SEVEN

"You...."

"Shh, it's fine." I say, still patting the cold compress against his bruised cheek. "Jimin, not going to lie. This might take a bit of time to go away."

But instead of answering, he breathes out shakily and hurriedly reaches for his collar. And then he tugs it upwards, to cover the circle brand made around his neck.

His slave mark.

My lips tighten.

"W-What happened to him?" He says quietly, and I sniff in distaste. His eyes have opened now, focusing on my expression.

"I left him half-dead back in there." I say, licking my bottom lip. "Jimin, you scared the hell out of me. I thought you were dead."

He blinks slowly, before looking down to avoid my worried gaze. His silver eyes are full of shame, and I sigh.

"Jimin." I say, my voice firmer. He looks more exposed and vulnerable than I'd ever seen him, and even more when I motion at his wounds. "You're healing. It's unreasonable to be ashamed of yourself."

"I can't."

"Huh?"

"I'm going blind." He whispers, and I'm surprised when I feel his hand cover mine. He squeezes his eyes shut almost painfully. "I'm becoming a mess."

"Then we can be a mess together." I say, an encouraging smile on my lips. "Remember? It doesn't matter if I can take someone down. I can't handle a damn ant—"

I realize I'm starting to ramble.

My voice quickly fades away when I notice him looking at me with this look.

And it confuses me, because I can tell apart all the emotions someone had ever given me and I can't tell apart the one that he's giving me right now.

"Seven?"

"Oh, yeah?" I squeak out, still trying to understand. I've never seen anyone look at me the way Jimin's looking at me now, and it's very confusing.

"Will you come here?"

"Huh? Y-Yeah, you need something?" I say, stuttering for the first few times in my life as I draw closer. "Does it—"

And then his hand is wrapping around the back of my neck, pulling me into a kiss.

He tastes sweet.

His hand grips my upper arm, and I shift onto the bed. My fingers dig deep into his dark locks, and I feel his hand find my hair the same time I find his.

We break.

A smile splits my lips when I see his silver eyes roam my face wildly, the fire from before replaced with shock and hesitation.

He's the same after all.

"What?" I whisper lowly into his ear, smile deepening when I see a hot blush warm his cheeks. "Is that it, Jimin?"

His eyes widen when I tug down the collar he'd pulled back up earlier.

"Don't hide this." I say, looking down at the thick band engraved into his skin. His hand instinctively twitches by his side when I expose the mark— his habit to keep it hidden.

I hold back his hand, a smirk on my face. It makes me feel even more that way when I see him suck on his bottom lip, still looking at me with wide eyes.

"It's honestly beautiful."

__________________________

"Jimin!"

"Yeah— hyung, I'll be right there." And then he does it again, completely pretending like he hadn't heard me. Just like that, he slides past my stunned figure and towards Yoongi.

He's definitely avoiding me.

And it's confusing as heck.

I just didn't understand. Did he forget everything that had happened last night? Did that little idiot have amnesia I didn't know about or something?

Finally breaking out of my trance, I sigh loudly and turn to him again. He's not even facing me, always keeping his head slightly slanted the other way so I can't really see all his face.

"Yah. Park Jimin."

But he doesn't even move. The confusion turns a bit to hurt, knowing that he's perfectly in hearing range. And he'd definitely heard me call him out too.

Yoongi looks at me in curiosity, lifting his head from the arm of the couch. And then he looks to Jimin, who shows zero signs of having even known I was there.

"Hey, Chim." He says, and I press my lips together when Jimin suddenly stands up. "Seven's calling—"

Anger flames through me when he leaves, the door clicking shut behind him. Yoongi gets a puzzled look on his face, and that's the last thing I see before I get out of there, too.

Fine.

If he doesn't want to talk to me, whatever. That's his problem.

Growling in frustration, I leave for the training room to take out my anger on a punching bag. And I'd even saved his sorry self just yesterday here!

The room's empty when I come in.

"Bipolar idiot." I breathe as I jerk my jacket from my shoulders, tossing it against the press. "Damn. What's his deal."

The sound of my fist hitting the sand-filled bag echoes loudly against the walls, and I drive harsh kicks and blows into its side until I feel a bit better.

And then I kick it again, just for good measure.

If he wants to avoid me like that, that's his choice.

I don't care.

_________________________

Okay. I'm offended.

The moment I come into the common room, is the moment that Jimin stands and leaves. He murmurs some pathetic excuse, and I fix a narrow glare at his back.

"Seven!" Jin exclaims from the side, spread out over the couch. I air out my sweat-drenched shirt as I take a spot.

"Did you see Jimin's bruise?"

When I nod, I hear Hoseok hissing put furiously from the opposite corner.

"I swear that guy is too jealous of Jiminie. But then he came into the infirmary looking much worse— so that made me feel real better."

"I still think Jimin hyung did all that. Even if he didn't say it." Jungkook says firmly, crossing his arms together. Taehyung groans in annoyance when he drops his leg heavily on top of his.

"Damn. You're getting fat. Just your leg feels out it weighs more than fifty pounds."

Jungkook sticks out his tongue, muttering idiot under his breath.

Then I realize. They really didn't know I'd done all that— nearly made that Alex guy half-dead? Had Jimin not told the—

The anger I just blew off comes back in strong, rough waves.

Of course. Probably doesn't even want to talk about me at all, hm?

"How's your archery going with Jimin?" Namjoon asks, and I chew on my lip. He blinks when I release a huge sigh.

"Oh. Not good?"

"Terrible, actually." Yoongi says, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms. "I saw. I bet you couldn't even hit anything if it was five inches in front of your face."

I'm about to throw something at his smirking lips when he quickly adds.

"So. What's going on with Jimin?"

"Not. Thing."

But when Yoongi raises an eyebrow and exchanges a look with a skeptical Namjoon, I shake out my hair and stand up from the couch.

"You know what? I'm just going to— going to practice some more."

"Noona?" I hear Jungkook call out, and shake my head softly when he offers with wide eyes. "I can help you if you'd like. With archery, if Jimin hyung's not will—"

"It's okay, Kook."

Once I'm out, I angrily walk down the hall, kicking at the dark floor knowing nobody could see me. If I could just get hold of that frustrating idiot, then I'd literally—

"That blind? Obviously not."

My ears perk up at the sudden harsh whisper. It's coming around the corner, and I narrow my eyes as I listen closer.

"Park Jimin? Isn't he first rank, though?"

"Not anymore. What's he going to do now? He can't even fight right."

Jimin?

Then I recognize the voice— the same person I'd completely lost my mind over back at the training room. Alex something, who gave a damn.

I walk around the corner, to see him and two other.

He looks up in shock, and I just tilt my head back at him with a small smirk.

"You really just can't keep your mouth shut, hm?"