yoongi frowned, scanning the room in search of jimin. worry seeped in as he excused himself through the crowd, walking towards hoseok, who was leaning against the wall near the kitchen doorway, watching his party in motion.

"hoseok," yoongi called out, earning the boy's attention.

hoseok looked up, giving yoongi a smile. "hey, babe." he greeted. yoongi could barely hear what he had said and decided to assume that he'd just said hi.

"have you seen jimin?" yoongi yelled, leaning in closer for hoseok to hear him more properly.

hoseok looked up, rubbing at his chin thoughtfully. he then grinned at yoongi, "oh, um, yeah," he replied. "last time i saw him, he was being dragged upstairs by this guy, and..."

"what?" yoongi shouted, eyes widening.

hoseok winced. "oh, right, you're his boyfriend..." he hummed, "well, you better hurry, buddy. i was nearby when jimin was being dragged upstairs and if i'm not mistaken, i overheard the dude tell him, 'let's have some fun' and jimin was laughing his fucking head off. dude must've taken it as a yes."

"why didn't you stop them?" yoongi screamed, almost angrily, his head hurting, deep frown on his face. "fucking hell..." he ran his fingers through his blue hair, gaze averting towards the stairs. he slightly nodded at hoseok, excusing himself through the crowd once more and running up the stairs once he reached them.

hoseok sighed.

- - -

rushing up the stairs, yoongi looked around, quickly assessing his surroundings. there were about four rooms. at the end of the hall, a line was forming behind one of them- it was the bathroom. as he walked by the other three rooms, his heart raced. a loud, struggling voice suddenly screamed from inside one of the rooms,

"no! fuck you!"

yoongi groaned. it's jimin.

he ran towards the middle door, slamming it open, his head spinning. "jimin, are you-" he blinked, feeling his furious expression tone down, turning blank.

what the fuck.

the situation- well, the situation... it wasn't what he had expected. jimin was there, sitting on the floor, four red, plastic cups piled up next to him. he had one in his hand, hair messy, groaning as he scratched the back of his head. he looked wasted, to say the least, an unreadable expression plastered on his face. what was it- annoyance, confusion, blank, flustered? or all at the same time?

in front of him sat a shirtless guy, on the floor as well, only he wasn't seated as comfortable as jimin was. he looked quite awkward, in fact, considering that the room was quite cold and he didn't have a fuckin' shirt on. yoongi couldn't recognize him- he looked like a sophomore, yep, yoongi definitely didn't know who he was.

between the pair was a jenga tower- yes, they were playing jenga. from the looks of it, and from the previous yell from jimin, the unknown guy had taken his turn and jimin didn't know what to do.

noticing yoongi standing there, the pair's eyes land on the mint blue haired boy.

"yoongi hyung!" jimin smiled.

"this really wasn't my idea of fun." the stranger remarked in a monotone voice.

yoongi frowned, pointing at the door, glaring at the stranger, "out." he demanded, voice booming.

the stranger shrugged, picking up his discarded shirt nearby and scurrying out the door.

yoongi sighed, closing the door behind him, slowly turning to jimin, who was now staring blankly at the still tower.

"jimin?" yoongi quietly said, walking towards the boy and sitting in front of him, on the cold carpeted floor. "are you okay?"

jimin's gaze averted towards yoongi and yoongi didn't really know why, but as he stared into the younger one's eyes, all he felt was dejection. jimin wasn't exactly bearing a sad expression. it was still blank. despite that, yoongi felt as if jimin were hiding something. another side of him, perhaps?

yoongi narrowed his eyes, noticing jimin's puffy eyes and slightly runny nose. "jimin, have you been crying?" he slowly asked, watching as jimin's slow nod in response turned continuous as he sniffled. yoongi inched closer, wrapping his arms around jimin, the latter burying his face into yoongi's chest. "i'm sorry for leaving you, the bathroom line was quite long."

"it's fine," jimin muttered into his chest.

yoongi felt jimin slightly shaking, tears staining the front of yoongi's shirt, but he couldn't care less. he caressed jimin's back, silently listening to jimin's muffled sobs, and they sat there, just sat there, for god knows how long. with yoongi muttering 'it'll be okay' every now and then, even though he isn't exactly aware of why jimin was acting this way- he had a few ideas, but all that mattered was getting jimin to feel okay. to feel safe. to feel comfort.

yoongi slowly loses track of time. after a few minutes, perhaps- which felt like centuries- jimin pulled back, using his sleeve to wipe his eyes. yoongi stared as jimin brought his knees against his own chest, staring at the floor.

"are you okay?" yoongi said, worry in his voice.

jimin chuckled, voice raspy as he said, "i think. maybe. thanks."

"do you... wanna talk about it?"

yoongi scooted towards jimin's side, the left to be exact- with the surprisingly still-standing jenga tower on jimin's right.

jimin rested his head against the top of his own knees, turning his gaze to the side, at yoongi. "if you're okay with it, i sort of want to."

yoongi nodded. "go ahead."

jimin sighed, staring up ahead, at the door. "he broke up with me."

yoongi frowned. he already knew that.

jimin, as if reading his thoughts, decided to clarify, "you know, three days ago, when i asked you to be apart of this whole... th- whatever this is?" yoongi nodded in response, jimin could see from the corner of his eye. "i mentioned the breakup like it was nothing. maybe it's not nothing. why was it so easy back then?"

yoongi gulped.

"he broke up with me," jimin coughed, "in the sense of- wow. after 3 years. of being together. he just ended it, i'd say he ended it as if it were nothing, but it wasn't nothing, at least to me it wasn't."

"sorry... about your breakup."

"don't be sorry, you didn't do anything," jimin laughed lightly at that, "hmm. three years. three years, three years. it all started, you know, we were childhood friends and he told me he wanted to test it out. what was he- curious, i think, back then? after our first anniversary or whatever, he told me he liked me." jimin frowned at the thought. "it's funny. now that i think about it, after our three year mark, he never did say 'i love you.' i did at some point. but he didn't care. maybe. probably. who knows."

yoongi sighed.

"he's shit, anyway. i'm shit, too."

yoongi remarked, "well, you do look like shit."

jimin laughed hysterically at that and yoongi cringed. "i feel like shit," jimin shrugged. "anyway, it doesn't really matter now, does it? he's still straight after three fucking years of whatever we had. he's probably off fucking some girls, but now he knows i don't need him- i really don't, now that i have you."

yoongi flinched. "but-"

"yeah, i know," jimin cut him off, "we're fake dating. yeah. sorry."

"it's fine."

silence engulfed the room. it felt like an eternity before anyone moved. jimin turned towards the jenga tower, tilting his head to the side at the sight. "three years," he flicked the middle part, making the tower fall, a small noise produced from the pieces crashing against the carpeted floor. "all gone." he turned to yoongi, who sat there, motionless, staring back at jimin's eyes.

yoongi said nothing.

after a moment, jimin sighed, deciding to play with the ends of his hair. "you know why i picked today for this whole... jealous thing?"

"no," yoongi replied, "um. because it's hoseok's party...? and your ex would've most likely been here, which he was?"

jimin hummed, "maybe." he looked at yoongi, slowly leaning in, gesturing for the older to lean in as well, as if they were to share a secret like how two five year olds would. yoongi raised a brow, leaning in, nonetheless.

"it's- it was supposed to be our fourth anniversary today." jimin whispered, slightly stuttering.

yoongi pulled back, eyes slightly wide, a worried expression on his face. "jimin, you-"

jimin leaned back, chuckling. "yeah," he said, absentmindedly. "what did i do wrong, hyung?"

"nothing, baby," yoongi leaned in, kissed jimin on the temple and sighed. "it's not your fault. seriously, it's his loss for letting you go."

jimin smiled at that, "thanks," he said. "sorry." he shook his head, "the breakup... it just... really got to me."

"i'm sorry. about it. the br- the thing."

"don't be."

yoongi scratched the back of his head, "i don't know what else to say."

jimin smiled, "just don't say anything. it's fine. listen to my rambling, leave me alone, i don't know," he sipped on his drink, "i was hurting him. earlier. you didn't see it, obviously, but he was frowning at us. hope he knows what i feel. heck, i'm hurting myself. ever since i agreed three years ago, in fact. i knew, somehow, this wasn't going to end well."

yoongi took the red cup from him, jimin staring, shocked at his action. yoongi downed it in one go, wincing at the flavor. "fucking hell. you drank, like, six of these." he threw the cup at the pile nearby, turning to jimin. "listen. i don't... i don't know how to make you feel better. but," yoongi sighed, "i'm here. for you. this operation may be over, but hell, i'm still your friend. so, discard him from your thoughts."

jimin stared at him.

"so," yoongi took a deep breath, "what can i do for you?" he asked, staring right at jimin's brown eyes.

it had taken a moment of silence for jimin to respond. the corners of his lips tugged up into a small smile, opening his mouth to respond, almost inaudibly,

"help me forget."