimin softly brushed his hand across the fabric of a particularly soft sweater. “Anything? Are you sure? Some of this looks expensive,” he moved on to a fancy blazer with silk lining.“I have more money than I know what to do with. Please feel free to anything,” Yoongi just smiled making Jimin’s heart flip.He turned away before the pink on his cheeks could become evident, “What do you do? For like a job.”He pushed a few more t-shirts aside, sifting through the clothes to find something more his style, “I write songs. A lot of freelance work.”Jimin turned back to the man, his interest peaked, “Music?”Yoongi nodded with a wistful smile, “Music.”Jimin turned to the clothes going back to the first sweater he picked out, “That’s funny. I dance.”The older man looked Jimin up and down, eyes pausing at his thighs before continuing down, “You definitely have a dancer’s body. Let’s see if I can find you some comfortable pants to go with that sweater.”Jimin gulped, jumping out of his way as he headed to the shelves underneath the clothes racks. He shifted around before pulling out a pair of joggers and holding them up near Jimin’s legs. Satisfied with his decision he stood up handing him the pants.“You can change in here. I’ll be in the living room when you’re done,” and with a nod, he was out of the room leaving Jimin to change. His heart was pounding as he slipped the joggers over his still damp legs. The clothes smelled like Yoongi, the smell of old books and something sweet Jimin couldn’t quite place. He finished changing and headed to the living room. “Ready to go?” Yoongi swirled his keys around his finger. “Yeah,” Jimin nodded with a smile. Yoongi grabbed his hand again, which shocked Jimin. This man was something else.“Your hands were shaking. I thought they were cold, so maybe I could warm them up,” he grinned with a little pink dusting his cheeks when he caught Jimin staring at their hands. Jimin didn’t know what to say so he just dumbly nodded. He led the way to his car, which, Jimin hadn’t noticed before, was very nice. Sleek and black, simple yet elegant. “Am I allowed to hear some of your music?” he worked up the courage to ask when they got settled in the car. His hand felt oddly empty.“Allowed to? Yes. Would I like to show you? Not really. I don’t keep any of my good stuff in here,” they pulled out of the parking garage onto the street. “Please. With all the equipment you have everything you make is good.”“I hardly know how to use half of that stuff. My tech-savvy friend brought that stuff over for me to borrow,” he handed Jimin his phone, “I don’t normally let people on my phone. Consider yourself lucky. Any of the songs in that playlist are my own.”Jimin scrolled through the list of titles before stopping on one called “The Last”. His head started swaying to the beat while Yoongi made a hesitant sound from beside him. Jimin just looked at him as he started rapping in the song and Jimin realized why Yoongi looked wary. The song screamed of his insecurities. Each word sent a tremor through Jimin’s heart. His head stopped bopping and he listened with rapt attention. He couldn’t explain why he was moved by the song on a personal level. It wasn’t that he couldn’t relate, because he could. He’d been in that dark place before. Hell, that’s where he’s been for the past two months. He looked to Yoongi as the song continued. His lips were pursed and he looked nervous. Jimin couldn’t explain what made him reach out to place his hand on the older man’s arm, but it wasn’t any reasonable part of his brain. He thought back to the brief minutes he spent in his apartment and he didn’t recall seeing any photos of him and anyone, or really any photos for that matter. It seemed so lonely in there. He wondered how long ago he wrote the song. Yoongi smiled and covered Jimin’s hand with his. “I really like the song,” Jimin said softer.“I took a risk making it, but I think people should see that side of me, as much as I hate it,” Yoongi returned his hand to the steering wheel and Jimin slipped his back into his lap.He nodded, “It was worth it. The song is amazing, but I expected that. I know we just met but for what it’s worth, I’m here if you need someone to talk to.”“Thank you. It means a lot,” his smile is the most genuine Jimin has ever seen.
He then notices that the car is stopped in front of the hospital, “Thank you for the ride. I’ll uh get these clothes returned to you soon. I’ll give you my number?”
“Don’t worry too much about the clothes. I don’t wear either of those much anymore, but I will definitely take your number.”Jimin flushed from his neck up and put his number in Yoongi’s phone before saying goodbye and watching him drive off. He sucked in a deep breath before walking into the hospital. The usual secretary sat in her desk and smiled at Jimin cheerily, just like last week. “He’s ready for you Mr. Park!” she sent him back into his office.His doctor, a middle-aged man, sat behind his desk when Jimin knocked, “Ah, good afternoon.”“Same to you,” he plopped down in the same chair he has been sitting in every week for five months. “How have you been feeling this week?” his doctor pulled open his notebook where he kept his notes from each session.“Same as last week. Except I’ve been getting winded a lot easier recently and really tired. Not much physical pain.”His doctor nodded scribbling down a few words, “And you’ve been taking your medication?”“Before and after bed,” Jimin said the same thing he did last week. And the week before. This whole session was predictable. Next up was the main check up stuff. Stethoscope to check his breathing. Height and weight. Pee in the cup and out the door. This week was different though. Instead of being out the door Jimin was sat back in his chair.“Now Mr. Park, I know you’ve declined therapy options but I’m offering them again. You’re reaching your final months and it’s not easy coming to terms with the end of your life,” he looked at him over his file.He’d been offered therapy multiple times over the past few months but after declining them the first month the doctor stopped bringing them up. His opinion hadn’t changed either. He was going to die. That was that. Yes, it sucked and yes it took a long time for him to accept. Actually, he wasn’t sure if he had quite accepted yet. What he did know however was that he had three months to live and he was not going to waste any of his limited time in a shrink’s office talking about how he was dying. There was a part of him scared to admit it and by accepting the doctor’s offer he would be doing just that.The doctor, thankfully, took his silence as refusal.“Very well. We’ll see you next week then,” and with that Jimin was dismissed.