It was a relief to finally have someone to walk to school with again.

Jae skipped beside you merrily, checking her reflection in the windows of passing houses as you went.

Although the loneliness had waned some, you were still tired and sad. There were huge black bags under your eyes because you couldn't sleep.

You missed your best friend.

All of this happened just because of Hani! She was the reason for all of it; you would still be inseparable today if it wasn't for her. The thought of her woke up an ugly anger inside of your chest, deep and twisting and consuming, and not normal.

It didn't feel like normal anger..

"Y/N? Are you okay?" Jae had stopped walking to look at you with concern.

Clearing your head, you forced a smile and linked your arm with hers.

"I'm great. Come on, we're gonna be late for school."

The two of you jogged the rest of the way, ignoring the murmurs of students wondering who Jae was as you entered the campus. After checking Jae into the office and reassuring that she had the same class as you, the two of you headed to your room.

"Y/N?" Jae asked as you maneuvers through the crowded halls. "Is that...?"

Following her gaze, you saw Hani smirking up at Jimin, who had his arms wrapped around her waist. Her smile was so plastic that you could see the stiffness from across the hall.

"Yes," you sighed. "That's her."

Jae's nose crinkled up is disgust, bunching up her face in a way that you couldn't help but to laugh.

"Why's he dating a Barbie doll?" she snickered.

At your laughter, the said couple glanced up at you.

Jimin's smile dropped and so did your stomach. Hani strode toward you, dragging her boyfriend along behind her.

"Y/N," she greeted with a false smile. "Who's this?"

Jae stepped in front of you before you could respond.

"I'm Jae," your cousin said. "Who're you?"

Hani laughed and flipped her glossy brown hair. "I'm Hani. Jiminie oppa is my boyfriend." With the words, she wrapped herself around Jimin like an octopus and put her head on his shoulder.

Jae sneered.

"Just a piece of advice, Hani," she said, "For Jimin oppa, the clingy ones are dropped the fastest."

Jae grabbed your wrist and pulled you away from the two. You made contact with Jimin as the two of you separated, a mixture of longing, sadness, and anger flowing between the two of you in an almost visible current. His eyes flashed a little.

You turned your back on Jimin and Hani, lifting your chin and walking with the best cousin in the planet toward your first class.

"I don't like her," Jae whispered to you. "Not at all."

You nodded in helpless agreement.

*

"JAE JAE!"

"HOBI!"

Hoseok and Jae crashed into each other, laughing and screaming at the top of their lungs. You rolled your eyes as you took a seat beside Taehyung at the lunch table. Jae and Hoseok had virtually the same personality, so they had always gotten along really well.

Hoseok pulled up an extra chair beside him for Jae and the two of them began to chatter unceasinglally. Every now and then Jae would send a shy glance at Yoongi, who was once again sleeping with his head on top of his arms. Thank goodness Sehun was absent today; you didn't want o have to explain that mess to Jae.

You noticed Jungkook giving Jae wired looks. Leaning over Taehyung, you placed a hand on his arm.

"Kookie," you said. "You okay?"

"Mm," he hummed.

You were unable to press the subject with him as Hani made a huge show entering the cafeteria, making sure to fawn over Jimin so every girl in the cafeteria knew he was taken.

She made direct eye contact with you.

That ugly feeling bubbled up in your chest again. Your teeth gritted as you worked to hold it in and not let it slide into your expression.

Jimin and Hani sat, and the other boys basically ignored their friend's parasite as they continued in the conversation they had been engaged in.

"You guys have to come over tomorrow night," Jae squealed. "We'll have a mini party! Plus there are some...things...I'd like to see for myself." She gave Yoongi and Jungkook meaningful glances, and both of the boys glanced at you in surprise.

You shrugged.

"We'd love to come," Hani said. Taehyung scrunched up his nose.

"I'm not so sure you're invited," Yoongi said bluntly.

"I know you weren't invited," Jae mumbled under her breath.

Hani simply slipped her arm under Jimin's, latching them together. "We're a package deal," she said. "Where Jimin goes, I go too."

You'd never wanted to hurt anyone more than you wanted to hurt Kim Hani in that moment. You wanted to bust open those glossy lips with your fist and drag Jimin to safety, away from her influence.

She didn't know anything about the boy she claimed to be with.

Jimin was your best friend, your closest confidant. You had been by his side for nineteen years; where was she during all of that time? You comforted Jimin when his mother died, you gave him a home and a family when his was cold and empty. He was the boy who had protected you through school, put band-aids on your scraped knees, and stayed loyal to you no matter which girl he was with at the moment. The two of you were inseparable, your fates so intertwined that they couldn't be told apart.

You were Jimin's safe place.

Jimin was your everything.

You loved him.

The realization hit you with the force of a Mack truck. You sat back in your cafeteria seat, surrounded by people who were oblivious to your internal explosion. You loved Park Jimin. As more than a friend, as more than a brother.

You didn't just love him.

You were in love with him.

Your chair screeched loudly as you abruptly stood, stopping the conversation at the table. Everyone looked up at you in surprise.

"Jae," you whispered faintly. "Could I talk to you for a second?"

Without hesitation your cousin jumped up and grabbed your wrist, dragging you out into the hallway.

"What is it?" she said lowly to you. You made it out of the lunch room and into the deserted hall. She took hold of your shoulders, warm green eyes peering up into yours.

"Y/N," she said again. "What is it?"

"I-I," you couldn't seem to spit out the words.

"I think I love Jimin."

For a minute Jae simply stared at you. You could see in her eyes that she wasn't comprehending the implications of your statement. "Okay. And?"

"No," you mumbled. "I don't think you understand. "I love him."

"Oh." She understood now. Jae released your shoulders, pacing back and forth in front of you. She stopped.

"Y/N. Why on earth did you just decide this now?"

________________________________________________________

Rrrrrrring! Rrrrrrrring!

"Hello?"

Jimin reclined easily in his desk chair and held the phone to his ear. He was glad someone had called; it gave him an excuse not to work on his homework. Usually he would ask Y/N for help, but...

He sighed, not wanting to think about that.

Glancing around his room that was looking more and more lived in thanks to his separation from Y/N, he jumped when a voice over the phone spoke.

"Is this Park Jimin?"

The voice was unfamiliar, deep and authoritative. Something in it made Jimin's spine stiffen.

"It is. Who is this?"

"I believe we met last time, Jimin. We spoke about your mother."

Frowning, Jimin sat up straighter in the chair. With all of the chaos going on lately with Y/N and Hani, he had forgotten about the business card he was given. He remembered the encounter, without fondness. He didn't like the aura given off by the man in the suit that had approached him in the street.

"I remember you," Jimin said quietly. "How did you get this number?"

"That's not important, Jimin," the man said. "You didn't contact us, so I contacted you. There's some information I think you should know about your mother."

"What if I don't want to know?" Jimin asked.

"You'll want to know."

Jimin shivered at the dark implications in the voice.

"Your mother worked with me, as an experimental scientist, Jimin," the man continued on. "She was a lead researcher. When she passed, it was a devastating blow to our progress."

That made Jimin's teeth grind together. "I'm so sorry that her death caused such an inconvenience," he said icily.

"Now, Jiminie," the man chided softly. "Don't be like that."

"Why did you call me?" Jimin demanded. "What's the point of this?"

A heavy sigh floated over the line. "Your mother had some research that was crucial to our project," the man said. "We need it, Jimin, and we need your help to find it."

Huffing, Jimin said,"How am I supposed to help? I wouldn't know anything about that."

"All you have to do is dig around a little," the man instructed.

"I'm sorry, I don't think I can help you," Jimin said firmly.

"It's in your best interest to help us." The stranger's voice grew dark and foreboding, convincing Jimin even more that helping him wasn't a positive thing.

"Please don't contact me again," Jimin whispered, and hung up.

He never heard the soft chuckle and whispered sentence that echoed emptily in the other end of the line.

"As you wish, Jimin. You'll regret this."

❤❤❤

❤PB