Sticks and Stones • Park Jimin

xxxiv.

Jimin sniffled and shifted slightly so he could see Yoongi. "Who...are you?"

Yoongi sighed. "We met the other day. When you had your meltdown."

"Yoongi!" Tae snapped, his voice uncharacteristically sharp. "Not the time!"

Yoongi just frowned. "Not the time? For what? You can't fix things without breaking them first, Taehyung. And Jimin's already got most of the breaking out of the way." Yoongi shifted his eye contact from Tae to Jimin, and his gaze softened. "But you've stood there. You've seen the view. It's not one you need to see again, okay? Trust me. You don't want to go back to that place."

Jimin bit his lip, his eyes wet and puffy. "B-but I don't know where else to g-go."

Yoongi went over and tousled Jimin's hair. "Yeah you do. Or you'll figure it out. Everything gets worse before it gets better."

"B-but you don't g-get it, they won't stop, they never stop, and I can't-"

"You can't take it anymore?" Yoongi didn't sound sympathetic. Instead, he sounded like he was reading out lines from a textbook, written facts that didn't change no matter who they were about. "Yes, you can. And you're going to have to. Because a lot of people want to see your face tomorrow, and the day after that, and the day after that. No matter how many people don't want you here, there will always be those who do. The pancakes in your backpack. Someone made those for you, right? Someone loves you enough to put chocolate chips in your pancakes. I'm not saying everyone will love you enough to do shit like that. But there will always be someone."

Yoongi sat down on the ground next to Jimin, crossing his legs. "And, yeah, bullies suck. But they're human too. They're just people who are suffering in a more private way than you are. And, yeah, it sucks that they make themselves feel better by making you feel worse, but they don't know how to fix their pain either."

"Are you saying...I'm supposed to let...Kyung-soo bully me...forever?" Jimin asked, choking slightly. Just the thought of a lifetime of Kyung-soo's face made Jimin's head involuntarily turn towards the edge of the roof.

Tae caught his glance and quickly shifted, blocking Jimin's view while glaring at Yoongi.

"No," Yoongi said, staring at Jimin like he'd just suggested that Yoongi die his hair a ridiculous shade of mint. "I'm just saying, there's a reason this kind is being an asshole to you. But no, you're not supposed to just let him bully you."

"Then what am I supposed to do?" Jimin asked, shoving his palms into his eyes and rubbing hard. "And it's not like I haven't tried to stop it. It's just pointless."

Yoongi cocked his head to the side. "You know how they say violence is never the answer?"

"Yeah?"

"Violence is the answer. What's this kid's name? What class is he in? Where does he li-"

Tae shoved his hand over Yoongi's mouth. "You're going to get him suspended or expelled!"

Yoongi swatted Tae's hand away. "I didn't say Jimin had to do it. There's, what, six of us, not counting our little almost-jumper?"

"Don't call him that."

Yoongi ignored Tae. "Like I said, six. We can handle one kid."

"Yoongi?" Jimin's voice was soft.

"Yeah?" Yoongi looked at the crying boy. "What?" He cleared his throat, realizing that his words had come out harsher than intended. "What is it?"

"Were you bullied?"