i don't think i can ever imagine you being a bad guy.

"Five, six, seven, eight."

Jimin glided his feet along the floor as graceful as ever, his cloth shoes stuck to the skin beneath his feet. His arms moved about like the spread out wings of a robin, so effortless and calculated. He could feel the music resonate through every cell in his body. The burning of his feet egged him on further as he strived to make his movements as perfect as possible. Suddenly the music stopped and a familiar shrill voice boomed throughout the room. If the voice were any louder than it was at the moment, Jimin was sure the mirror stretching along the length of the wall would have shattered.

"Park Jimin! You're one of our top students. I expect more from you. Where is your energy?"

Jimin wiped the sweat off his eyebrows and looked at his feet. He hated himself the most right this instant. Dance was something that had been a part of him for as long as he could remember. And not being able to perfect that made him hate himself.

"I'm sorry. I'll try harder."

The teacher narrowed her eyes at him and started the music again, this time her hawk eyes concentrating only on Jimin rather than the other students in the room. "You better do well. You're on a scholarship here because we think you're good."

Jimin stared at his reflection in the mirror and started again. This time though he had hardly gotten through the first minute when the music stopped again.

"What's wrong with you today?" The teacher asked exasperatedly, causing all the other students to pause and look at Jimin with concerned eyes. "Stay here and practice for an hour. Understood? Others may disperse."

As people left the room one by one, Jimin closed his eyes and hugged himself. He didn't understand why the teacher was being so hard on him. His feet burned and complained, his hands ached, his head hurt from exerting himself more than his capacity would allow. Yet he continued, his steps not faltering, his resolve not weakening. He didn't keep track of time either. Just kept going until he felt his knees give out and fell to the floor. He looked up at the clock that hung on the wall and noticed it had been two hours. His body protested as he stood up and stumbled over to his bag to pack up his things. He would have to run otherwise he would be late for work. He sat down, slumped against the wall as he took off his cloth shoes. A pained whine left his mouth at the sight of irritated chipped skin and green bruises along his heel.

Jimin reached the café on time, thankfully, but his feet ached and threatened to give away with every little step he took. The cash register was back to work so Jimin had to go back to taking orders and wiping tables, which took every bit of his barely remaining energy away and left him drained to the bone.

The bell jingled as a boy with raven black hair walked in, keeping true to his word about coming to the café everyday. He took his seat on the same table as last time and looked around, eyes searching for Jimin and gleaming when they found the boy walking towards his table with a notepad in hand.

"Hey," Jungkook muttered, taking over Jimin's appearance. For some reason he looked worn out and tired, as if he would collapse if a sharp wind blew over. Jungkook also noticed he had been limping, or maybe it was just his imagination.

"Hello," a sweet voice greeted him back but Jungkook could hear the slight strain hidden behind it. "Same order as last time?"

Jungkook pretended to think for a moment before placing his hands on the table and connecting his intense gaze to Jimin's now wide eyes.

"What's your favourite drink here?"

"Um," Jimin scratched his head with the pen in his hand. "I- I like the strawberry caramel smoothie."

Jungkook tapped his fingers to a random beat. "Then that I shall have. Made by you."

Jimin felt warmth rush to his cheeks as he turned around and proceeded into the kitchen. He was careful with the amount of caramel and sugar, wanting the smoothie to be as delicious as Jungkook expected it to be. Pouring the pink drink into a long glass and placing it on a tray with some tissues, sugar packets and a small jug of caramel in case Jungkook wanted to add more; he set off towards Jungkook's table.

Jungkook was on his phone but he could still spot Jimin walking towards him from the corner of his eye. He also caught the exact time when Jimin tried to shift the weight of the tray evenly to both his hands and ended up wincing. Everything happened in the blink of an eye. One moment Jimin was falling, his eyes screwed shut. The next moment Jimin found himself held by strong arms, holding up his entire weight. His eyes shifted from Jungkook's furrowed brows to the pink liquid and the shattered glass across the floor. Jimin felt his heart leap to his chest as he realized what had happened. Panic rose to his chest and his hands shook.

"Oh no," he muttered to himself. "Oh no, oh no, oh no, oh my God, what have I done-"

"Hey hey," Jungkook gently pushed Jimin onto the chair he had been previously seated on. "Calm down. Just sit here for some time."

Jimin watched as Jungkook grabbed a few tissues off the fallen tray and got to work picking up the glass shards and wiping the smoothie off the floor as much as he could. He put all the glass shards back onto the tray and threw them into the dustbin, returning the tray to the cash register and going back to Jimin.

"I- I'm so sorry. I-"

"It's okay," Jungkook's voice was gentle as he motioned for Jimin to scoot over and sat next to him. "Are you alright?"

Jimin looked up from his hands, his eyes watering at the sight of Jungkook's warm smile. "Huh?"

Jimin couldn't utter a word when he felt himself being turned around to face Jungkook and a pair of warm hands took one of his legs and gently removed his sneakers. He watched silently as Jungkook's eyes narrowed at the sight of the bruises on his foot.

"Jimin? What the fuck happened to your feet?"

Jimin sighed and smiled weakly, pulling his leg away from Jungkook and slipping it back into his sneakers. "Dance practice. I'm okay. This is normal."

Jungkook stared at Jimin for a whole two minutes before the latter stood up, wincing the slightest bit at the pain that shot through his legs.

"I'll wait for you to get off of work. You can't walk home in this state. I'll take you."

True to his word, Jungkook stayed for the next two hours in the café, and Jimin was very touched when he spotted the boy waiting for him in the same position as he had left him. The ride back home was silent. Jimin clutched onto Jungkook's shoulder, his eyes drooping as the exhaustion of the day came hitting him with full force. His grip loosened on Jungkook's shoulder and the latter noticed, using one hand to shift Jimin's arms across his torso and holding them in place so he won't fall off even if he fell asleep.

When they reached Jimin's apartment, Jungkook turned the engine off and gently shook the boy now fully leaning against his back. "Jimin, we're here."

Jimin blinked his eyes open, looking lost for a moment before he realized where they were and quickly pushed himself off of Jungkook's back. "Oh my God I-"

"Say you're sorry one more time I dare you," Jungkook threatened with a teasing grin and Jimin immediately shut his mouth. "There, better."

As he watched Jimin jump off the bike and smile to himself for having landed on his feet, Jungkook couldn't control the smile forming on his own face. Jimin was adorable.

"Thank you so much. So so much. I kept you waiting for so long I'm-"

A playful glare from Jungkook made Jimin realize his mistake and he cupped his hand over his mouth and shook his head with wide eyes. Jungkook felt it then, an odd warmth in his chest, just at having seen Jimin act like a little kid.

"I'll make you another smoothie tomorrow. It's on the house." Jimin spoke as he looked at his shoes and played with the bangs that hung on his forehead. "Good night Jungkook. I owe you big time."

Just as Jimin was about to turn around he felt a grip on his wrist and felt himself being turned around to face the boy who had dropped him home. "You don't owe me anything," he whispered. Jimin pulled his hand up to his face to brush a few bangs away from his eyes, thus bringing Jungkook's hand along with his. The faint smell of lemon, sandalwood and smoke drifted to his nose from the sleeve of Jungkook's bomber jacket.

"Thank you," Jimin whispered back, not able to find his voice as his brain was meddled and messed with by the intoxicating scent of Jeon Jungkook.