Chapter Text
Jimin tilts up his paddle mechanically as he stares at the reflection of the white clouds on the river. The kids’ screeching is shrouded by the lazy purring of the current. The rain has stopped in the morning and now they’re rowing back to camp, the head of the canoe sliding effortlessly and wrinkling the reflection of the bright blue sky.
Jungkook’s canoe leads the way and with the twins, Jimin brings up the rear. With the two girls, he had a hard time coordinating at first, but now they move swiftly without exchanging a word. They’re doing much better than Tim and Eunsang who keep going off course in front of them.
“Watch out!”
Jimin thrusts his paddle into the water but their canoe still bumps into Eunsang and Tim’s for the third time.
“What is it now?”
Tim looks at him with big round eyes.
“It’s not us! Look, they all stopped!”
The canoe pitches when Jimin tiptoes and cranes his neck. He catches a glimpse of Jungkook standing up further down the river. He seems to be helping some kids step out of their canoe and lines them up on the shore. Sighing, Jimin climbs down the canoe and walks down to the shore.
“Why did you stop? We’re still far from camp.”
Jungkook points at a big rock overseeing over the river.
“Rock diving!”
Jimin casts him a disapproving glance.
“Are you crazy? That’s not a rock, that’s a cliff!”
Jungkook shrugs his shoulders.
“The water is deep.”
“I’m not sure it’s safe,” Jimin mutters not to be heard by the kids.
“Since when do you care about following rules?”
Jimin winces. He wonders if Jungkook is still mad about the treasure hunt.
“Let’s have some fun, yeah?” Jungkook says before beckoning to the kids.
Jimin crosses his arms in a sulk, but he’s not sure he looks menacing with the helmets squishing his cheeks.
The cliff is about two meters high, which doesn’t seem like that big of a deal but Jimin knows from experience that once you’re up there, it can feel much higher. He himself wouldn’t dare to jump from there… yet it doesn’t seem to scare away the kids.
Jimin flinches at the first big splash. He shuffles into the water until he’s knees deep so he can help the kids swim back if needed. They’re all wearing life vests so it shouldn’t be a problem… but still, the current is pretty strong.
He grits his teeth as the kids burst into the river one after another, until finally there’s only one left. A gust of wind blows and the sun hides behind a cloud. The water is freezing cold, hopefully none of the kids will get sick.
Rosa is the one that’s left and it looks like Jungkook is trying to encourage her, crouching beside her and even grabbing her hand to jump together. But she pushes his hand away and jumps on her own. She barely takes off and her side scratches the cliff.
Jimin gasps. Her small, weak splash is followed by silence. A wave of panic hits the kids.
Rosa’s head sticks up ten meters down the river. The life vest does a poor job keeping her afloat and the current pushes her away.
Jimin swims towards her. A wave lifts him up when Jungkook dives further down. He swims much faster and brings Rosa back to the shore in no time. Her small hands clutch around Jungkook’s life vest and she’s shaking. So is Jungkook.
Jimin tries to help but Jungkook waves him away. He waits for him to put Rosa down on a canoe to discreetly inspect her. A trail of blood is running down her leg but none of her limbs seem to be pointing at a weird angle.
Her sister rushes to the canoe, hyperventilating.
“This is nothing, dear,” Jimin says calmly. “Don’t worry, your sister is going to be fine.” He addresses the kids who are getting are fuzzy. “Nothing to see here! Everything is fine.”
He strokes Rosa’s arm, but it isn’t her he is most worried about. He’s far more worried about Jungkook.
His face is livid. Rosa winces because he maintains a tight grip on her even after putting her down.
“Jungkook? Get back on your canoe.”
He doesn’t look like he understands a word of what Jimin is saying so Jimin snaps his fingers in front of his eyes.
“Hey, she’s fine. Get back there. The kids are worried.”
Jimin keeps his gaze trained on Jungkook until he gives a curt nod and walks away.
“Look how tough you are!” He strokes Rosa’s cheek and she cracks a smile.
Back at camp, the first aid kit is all he needs to get her back on her feet. She maintains it doesn’t hurt when standing and Jimin is no doctor, but he’s pretty sure she hasn’t sprained anything and doesn’t need any stitches either.
“It was not so terrible, uh?” He hands her a chocolate.
She nods meekly. Jimin casts a glance at the empty space behind him. Jungkook skedaddled as soon as they got back.
“And…Jungkook carried you all the way like a princess. I bet that’s gonna make your friends jealous.”
Rosa blushes. As soon as she’s bandaged up, she runs away with a big smile on her face. Jimin goes looking for Jungkook to tell him she’s alright but he’s nowhere to be seen so Jimin joins his friends by the river instead.
He starts suspecting something might be wrong when Jungkook doesn’t even show up for dinner.
“Has anyone seen Jungkook?” Jimin asks around the table, interrupting a conversation he wasn’t listening to.
A thin silence floats over the table.
“He went straight to bed, said he wasn’t very hungry.” Namjoon answers.
Jimin isn’t very hungry either. He skips the desert and scurries to the dorms to check on Jungkook.
Not that he cares...
He really doesn’t.
When he skims through the dorms, he thinks Namjoon is mistaken at first as he sees no trace of Jungkook.
He pricks up his ear when he hears a sniff coming from the bathroom. He gently knocks on the door.
“Jungkook?” Jimin calls in front of the locked door.
He’s met with silence, but after some time there's some ruffling inside. Jimin shifts one leg and clears his throat.
“Rosa didn’t need any stitches and her knee is fine…Just thought I’d let you know…”
Just when he’s about to leave, Jungkook speaks. Or rather, croaks. It's clear from his raw voice that he's been crying.
“Are you happy now?”
The air grows thin around Jimin. Jungkook’s pain is like a punch in the guts.
“What?”
“Did you tell Namjoon?”
“Told him what?”
Jungkook sniffs. “How I screwed up.”
Another scene flashes in Jimin’s mind–Jungkook pinned against the locker. Red puffy eyes.
“Stop this. She just barely grazed her knee,” Jimin says with a sharp voice.
“She got hurt. Because of me.” Jungkook says.
Jimin resists the urge to bang on the door to burst it open.
“Look. This happens all the time. Last year, a little boy stuck his finger in a door. A toilet door, just like this one. Imagine how much it must have hurt. His nail got all black and fell off, we had to send him back to his family like this. How would you have felt then?”
The only reply he gets is the tearing sound of toilet paper and Jungkook blowing his nose.
“I mean, they get hurt, that’s how they learn.”
Suddenly the door creaks open. Jimin meets Jungkook’s dark gaze glowing in the dark. His hair is disheveled and his lips are trembling.
“Why are you being nice?”
The raw softness of Jungkook’s question hangs in the air. Jimin gulps. Gosh, how is this so much harder than yelling?
“I’m trying to be a good person,” he says and feels ridiculous as soon as he says it.
He lowers his eyes. He really didn’t mean it as a serious statement but the strain in his voice betrays him. Jungkook gives a head tilt that’s hard to interpret and Jimin won’t even try. Whatever Jungkook is thinking, he really doesn’t wanna know.
—
Before the counselors gather to drink, they host a party for the kids for the first week mark. In the lunchroom, they push the tables and chairs back against the walls to clear up the space for dancing.
The kids can either book one week or two in a row, which means some of them are already leaving tomorrow, and some new ones will arrive. Fortunately, most of Jimin’s favorites booked two weeks in a row–and no, they’re not supposed to have favorites, but this just can’t be helped. So Tim will be staying, but not the Filipino twins... Jimin will miss them a little.
Tim seems to share the same feeling, he’s sulking on the side next to the shyest kids who are glued to the stand where Jungkook has volunteered to serve the drinks.
“What’s up buddy? You’re not having fun?”
“I asked Jasmine if she wanted to dance, but she said no.”
“Do you like her?”
Tim nods. It’s a real shame she’s leaving tomorrow, especially given this new potential romance. He’s about to tell Tim he should confess before it’s too late when a racket erupts at the drink stand.
The noise is coming from Eunsang. He is clutching Jungkook’s shirt as the twins try to drag them both to the dancefloor. Jungkook, wide-eyed, does not even budge despite the three kids pulling him.
“We should go help them!” Jimin says, despite being a bit reluctant to go anywhere near Jungkook since their last conversation in the bathroom. "Girls, do you wanna dance?” Jimin asks.
Jungkook’s eyes fly up to Jimin and study him closely. He suddenly feels very self-conscious about his ruffled hair and he prays that forehead isn’t glowing under the yellowish light.
“Yes, but they don’t want to!” Rosa pouts.
“Come on,” Jimin grabs her by the hand and cocks his head. “Pssst!” He widens his eyes at Tim and tilts his head towards Jasmine. Take her hand, he mouths.
But Tim lets Jungkook take his hand instead and they somehow form a round dance, Eunsang joining them too. At first they may look a little awkward, shifting into place at the blasting music, but then they start spinning and hopping and waltzing and Jimin’s concerns fade away. At some point it even feels like they’re practically flying.
It’s not long before Jimin gets breathless. The tune changes to an even more upbeat sound and their round dance gathers speed. Jimin can’t remember the last time he felt so giddy.
Jasmine is especially eager and her firm grip on Jimin’s hand almost hurts. Tim throws moonbeam eyes at her and Jimin can’t let this opportunity fly by. He pretends Jasmine’s grip is too much for him and smoothly switches place with Tim. Naturally, Jimin holds out his hand to the person to his right...
...and freezes when he realizes it’s Jungkook.
The dance round stalls and loses its shape.
He hasn’t really thought this through, did he?
Jimin stares at the gaping hole between them and Jungkook’s gaze drifts to the side, as if to look for help. On Jimin’s left, Jasmine is about to detach from the round dance and before he can come up with another plan, Jungkook reaches for his hand. Their round dance starts up again.
It's a very tentative touch at first. Jungkook holds half of Jimin’s fingers with a grip so light that Jimin would hardly feel anything if his hand wasn’t so warm. Another upbeat song starts and Rosa screams the lyrics she knows by heart.
Jimin is teetering. He’s feeling a little bit dizzy yet not even a tiny bit breathless anymore. He can almost hear himself breathing evenly–in and out, in and out, in and out. Then his breath hitches.
And it’s because Jungkook slides his hand into his, interlocking their fingers. With this firmer grip, they gain more balance.
The rest of the room–the hot stuffy air, the smell of sugar, Tim’s clammy hand–everything fades away. Even the blasting music dims in the background as Jimin solely focuses on the feel of Jungkook’s fingers.
Jimin lets go of Tim’s hand to allow him and Jasmine to detach from the group and other kids join the circle. Curiously, he and Jungkook keep holding hands. They keep holding hands when more and more kids add up around them and they do so until the round dance breaks at the start of a slow dance.
Jimin takes a break on the side, feeling invigorated. He takes a look around and smirks at how cute Tim and Jasmine look, slow dancing together. The boy rushes by his side at the end of the song.
“Did you see that? I have a girlfriend!” Tim gushes.
Jimin gently scratches his scalp. “That’s amazing, bud. Congratulations.”
“I was scared she didn’t like me but she just didn’t want to stay with me in front of her friends! But I used my secret weapon.”
Jimin giggles. “You secret weapon? What could that be?”
“If you want to seduce a girl, call her pretty!”
Jimin crosses his arms and leans back against the table with an amused smile.
Tim smacks his forehead. “...Or a boy!” He corrects himself. “Sorry, I always forget.”
“Don’t worry about that. So let me get this straight. According to you… if I want to seduce a boy, I should annoy just… tell that he’s pretty?”
“Yes! Works every time.”
The corners of Jimin’s lips are aching because he’s smiling too much. At that moment, he meets Jungkook’s eyes across the room and warmth spreads in his stomach. Jimin averts his gaze and resumes his conversation, pretending none of this affects him. Because it really doesn’t.