Sticks and Stones • Park Jimin

xxxii.

Jimin took Tae's hand, and Tae immediately pulled him away from the edge.

"That's better," Tae said, grinning.

Jimin noticed the blood on Taehyung's head. "Did I hurt you?" he asked, horrified.

"No, no way," Tae said, holding his hands up defensively. "Just a flesh wound. Besides, when you fell on my, something padded your blow."

Jimin hesitated before opening up his backpack to find a smushed back of chocolate chip pancakes that his mom had shoved in his backpack that morning.

That was the final straw that cause Jimin to start sobbing.

Tae had seen it coming and he just let it happen, rubbing Jimin's back and letting him cry it out. In some ways, he was glad that Jimin was crying, because that meant that he hadn't given up yet. People don't cry if they've stopped caring. So even if Jimin was in pain, Tae preferred that to an apathetic Jimin who had given up on life.

While Jimin's crying face was buried in Tae's tshirt, the door to the roof opened and the squad came out, stopping when they saw what was going on.

Jungkook was the first to recover. "What the hell is happening?"