Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Yoongi saw it coming the moment his friends decided to go trick or treating, it’s an annual event they parttake in, even though they are older than the average person walking around in their area. Last year it was a little boring, too easy. Going from door to door together, they each had the same amount of candy that literally took them no effort to receive. This year, the youngest boyfriends want something more exciting, something more fun. That’s why they come up with the idea of going trick or treating on their own, which means that you can’t go to a house someone else has already gone too. The person with the smallest amount of candy obviously loses and has to do the penalty they set before starting. Honestly, the man, dressed completely in black with whiskers painted on his nose, couldn’t care less about the game. If he got one piece of candy out of their Halloween night, he’d be more than happy.

With the others excited about this new challenge to their night, Yoongi just agreed. He’d rather go into that haunted house, than deal with his sulking lovers. Walking around with a walkie talkie, to keep each other posted on the houses that are off limits, he slowly makes his way to the far end of their area. At least there he’ll be able to score some candy before his youngest boyfriends steal everything in front of his nose, while laughing at him for once again not being as cunning as they are. Looking around he sees so many different costumes, from Scooby Doo’s Shaggy, to Uncanny Counters, from witches to typical blanket ghosts. Some small children bump into him, apologise quickly, then turn around and run away while giggling loudly. It endears Yoongi to see how much people like celebrating Halloween and completely lose themselves in the atmosphere of the holiday. To him it’s a day like any other, the fact that he put some effort in his costumes each year is a miracle. He doesn’t like dressing up, being himself is already too much of hassle sometimes, imagine being someone else for a day. Last year he put on some bunny ears and drew teeth under his bottom lip, the year before he went out dressed in his leather jacket with a scar on his face and told everyone he was a street fighter. None of them complain, they know this isn’t Yoongi’s cup of tea, and it’s not as if they’d hold costume contests, because if they did, he would most definitely lose.



The minute the men had decided on sending the loser to their little competition to investigate the town’s haunted house, he knew he’d be the one standing in front of it. All of his friends, except for Jungkook, are scared of ghosts, so of course they were going to fight to the bitter end to not have to enter that home. As second eldest and one of the two people who isn’t scared of the supernatural, he decided then and there that he would lose. Not that it’s a hard task for him, he literally couldn’t be bothered to shout ‘trick or treat’ over and over again and pretend to be excited about it. He also knows that he can’t count on Jungkook to take on the penalty, seeing as the boy loves his candy too much. For someone so buff, he is also very much addicted to anything sweet. Looking around for the other five men, he finally arrives at the end of the street. It’s considerably calmer here, which is good for him seeing as these are also the houses that just put a basket with candy outside in order to participate but not be disturbed, this also means that Yoongi is free to take as much candy as he wants. As an adult, celebrating amongst little kids he decides to not be greedy and only take two at each house, he wants to have at least a little stash of sweets and this is the only way to do it, seeing as he made the smart move of going to the one place no one else has gone to. House numbers are coming through the speaking device quickly, which informs him that the others are quickly getting closer to him.

An hour later they have gathered at the corner of the main road. A black cat, a prisoner, a pumpkin, a skeleton, Jack sparrow and a vampire are standing in a circle, counting their loot, trying to secretly steal from each other in order to gain some last-minute candy and therefore win their Halloween competition.

”Tae, you might be my boyfriend, but I will slap your hand if I see it near my bag again”, Yoongi grumbles, “and that counts for the four of you too.”

”And here I thought you loved us.”, Taehyung responds back, biting back the loud laughter that is threatening to escape from his lips.

”I do, that’s why I haven’t hit you yet and why I am saving you from a meeting with Casper the friendly ghost.”

”Who says you’ve lost Yoongi?”

”I did, Joon hyung. Do you really think I’m going to send any of you in that house when you can’t even watch ‘The princess and the frog’ without freaking out over Doctor Facilier and his shadows?”

”Did we see the same film?! That dude was seriously creepy and his shadows were even worse!”, Tae shouts, “I am never watching that film again!”

”Riddle me this, if you can’t even stand a children's film, then how are you going to deal with a possible haunted house? One creaking staircase and you’re running out, screaming. I don’t want to put you through that.”

”My hero”, the younger swoons, giving his boyfriend a kiss on his cheek.

Counting the candy does result into Yoongi losing, but not by much. The winner is obviously Jungkook who would do anything for free sweets. Walking up to the haunted house, they all talk about the past hour, what they did to get the most candy, fun costumes they saw and maybe want to try themselves next year. To the people around them, they look like the most relaxed group of friends, but they feel the nervous energy running between them. Everyone is excited to see if Yoongi ends up meeting a ghost, but they are also concerned for him. Being the scaredy cats they are, they have heard stories of evil spirits taking over human beings and consider them to be somewhat truthful, even if they are campfire stories that are probably just plucked out of thin air.

”None of you need to worry. I watched too many episodes of Supernatural and I have my lighter. If the ghost in there is evil, I’ll just find the object he or she is tied to and burn it. Can I ask what the fascination is with this place though. I mean… Sure everyone is aware this house has been empty for quite some time, but I never heard a story about this house that motivated me to explore this place. So,.. I am a bit surprised, to say the least.”

”Exactly for that reason. The house has been empty for a while, but no one really knows how long, we also don’t know who lived here or what happened to them. One day, someone in the city in of Seoul made up a story about an old man, who lived on his own for five years after his wife died and refused to leave that place, because he didn’t want to leave behind his wife’s spirit. When he did die they found him at the bottom of the stairs, hugging a picture frame of his wife.”, Hobi explains, “but googling that house, it never says anything about an old man living on his own. The only thing we could find, thanks to Joon’s amazing detective skills, is that it was a holiday house to an elderly couple living in Ilsan, nothing more. We also found some witness reports of people seeing the diner light go on and off, other people swear they heard the radio and a younger boy says he saw his mum’s favourite movie play on the television. Seems like ghosts love watching The Notebook too.”

”Since when does nothing intrigue you?”, Yoongi asks.

”Yoon! Come on! Can you imagine if you meet that ghost and it’s exactly that, an old man waiting to join his wife, or the complete opposite… What if it’s a young girl playing with a creepy doll, giggling and hopping along. Or maybe it’s actually nothing and it’s literally just a holiday home? Are you not curious about any of it? Maybe we can convince you that ghosts are real.”, Namjoon jumps excitedly up and down.

”If I see a ghost, it won’t be you convincing me ghosts are real you know, it’ll be the ghost.”

”But it’s our idea Yoongi.”, Jin winks.

”Don’t tell me you’re in on this too.”

”Of course I am equally as intrigued. Come on ‘Mr – I’m – not – scared – of - any – ghost’, it’s time for you to go inside. Unless you don’t want to of course. We are not going to push you into a situation that might potentially be dangerous if you don’t want to.”, Jin holds Yoongi’s hand, seeking comfort in his touch. It’s clear, that as the eldest and therefore the most responsible one, he is always going to be the one to give him a way out of certain situations.

”As I said, I’m not scared and I have my lighter with me. Give me some time okay, if it’s a shy ghost they might not appear in the first five minutes. If it’s evil and wants to kill me, I’ll need time to vanquish it.”, Yoongi chuckles, finding himself very funny, his boyfriends just roll their eyes.



He parts from his partners with a kiss on each of their cheeks, then he turns around and walks straight up to the house. The tree over the house is completely dead, just like the human inside, Yoongi thinks. The flower pots on the window sills have been empty for quite some time. Yoongi likes to imagine that they, once upon a time, were filled with the most colourful flowers, but if this house was actually inhabited by an old man, they probably weren’t. Standing in front of the door, he doesn’t really know what to do next. Does he knock? Does he just walk in? You don’t want to alert an evil spirit you’re about to walk into their home, but you also don’t want to scare a nice ghost to death, if that’s even possible. What if the door is locked? Does he just turn around and disappoint his boyfriends or does he kick the door in? Maybe find a window that’s open? Before he can overthink the situation, he goes with what his parents have thought him. Politeness was always something they expected from him, so knocking on the door seems the logical choice. There is no reply, not that Yoongi expected one. He then reaches for the old and very rusty doorknob, hoping it’ll give away instantly, which it doesn’t. Why would it, he wouldn’t allow strangers into his house either. Yoongi pushes the door a little and when it seems to move a little, he pushes harder. Bumping his full weight against the door is what does the trick, the door creaks open loudly, revealing an old looking living room, that has dust collecting all over the furniture. Walking in, he sees a lot of old pictures that contain an elderly couple, the wallpaper looks to be yellowish from old age, but in the dark it’s not that clear, the tv that is hanging on the wall seems to be more modern than everything else he has seen so far and the amount of candles placed all over the living room is insane. If he were to count them, he’d be busy for a long time. Quickly, he takes his phone out of his pocket and starts making pictures as evidence that he actually went in. With every step he takes, the floor creaks. Yoongi decides to walk around carefully. The last thing he wants to happen to him is ending up in the basement floor with a broken neck, because the floor gave out.  

Minnie never expected to be locked up in his house, on his own, for six months. Isn’t he a little too old to be grounded? He also didn’t expect for his door to be violently opened near midnight, at what people believe is witching hour, by a guy in a terrible cat costume. Seriously, he didn’t even have ears and aren’t those essential to cats. He also didn’t expect for that guy to just walk around in his home as if he owns it. The boy never liked introducers, especially not one’s who couldn’t be bothered at celebrating Halloween properly. Minnie never really had the opportunity to play dress up for any occasion, let alone Halloween, so he doesn’t understand why this person in front of him, who has the privilege of dressing up, isn’t even grabbing the moment with his two hands.

Minnie isn’t the kind of person who loves to scare people, he is always someone who tells people of his plans in order for them to be prepared. Being uncomfortable or scared is not something he wants others to be, especially not around him. His aim has always been to be someone’s safe space, a person people can talk to and tell him whatever is bothering them without being judged. Yet… Seeing this guy walk around on his property, uninvited, during witching hour and on All Hallow’s Eve… The man must expect some sort of creepiness if he enters a house that people believe to be haunted. Maybe this year, Minnie can have his own Halloween, just this once, before he doesn’t have the chance anymore. Quietly, he makes his way through the shadows, to the door that the man in front of him left open and gives it a slight push. The door closes loudly, moving dust around, clicking back in the lock. The cat looks at the door, then lifts his shoulder and continues to look at the pictures of the elderly couple. How disappointing, he didn’t even react a little. Minnie is not one to quickly give up so he takes a few steps and flicks the light switch on. Seriously, the fact that this cat guy hasn’t even tried on the light baffles the boy standing in the shadows. This also tells him that the person in front of his would definitely be dead first in horror movies. When the guy looks up to the light in the middle of the room, Minnie switches it back off. Once again, the guy isn’t impressed. The man just turns on the light on his phone and mumbles something about old houses and their quirks. Slowly he is getting irked, why is this guy so unimpressed by everything. Time for the next step! With the curtain being right next to him he decides to shake it a little, unfortunately that doesn’t even get a reaction out of the man, so he grabs it and opens it. Again, the cat just looks unimpressed and goes “must be the wind”, before making his way to the massive, mahogany bookcase. Without thinking too much about it, Minnie runs to it and pulls a book out of it with one quick movement. A thud rings through the house, indicating the book has landed on the floor. The guy picks it up, looks at it and puts it away. The boy has no clue which book he took, but he can’t remember there being any bad books in that case. He bought most of them after all. Or maybe this guy isn’t into romantic teen stories, which would make him boring and that would explain why he doesn’t even react to any of Minnie’s attempts to scare him. It’s not that he isn’t scary, it’s that the other man just isn’t fun. Not ready to give up though and throw away his chance in celebrating Halloween, Minnie decides to make another move. Crawling through the shadows to the tv, he turns it on. The last show he watched was some American comedy he didn’t find all that funny, but right now they are just trying to sell him stuff. The dressed – up man just looks annoyed by that and turns the tv off, so of course the boy in the shadows turns it back on. Once again, the man finds a logic reason for this occurrence, something about wires being wrongly connected, but Minnie isn’t ready to give up. So once again he turns on the tv and switches channels. The man just turns off the tv, hits it on the top, hoping it helps the issue. What’s it with people hitting devices that do not work the way they want to?

An annoying sound starts to fill the room, Minnie tries to find where it comes from, but he also doesn’t want to give himself away just yet, maybe not at all, depending on what the guy does next. Taking a phone out of his pocket he presses the answer button. Slapping himself in the head, Minnie winces a little. He should have known, but he has totally forgotten about mobile phones. He hasn’t seen one in six months, let alone used one, it’s easy to forget something when you don’t have any need for it.

”Hi… Stop worrying. So far there is nothing here. Oh, you saw the light go on. No that wasn’t me. Probably some faulty electrical wires in the house. The tv turned on and off too, but nothing else happened. I promise you… No no, you don’t have to come in… I’m seriously fine… Yes Kook, I’m taking pictures, but the house isn’t much, just old… An old man did live here with his wife, but who says they died here? Yes yes, I won’t take too long anymore. See you soon. Yes yes, love you too.”

With that he hangs up the phone, once again his face is bored, although Minnie swears he sees a little spark of something in his eyes. Curious about who is able to make this very boring man a little more interesting, he walks back to the window and notices five guys huddled close together, trying to stay warm while the wind is blowing leaves around them and whipping their hair up and down. Who are they? Friends? Brothers? Classmates? Co-workers? Wait, you don’t love your colleagues or classmates. Brothers? They seem close in age though. That poor mother, she must have worked hard for a few years. he hopes her sons treat her well. Then he focuses back on the guy in his house and decides to do something bigger. Floating candles must scare the man, right? Wrong. He just grabs one of them and puts them on with his lighter. Minnie blows the flame and watch it disappear.

Yoongi doesn’t have a proper explanation for the floating candles, but maybe it’s that gust of wind he has been feeling around him. Putting his hand in the pocket of his trousers, he takes out the lighter and puts on the candle. Suddenly a set of eyes and pillowy lips catch him of guard.

”BOO!”

Yoongi screams, drops the candle, places his hands over his heart to calming himself down, looks around for that floating face, then notices the flames slowly burning the very wooden floor and steps on them, watching them slowly disappear, then prays to whatever deity is out there for not letting him burn to death and decides he will never ever have wooden floors but tiles seeing as they don’t catch fire all that easily, because no way is he living through this a second time and with how clumsy Namjoon is, that would definitely be an option. Only then does he give himself a minute to catch his breath and calm down.

”Is anyone here?”

No one answers, nothing happens, the house stays empty and dark. Yoongi thinks he imagined it, until he hears a soft, muffled giggle.

”You can come out if you want to. I’m not going to hurt you.”, Yoongi tries again.

A shuffling sound fills the room and stops again. Looking around he still sees no one, but by now he is convinced there is someone with him.

”I’m sorry.”, Yoongi hears softly, still a few feet away from him, “It was very mean of me to scare you like that.”

Yoongi registers a soft, very melodic voice. It’s warm and gentle, the kind of voice that is rare and it causes goosebumps to erupt all over his skin.

”It’s nothing. Looking back on it, it is kind of funny. Did you also close the door, switch on the light, move the curtain, throw the book and turn on the television?”

”I might have.”, a giggle once again reaches him.

”How come I can’t see you?”, Yoongi asks.

”Because I can decide who can see me and who can’t. It takes a lot of energy though, for me to appear to people. Also, sometimes, when the light of the moon falls right and you pay attention to your surroundings, you might see an outline of someone, but people often don’t pay attention… I do tend to stay out of the light though, my privacy is very important to me. Someone might surprise me, you just never know with people, but in general I’m safe as long as I stay in the dark. With how you were focussed on anything but your surroundings, I could have shown myself and you wouldn’t have even noticed.”

Yoongi doesn’t even disagree with that. His boyfriends complain about that all the time. Whenever they have a new haircut, some new clothes or grew a beard, it takes him on average a month to notice something is different about them.

”Would you appear in front of me?”

”Do you want me to?”

”I would love to. I never met a ghost you know.”

”Pfrt, ghost. That’s quite offensive. I prefer, ehm… soul or spirit, because that’s what I am and I have a lot of both.”

”Okay, soul or spirit, do you have a name?”

”Of course I do.”

The cat rolls his eyes unimpressed. How vague can a ghost, sorry soul or sprit, be.

”Can you tell me?”

”No, because if you say my name three times, I’ll be banished to the Underworld forever, without even a trial.”

”Wait, seriously? I’ve never heard of that and I read up on a lot about what happens after you die.”

”Well, mister cat, who is the ghost here, you or me? Also, what is wrong with you?”, the melodic voice asks.

”A lot, but let’s not get into that. Besides, I thought ghost was offensive.”

”It is when it comes out of the mouth of a living person.”

”Right. So, is true? The whole Underworld thing?”

”Honestly, I don’t know. Also saying my name three times? I’m not Bloody Mary or Beetlejuice either, you’re good. It can’t hurt me or you too much.”

”Djeezes... You know what. Just stay in the shadows, you annoying brat. I have enough of that attitude at home.”

”Your brothers are brats?”

”Brothers? I’m a single child thank you very much.”, Yoongi grumbles.

”Huh… Then who are the five people waiting outside my house?”, the spirit asks.

”Oh, they are my boyfriends.”

A smile forms on the cat’s face, that twinkle appears back in his eye. It’s clear he is in love, something Minnie doesn’t know anything about. The one thought going through the spirit’s head is how tiring it must be to deal with five people and love them equally. He can’t even deal with himself on the daily and he is on his own.

”If I tell you my name, will you tell me yours?”

”Sure, I’ll tell you now. My name is Min Yoongi. Nice to meet you Soul in Seoul.”

”You’d think that’d be the first time I heard that, but no. Anyway, nice to meet you Min Yoongi, my name is… oh wait… I haven’t used it in six months… Ehm… Can you take that black book of the top shelf for me? The one with a school crest on?”, the spirit asks.

Standing on his toes, the man reaches for the highest shelf and takes the book the soul refers too. He then reaches it out to the voice in the shadow, who accepts it. While the book is floating and the pages are being turned without being touched, Yoongi just looks around, trying to see the silhouette of the ghost, but with him, or her, standing in the darkness, nothing is visible.

”Park Jimin. Oh, that’s right. That is my name, that’s why I call myself Minnie. How could I forget. Silly me. Okay, let me start fresh. Nice to meet you Min Yoongi, my name is Park Jimin.”

Chapter Text

Yoongi didn’t know what to expect from this entire situation, but he never expected his heart to literally skip a beat. Standing in front of him, was a young boy, a few centimeters shorter than himself, greyish see-through, with the most beautiful mop of shimmering silver hair. Looking at him properly, he notices the pillowy lips that scared the crap out of him earlier, his big, kind eyes and the cutest button nose. The clothes he’s wearing, jeans trousers and a simple sweater, are a little too big on him. His hands are being covered by his sleeves, but when he waves shyly at Yoongi, his fingers peep out from his sweater and oh…my… God… They are the tiniest fingers he has ever seen. The older is mesmerized, smitten and ready to spend all his time with Jimin. He knows he is out of his mind, he’s talking about a freaking ghost, but despite being rational about everything life has to offer, Yoongi has always felt a lot, maybe more than other people. How else will you describe him dating five men at the same time. Love is something he has a lot to give of and right now, it expands to the spirit in front of him, who is looking back at him with curious eyes.

”Close your mouth Min Yoongi, you might catch flies.”, Jimin giggles, placing his tiny hand in front of his mouth, making Yoongi lose his damn mind, “I am either very ugly or very pretty. Your reaction works for both options. So, which one is it? Or are you still not over the fact that I’m a soul?”

”Jimin, the fact that you are a spirit or a soul doesn’t bother me.”, Yoongi replies.

”Sure, tell that to the candle you dropped on the floor.”, Jimin giggles again, his eyes closing into perfect little crescents.

”That had nothing to do with you being a ghost, but you sneaking up on me. I would have been startled by you scaring me as a human too.”, Jimin sticks out his tongue, something that endears Yoongi so much, but if you asked him about it, he would definitely lie and tell you there’s nothing adorable about the spirit’s tiny muscle in his mouth.

”Right… So, which one is it?”

”Which one is what?”, Yoongi asks confused.

”Am I ugly or pretty?”, Jimin looks at Yoongi, face innocent, but eyes challenging.

”Do you not look at yourself in a mirror?”

”Every day. And do you know what I see Min Yoongi?”

”Your face?”

”Nope… Nothing… No reflection. Maybe I’m just a vampire who's not aware that they are yet? Wait until I get hungry. Can I feed on you then?”, Jimin tilts his head.

”I’m not very tasty.”, Yoongi replies.

”Says who? You have veins that contain blood. I don’t need more than that. To be fair, I would have to be careful to not eat too much, because you look very pale. Almost as translucent as myself. Do you even step out in the sunlight?”

”What’s with the twenty question Jimin?”

”You walked into my home mister. You intrude into my life, I intrude into yours. Deal with it. Besides, unlike myself you can walk out of this place if you don’t like it. No - one is asking you to stay.”, Jimin says, his words dripping in sass.

”Wait? You can’t leave? I thought ghosts could roam free...?”

”Ugh… Have you not listened to a word I told you? I. am. not. a. ghost!”

”Right.”, Yoongi scratches his neck awkwardly. How could he forget?

”So, back to question one. Am I ugly? Or Am I pretty? Yooooonnnngggiiiiiii, I can’t see myself, I haven’t seen myself in six months. I totally forgot what I look like. Pleeeaasseeeeeeee.”

”Will you stop nagging if I tell you?”, Yoongi answers annoyed.

”Yes, I will. Promise! Cross my heart, hope to die!”

”You are already dead, how is that going to work?”

”Nuh uh mister Min. Not dead. Yet.”, Jimin looks around, scared that he gave away too fast, too soon, but Yoongi seems so annoyed with him that the words haven’t registered yet.

”You look good. You’re very pretty Jimin.”, the older sighs.

The spirit starts jumping up down, running around the house, disappearing through walls and appearing back through the floor. Something Yoongi notices, when Jimin is celebrating where the cat can see him, is how elegant the boy moves. His movements are fluid as water, Hobi would definitely love that.

”So, now that you’ve confirmed I’m pretty, which is the first time someone called me that, you won’t mind me drinking your blood if I turn out to be a vampire, right?”

”Sure, go for it. Just don’t kill me. My boyfriends wouldn’t be too thrilled about that.”, Yoongi replies sternly, pointing his finger to his boyfriends, who they still see through the window.

”Ai Ai captain!”

”Jimin? Would you mind if I ask you some questions?”

”Oeh, is this Interview with the Vampire 2.0? Can I be Brad Pitt? I mean, I have never seen that film, but I’m assuming they interview a vampire and I do know Brad Pitt is in it.”

”Whatever floats your boat Jimin.”

”As long as we are not on the titanic, I’m sure water is all I need.”

”Oh my god! Can you not!? What is with all the randomness?”, Yoongi grumbles, properly annoyed with the random flow of this conversation.

”Oh, I’m sorry. It’s just… Well, I haven’t talked to anyone in a while now. Not just the six months that I’m a soul… I never really had friends. Talking to people… I don’t really know how to do it, so I just looked up a bunch of randomness throughout the years in the hope of just carrying a conversation one day. I’ll shut up now. Sorry.”, Jimin’s eyes droop sadly, his bottom lip juts out in a pout and his clear imagine starts to slowly disappear.

”No no, Jimin don’t go. I’m sorry. Just like you, I’m not good with people. They definitely send the wrong person into this house. Tae would understand all your references for sure. Jin hyung too. Please, show yourself again, you are too pretty to disappear you know.”

The compliment does the trick. Jimin’s form appears again, his eyes not as sad anymore, but the pout still very present on his lips. Yoongi knows the soul in front of him is going to be the death of him.

”Will you sit on the couch with hyung, Jimin?”

The spirit’s eyes widen. Today has been full of surprises, but this is the biggest one of all and he doesn’t know how to deal with it.

”Hyung? I can… call you that?”

”Well, I assume you are younger than I am. Do you mind telling me your age? Do you remember?”

”I’m not fully sure. I think I was 19. If I’m not mistaken, I was ready to start college in the fall, but then… Well… I’m stuck in this predicament. If now is Halloween, then my birthday has already passed. Sigh, another birthday not celebrated.  I mean, it’s not as big of a deal as missing your coming-of-age birthday, like I did last year… This one is not as special.”, Jimin is just rambling at this point, but Yoongi who is used to some of his boyfriend doing the same thing, is right there with Jimin, picking up every sentence, “I guess I’m 20 now, but if you want to be sure, it says my actual birth date in the schoolbook that also has my name in it.”

Yoongi grabs the books and opens it up to the right page, “October 13th… Your birthday was quite recent. You were right though, you are 20 now. I'm 24. Therefore, if you want to, you can call me hyung, but don't feel forced to do so. We have only just met after all."

”I like that… I never had a hyung…”

”Really, never?”

”No… People who were older, never allowed me to call them that. Unless I've forgotten about that too, but I’m like 80% sure I never had a hyung.”, Jimin says, while trying to rack his brain.

It’s not that the younger has insomnia, it’s just that, for the past six months he didn’t have someone to talk to. All he did was aimlessly make his way around the house and sometimes hold dance parties or film marathons. He didn’t have to think about his past and as a spirit he tends to forget what he doesn’t need. Looking at the elder in front of him, he sees him pat the sofa cushion again. Swiftly, Jimin makes his way through the couch, not realising what he just did, until he notices Yoongi’s eyes widen.

 “I’m sorry! I should have thought twice and walk around the sofa! Hyung, I didn’t mean to scare you again.”, Jimin apologizes.

”No no, it’s okay. I just keep forgetting I’m talking to a ghost. No, spirit, soul. Give me some time, I’ll get it right eventually.”

”I’ll give you all the time you need hyung, or all the time I have left. Anyway, don’t feel bad about it. I’m the one who should be apologizing, I’m just not used to be around humans anymore. Next time, I’ll walk around the couch and be more human.”, Jimin smiles softly, but before Yoongi can tell him he’s fine, the younger continues, “Hyung… I was wondering though… What’s with that costume?”

”This?! Ah, my boyfriends and I went trick or treating. That’s actually how I ended up here.”

”So you can go out and celebrate the best holiday of the year and this is what you come up with?! A shirt, trousers and six lines of make up?”, The younger asks annoyed.

”What’s with the judgement Jimin-ah?”

”Well, I never got to celebrate Halloween, ever… Unless you count tonight where I scared the living daylight out of you. That was fun, thanks for that, but I never got to dress up and go from door to door to collect candy… I guess I just don’t understand that, when you do have the opportunity to celebrate it, over and over again, that you don’t… Don’t mind me though, it’s just my jealousy talking.”,The younger smiles sadly and it breaks Yoongi’s heart a little.

”I’m sorry to hear that. Maybe we can go trick and treating next year?”

”If we can un-stuck me from this place, I would love to, although I might give many people a heart attack… Or I could dress up as a human dressed up as a ghost who wants to be a human or something.”, The boy is already thinking of a future costume, excitement filling his tiny body.

”I do understand why you are upset by my lack of costume, but I only do this for my boyfriends. Going out dressed up isn’t my thing, collecting candy though is, just like spending time with those five boys is. I’ll do everything for them, including celebrating Halloween, but on my own terms though and they accept that. We make compromises, we do both things we like and dislike, in order to see the people we love smile. I put in effort for them, they know I’ll be the least dressed up, we understand we are different, but also appreciate the effort.”

”You are right. It’s the effort that counts. Good job in dressing up hyung. I would also be happy to go out with you looking like that.”

”Thanks Jimin-ah. If you could dress up, what would you go for?”, Yoongi asks, curious about the younger’s answer.

”As a child I always wanted to be a ghost, I think I don’t want that anymore. Six months of this is more than enough. I’m not sure what I would dress up, but it would be something I normally can’t be, like a princess or a fairy or something. I always liked girls dressing-up outfits more fun than boys. Probably because as a boy all your outfits are still focused on being cool and strong, while a girl gets to feel pretty. I’m not cool, I’m a total nerd, but I do like feeling pretty. As a child I never got to experiment with that though. Halloween is the perfect excuse to find yourself in secret.”

”Why would you do it in secret? My boyfriend Jin, he is the eldest of my two hyungs, he loves wearing over the top clothes, but he makes it work. Taehyungie and Jungkookie, my two youngest boyfriends, love wearing jewellery, where Tae’s is more subtle, Jungkook’s are more present, more over the top. Namjoon hyung isn’t all that into fashion, as long as it is comfortable, but his shoe collection is insane. Hobi has a closet that contains everything, from dainty body armours, to intimidating red suits. Myself, I have a few long skirts in my closet that I wear over suit pants to make me look twice as tough. Sure, some people will call it girly, but have you seen me? Do I look like I care? People need to step away from the idea that women are weak. Clothes, jewellery, make – up, it’s all just that. There is no statement behind it unless you put it there. If you ever want to change outfit, let me know. I’ll do my research and see if I can send some different clothes that you can wear.”
 
”You’d do that for me? I’m nothing but a stranger to you?”, Jimin says shyly.

”Not anymore. We know each other’s name and age, I know you never celebrated Halloween and you know that I don’t like dressing up. You also know I have five boyfriends. If you tell me how many partners you have had, I think it’s safe to say that with you calling me hyung and me calling you Jimin-ah, you are no longer a stranger. Do you remember whether you’ve had a boyfriend or girlfriend?”

”No… I mean I do remember, I just never had a partner. Never really had the opportunity to figure out who I was attracted to either. I wasn’t long enough in one place to make friends and get to know someone so well, I'd love to be more than just friends. After a while I just… Stopped trying to make friends and build a wall around me, made myself unapproachable. That hurt less, than having to say goodbye to my classmates who were on the verge of being more, whether it was friends or something else.”

Watching Yoongi listening intently to his every word, never judging him, just accepting him for him, it does something to Jimin. If his heart could beat in his chest, he is sure it would skip more than one beat. Of course, he would find someone he’s somewhat interested in, and attracted to, when he’s on the edge of death and of course that person already has partners. Why would he remotely be interested in Jimin, who’s not even real and might disappear any minute? The only reason the older is still here and listening is because he has never seen a ghost and is curious about them actually existing, the minute he steps out og here, he’ll leave Jimin on his own like everyone else in his life. Sadly, there is nothing Jimin can do about that, except for accepting that he’ll disappear without anyone wondering where he went.

”I hope you don’t mind me saying this or that it’s offensive in any way, but I always thought spirits couldn’t hold or throw things, that that was some movie magic, but it seems as if you mastered it?”, Yoongi asks carefully, not wanting to upset the boy in front of him, who is looking at him with the biggest eyes that are filled with so many emotions, it’s actually pulling on the elder’s heartstrings.

”Ah yes. I watched the movie Ghost too many times when I figured out I was stuck here. If I was one, I needed to learn how to be one to survive whatever this limbo situation is, because I’m not alive, but I’m also not dead… This is like my own personal hell, but it’s also better than actual hell I assume… Watching Patrick Swayze learn how to control his anger and channel it into throwing things, I decided I wanted to do that too. Being stuck in a place without being able to do anything is infuriating. It took me a long a time to do it, but once I got the hang of it, it’s one of the few things I actively remember without having to be reminded of it.”, Jimin tells him, “I haven’t been bored since, which is good.”

”Do you know people think this house is haunted?”, Yoongi asks, “trying to figure out how much the younger is aware of.”

”I mean… It is… I’m not very alive am I… But yes, I know. The day I managed to turn on the light switch, a mother walked by with her three children. She noticed the light, practically screamed her lungs out, grabbed her kids and ran. I felt bad for the mother, it wasn’t my intention of scaring her, but it was also very funny. She came back the next day with her husband, telling him what she saw the day prior in this very high-pitched voice. The guy was like you though, telling her the house was old, probably some faulty wires. He very condescendingly told her ghosts were real and to not be so dramatic. Watching that husband look down on his wife, practically telling her that she had to stop being so hysterical…Ugh, I really didn’t like him. What made me decide to help the mother was when he told her that all women had to stop being so mentally unstable… Hyung, it made me really mad! Why can’t women be afraid of something without being mocked? Fear is a normal thing. So I just, turned the light on an off again, first slowly, then very fast. Then I took some candles and made them float, unlike you he did react to it… The coward just hid behind his wife, crying his eyes out while trying to drag her away from the house, so much for her being the hysteric one in that relationship and then I took out a loose brick out of the wall and threw it out… I guess I created that rumour myself, but aish! Wouldn’t you have done the same?”

”I can honestly say that no, I would not have done the same. I’d just nap through their fight. Seriously, if I were a ghost, I’d just sleep all day peacefully and mind my own business. Life is hard enough as it is, I’d rest up in the afterlife. Besides that is what they tell you to do, no? Rest in Peace?”

”If your dead, yes, but I am not. I might come back. Chances are small, but if I do end up staying alive, then I don’t want to regret anything. That woman needed help, that man needed a lesson.”, Jimin says, stubbornness written all over his face.

”It’s very admirable Jimin-ah. Not a lot of people would have done what you did. You are right, women are not weaker than men for being scared sometimes, in my eyes it makes them even stronger, because they admit to being scared while we pretend that nothing can bother us and then cry about it in silence or break down twice as hard. Did the woman react that day?”

”She just smiled when her husband was losing it. The day after she came back and placed a sunflower on the porch, with a thank you note around it. A few days later, she walked by again noticed the flower was gone and well, ever since that day she comes by every so often to place a flower on my porch. It’s always another one, but I don’t care. I love all those flowers equally. There is never a sign of the husband, so I hope she dumped him, but her children sometimes put flowers on the porch too. I don’t know what she told them, but seeing as they aren’t afraid to walk up to the house, I hope she told them something nice though.”

”Did she ever see you?”

”No, I only show myself to people who walk into this house, snoop around and are seemingly not scared of anything.”, Jimin replies, a little bite in his words.

”Does that happen often?”, Yoongi gets his answer by looking at the spirit who just widens his eyes, presses his lips firmly together and looks pointedly at the elder, “Ah… So no… Just me?”

”Yeah…”, Jimin nods, “I’m not good at letting people in… Besides, why would I when I’m in this predicament… It’s not as if I get to turn into a real boy at midnight when I’m dancing with a pretty girl. What we could make happen though, is that clay moulding scene in Ghost, just give me a body to possess.”

”You must think you are so funny, don’t you?”, Yoongi asks, Jimin just giggles, once again hiding his mouth behind his little hands, his eyes disappearing.

”HHHYYYUUUNNNGGG, are you telling me you don’t want to romantically mould clay with me, while some sappy song plays in the background? I am so offended right now! Go! Leave me be, run to your little boyfriends. I will never measure up to them!”, Jimin puts his hand on his forehead and pretends to faint like all those damsels in distress in those old romantic movies.

”Jimin, my boyfriends are all taller than you, who is the little one here?”, Watching Jimin’s mouth fall open and think of something to reply back to him, Yoongi can’t stop thinking about how much he enjoys the soul's company. The constant bickering, his cute flirting attempts even though it’s clear that the younger has no idea he’s doing it, the randomness in his stories… In that moment Yoongi realises he is happy that he is the one who entered that house, he also realises that he doesn’t want to share Jimin with anyone just yet, not even his boyfriends. Once they get to know the younger, they’ll never leave him alone and Yoongi would never have the opportunity to goof around with him, just the two of them.  

When Yoongi’s phone goes off a second time, the spirit decides to give him some privacy. The silver-haired boy doesn’t know a lot about love, but what he does know is that he doesn’t want to make things awkward for the older man sitting across from him. Standing up, he remembers to walk around the sofa, instead of going through it, then goes up the stairs to his bedroom. Sitting on his bed, he just stares at the door, wondering when he should go back downstairs. How long is Yoongi going to be talking to his boyfriends. Only now does he remember they are still waiting in front of the house, in the cold. He has no clue how long they have been waiting for their partner to come back to them, all the clocks have stopped working a while ago and it’s not as if he can just pop by a store to pick up batteries. Maybe he can ask Yoongi to bring some with him next time he comes by, if he wants to come by again… It’s not as if Jimin is all that special. When he no longer hears Yoongi’s voice, he decides to make his way back to the living room. Opening his door, he walks out without realising the other man is standing right in front of him. Before he can stop himself, he walks straight through his only hyung. It makes him shiver, as if it’s the most intimate touch. The silver-haired boy’s cheeks heat up, his non – existent breath speeds up and for a bit he loses himself in that feeling. He’s always been so careful to not touch anyone, not even the few intruders who walked into the house, took a picture and left. This… It’s as if his heart made a connection to Yoongi’s… He knows that’s not possible, his heart isn’t capable of doing much these days, but it’s still as if he feels the elder, as if some part of him stayed behind in the body of his hyung. Jimin is too scared to turn around, how do you apologise for something that might be perceived as wrong, but feels so right?

Yoongi on the other hand, is clutching onto his heart a second time that night and is standing still, completely lost in his mind. He never expected to feel hot and cold at the same time because a spirit walked through him, he also didn’t think it would feel intimate which is confusing on its own, but he especially didn’t think he would get a look inside the younger’s life. Yoongi doesn’t know how it happened or why, but he is currently stuck in what he thinks is a memory of his newly acquired spirit friend.



”We are sorry sweetie. You know we would keep you if we could. Us telling you that we wanted to adopt you was not a lie. If we had the money to start the adoption process and make your ours legally, we would. Unfortunately, my diabetes medication became more expensive, instead of 240000 won a month to 600000 won. Eomma is still going through all those health check-ups to see why she’s forgetting so much lately and then there’s your medication and future surgery… They found a family with more money, who are willing to take you in for a year until you become an adult. It isn’t the best option, we know, but they are doing it out of some God Complex they are carrying around, which means they love to pretend they care for others and throw money around like it’s nothing to prove how good they are. Normally we wouldn’t condone you using people for whatever reason, but if they are offering... and it is a matter of life or death… Please Jimin-ah, accept their help. We don’t want to see you die. That doesn’t mean, we don’t care anymore. You are our baby. We set up a bank account in your name and at the end of every month, whatever amount we have left, we’ll put on there. Another thing we have put on your name is our holiday home in Seoul. It’s an old house, not all that big, but it has a livingroom, one bed room, a kitchen, a bathroom and a small garden in the front. Once you are an adult, once you leave that family, go there. It’s completely paid off and everything functions. We get it checked out yearly, we’ll keep doing that for as long as we can. Knowing your eomma, she’ll also send you food packages on the regular and if you ever need help, call us. Please, even if we can’t offer you money, we can offer you a cup of noodles and some kimchi, a shoulder to cry on or a good laugh. When we took you in two years again, we never expected to have to say goodbye to you. We are so sorry for failing you.”

The man stops talking and makes his way to a younger version of Jimin, hair pitch black, the cutest chubby cheeks, a bit shorter than he is now, and hugs him close. The young boy hugs him back immediately, holding on to the old man for dear life, begging him to not let him go, that he doesn’t need medication or money, that he doesn’t need the official title of son, all he wants is to stay. Tears are streaming over his cheeks, loud sobs leave his lips, the fear of being left behind triggers a panic attack and while the old man keeps apologising and holding him close, Jimin promises he’ll better, that he can quit school and find a job to help pay for his eomma’s and his own medication.
The vision in front of Yoongi’s eyes changes to a small Jimin, clutching his suitcase in hand, walking to a car, entering it, closing the door, waving to the people he called eomma and appa for two years with a smile on his face. When they disappear from his view, the smile drops and he breaks down completely, harsh sobs being muffled by the soft cotton handkerchief he’s hiding his face in.

Yoongi blinks the memory away, then turns around to find Jimin still lost in his own panic. The older boy quickly wipes away the few tears that escaped his eyes, then calls the younger’s name softly. He slowly turns around, opens his mouth, but Yoongi holds up his hand. It’s clear as day that the spirit wants to apologise, but he’s not having any of it. The elder isn’t hurt, and unbeknownst to Jimin he lived through something so painful, all he wants to do is hug the boy.

”Jiminie? Are you okay? You look a bit pale.”, Yoongi hopes his question makes the younger smile a little.

”Hyung, have you ever seen a non – pale ghost?”, Jimin asks him, rolling his eyes, “I just walked through you and all you can comment on is how I look…? Seriously? Here I am, feeling bad about violating you and you just care about my complexion. Aish… What am I going to do with you?”

”I thought you weren’t a ghost.”, Yoongi smirks, loving to use the younger’s words against him.

”I know I’m not, but seeing as you keep forgetting I thought I’d make it easier on you. I’m selfless like that.”, Jimin smiles, his smile so bright, it’s a complete contrast to the image of the younger boy in Yoongi's head.

”Jimin-ah, I have to go home now, my boyfriends are cold and I have been in here for two hours already. They are tired and to be honest, I am too.”, Yoongi says, not wanting to leave the spirit after the memory he just saw and the feeling only gets worse when he sees Jimin’s eyes fill with tears.

”Hyung, please don’t. Please stay. I don’t want to be alone anymore”, Seeing Jimin’s tears fall breaks Yoongi’s heart in a thousand pieces, “I’m always alone. No one wants me. Do you not want me either?”

”Jiminie, I promise I'll come back. I promise, but it’s late, I need sleep. Tomorrow, when I come back, even if it’s for a short while, I’ll bring you an old phone of mine with a new number. If it’s possible for you to use it, we can talk over the phone, or text each other. Do you need something else? I promise you, I’ll bring it round tomorrow.”

”Can you maybe bring me batteries? None of my clocks work…”, Jimin asks softly, as if he’s asking for the most expensive thing in the world, “I can’t pay you back though…”

”Jimin-ah, a few batteries are not that expensive. Don’t worry, it’s my gift to you.”

”Hyung will come back, right?”, Jimin whispers, taking hold of Yoongi’s pinkie.

”I promise. You aren’t alone anymore Jiminie. You have hyung now.”, The older replies, still watching the translucent hand holding on to him, leaving behind a cold feeling once Jimin let’s go of his arm.

With a smile he takes one last look at Jimin, opens the door, waves at his boyfriends who wave back at him enthusiastically and quickly turns back around to Jimin.

”Do not disappear on me overnight, okay?”

Chapter Text

“Look who decided to show up. Did you become besties with the local ghost?”, Jin asks him, laughing at his own joke.

”Soul or spirit, actually. Not ghost.”, Yoongi replies, inwardly thinking Jimin would be proud of him if he heard him now, “Let’s go home. You must be cold.”

”Wait, wait, wait, wait?! What does that mean?! Soul or spirit? Hyung?!”, Tae jumps around Yoongi, shaking his arm, trying to get him to answer.

”Tae, seriously. It is what I said it is. He’s not a ghost. He’s a soul or spirit. Ghost is offensive apparently. Or it is to him. Let’s go home and tell you more.”

”Do you at least have a picture?”, Jungkook asks, as sceptic as ever.

”I didn’t ask him for a selfie you know. We just talked, got to know each other. I’ll ask him next time. Now if we can go home… I’d rather not tell you in the middle of the street where everyone can hear us. He deserves his privacy too.”, Yoongi says urgently, walking faster than he normally would.”

His boyfriends follow him home, which they reach in record time. As they do every year, they put the retrieved candy in one big bowl, place it in the middle of their livingroom table, make themselves a warm beverage and finally sit themselves down on the couch. Yoongi is transported back in his mind to the moment Jimin walked through the couch and can’t help but smile. Him apologizing so profusely afterwards… His boyfriends are all adorable, but Jimin… He’s cute in a whole different way.

”Can you focus already hyung and just tell us what happened in that place.”, Jungkook says, practically looking bored, yet inwardly being a ball of nerves.

Yoongi starts talking, about how the house seemed empty at first, besides a lot of dust and creaky floorboards nothing was really special about the place. He continues to how then things started to happen, things he could still blame on the fact that the house was old, how he then nearly burned the place down when he dropped the candle he was holding while a face scared him. Next, he explains to them how the voice in the shadows apologised to him for scaring him, how he kept on fooling him with fake information on ghosts and how he thought the five of them were his brothers. This made his boyfriends chuckle, being in a relationship like this isn’t very conventional, they know that.

”Then he walked out of the shadow and oh. my. God. guys… he is gorgeous. I’m sure you would all agree. He has shimmery silver hair, big puppy eyes, a button nose that seems perfect to poke, his lips are soft - looking and pillowy, he has the tiniest hands and fingers. When he smiles his eyes just disappear and his giggle is just the most amazing sound, it sounds like heaven. He’s also smaller than all of us. Seriously, he is exactly what Tae describes as ‘the babiest’”. He also doesn’t know how beautiful he is… Which is already making him even more beautiful.”

Yoongi continues to tell how much him and the spirit bickered back and forth, how much he hates injustice and about how little he got to try in his life. No Halloween for him, not learning about what he likes, or who he loves… How he had no one to talk to for a long time and doesn’t really know how to behave around people and how he’ll apologise for everything he thinks he does wrong, even though there’s nothing to apologise for. How he agrees with Hobi that his costume this year was too little effort.

”I see he has good taste already.”, Hoseok smiles, happy that someone actually agrees with him, although the idea of a ghost still scares him a little bit.

Lastly he informs them of the memory he was trapped in when the spirit accidentally walked right through him and how much it affected the younger.

”When I told him I had to leave, he grabbed me and practically begged me to stay. The panic in his voice… I get it though, having to leave the people you call family because they have no money to keep you. Being shipped off to a foster family that only wants you to feel good about themselves... Thinking of him, being alone in that house, feeling lonely… It breaks my heart.”, Yoongi admits sadly.

”This is all very touching and all, but how do we know you didn’t make this up?”, Jin asks, still not believing in anything related to ghosts.

”Do you really think I’m going to sit in a house for two hours and do nothing? Just to do what exactly? Come up with a story that half of you won’t believe, while the other half might be freaked out. Don’t forget, I was team “non – believers” too.”

”If the ghost, sorry spirit, is real, then why does he not want to be called a ghost. He is one… Why is that offensive?”, Jungkook questions.

”Because he’s not dead. Yet. I’m not sure what happened to him or where he is, I’m guessing a hospital or a bedroom somewhere, but I also didn’t feel I could ask him that. Not yet anyway. But seeing as his body is somewhere being kept alive, he is a spirit or a soul. If he dies…”

Everyone falls quiet. This isn’t the kind of story their boyfriend would come up with, even though he’s very good at storytelling. The realisation that there is a young man out there, tethered to that place, feeling lonely… It makes them all uneasy, it’s not something you wish upon someone.

”Hyung… Does he have a name?”, Tae asks softly, “It feels so wrong to address him as soul or spirit if he has a name.”

”His name is Park Jimin. He turned 20 last week… And apparently, it’s not the first birthday he hasn’t celebrated. His coming – of – age – birthday last year was skipped, despite living in a rich family that could have easily thrown a party…”

”Maybe we can throw him a party?”, Namjoon asks, always the considerate one.

”You don’t even know him? Besides, I’m not fully convinced he’s real.”, Jungkook replies.

”Do you see this picture?”, Yoongi shows him an old picture frame of an elderly couple, Jungkook nods, “This was the couple that wanted to adopt him, but couldn’t. They gifted him the house and are saving money for him.”

”Okay, how does that prove that he’s real?”

”I’m going back to the house tomorrow, he needs batteries for his clocks and he needs to know he’s not alone anymore. I’ll go on my own and ask him if he wants to meet you. If he says yes, you and Tae might finally become hyungs.”, Yoongi smirks, knowing that will convince Jungkook to get to know Jimin. The younger never liked being one of the two babies of the group.

”Omg! I’m so ready to become a hyung, especially if he’s the babiest.”, Tae yells, “just please ask him to not be too scary. To leave his ghost pranks behind. I want to like him, but I’m not good with the supernatural.”

Hobi agrees with Tae. Even though his curiosity is definitely taking the upper hand, he’s not ready to be scared the way Yoongi was. At least if they go to the house there will be five more boyfriends to cling onto. Although, if his heart gives out, there’s not much his partners can do about it. Maybe he can join Jimin in the haunted house and make sure he never feels lonely ever again. If he’s a spirit too, there’s no more reason to be scared of the younger.




The next morning, Yoongi wakes up before his alarm clock, which never happens. Especially not when he has to come into work earlier than planned. November 1st, is a holiday for everyone, except for Min Yoongi. His boss asked him to come in earlier to prepare for the special dishes they have planned that day. With people grieving family members, they often don’t feel like cooking, which makes this day of year always so much busier than usual. It’s also very inconvenient that today of all days Yoongi has to go into work earlier, especially when he wants to check up on Jimin, see how he survived the night. If he survived the night.

Seeing as he is awake, the chef decides to take a shower and get dressed. He’ll just check up on the spirit in silence, just in case he is asleep. If showing himself to anyone takes a lot of energy out of him, he needs his sleep. Yoongi can just leave a note, telling the younger he came by and will come by again later. Luckily for him, he has the afternoon shift, so he’ll be done by 6pm. Getting batteries in the store won’t take too much time, but he’ll give himself an hour for it, just in case he finishes later or the queue in the store is too long or whatever else can go wrong.

After his shower, he rummages through his clutter drawer. There’s a bit of everything in there that he might need some time, but is useless on most days. Somewhere in there, he has an old phone in case this one fails him, but he can always buy another cheap phone to keep in the drawer. Yoongi finds the phone somewhere in the back, taped to it a new card he got for free with this new phone. While waiting for his toasts to warm up, he installs the phone. It doesn’t need more than what’s already on there. Sending texts, being able to call someone and have a clock on there, are what Jimin needs most. Games or a book app can be installed later, for now he has YouTube, that will keep him busy for a while.

The chef quickly runs back upstairs, gives his sleeping boyfriends a kiss on their foreheads, then runs outside to their garage. Opening the door to his beloved car, a very old and dented baby blue Chevrolet truck, one of the few colourful items Yoongi owns, he practically jumps in, makes his way onto the road and drives as fast as he can to the haunted house. With screeching tires his car comes to a halt, he quickly locks his car door and runs into the house. The chef looks around and when there is no sign of Jimin, he runs up the stairs to the younger’s room. Again, the space is empty, which has Yoongi wondering whether he dreamt everything, whether the spirit is real, whether he is going crazy.

”BOO!”

”Goddammit Jimin! How many heart attacks will you give me today?”, Yoongi snaps, then looks up at the younger, his face immediately softens, happy to see the soul.

”Hyung, why Jimin? Why not Jimin-ah? Please, I didn’t sit through five hours of loneliness for you to not call me that. Unless you don’t like me anymore and this is you telling me you aren’t coming anymore?”, The puppy dog eyes break the chef's heart, he doesn’t want to know how lonely Jimin is, because he doesn’t think he can handle it.

”I’m sorry Jimin-ah. You scared me, again. Can you stop doing that please? I know you probably find it funny, but I am older than you. Closer to death, you don’t need to speed it up.”, Yoongi reaches his hand out, just like the night before Jimin takes a hold of the elder’s pinkie.

”I’m not so sure about you being closer to death than I am hyung, but I promise I will stop scaring you. I just… The entire night my brain told me you weren’t real, that you were just a figment of my imagination, a hopeful thought. Scaring you seemed like the most effective way to see if you would disappear.”

”How so? How is there any logic to this?”

”By scaring you, I’d hopefully scare me too, set my brain right and watch you disappear, but here you are and I didn’t scare myself. That’s a win – win in my book”, the spirit grins wide, making his hyung smile back at him.

Following the ghost downstairs and watching him make his way into the kitchen, the chef leans his body against the kitchen door. His eyes follow the little spirit move across the kitchen, grabbing a plate out of the cupboard, getting a fork from the kitchen cabinet and grab some bread.

”What are you doing Jiminie?”, Yoongi asks, confused about the younger’s quick movements.

”It’s still so early hyung and you’re already here. You must be hungry, so I’m making you a sandwich. I don’t have a lot, but my eomma still sends me food packages. I don’t think she remembers that these aren’t really necessary anymore, but she has Alzheimer's… I think my appa indulges here by allowing her to make these, seeing as that’s a better option than the truth. Do you want chocolate paste? Or maybe some butter and cheese? I can also put some lettuce and tomato on your sandwich. Not on the chocolate paste one, but on the cheese one.”, Jimin rambles, looking through his fridge for the fresh food.

”Jimin-ah, that’s so kind of you, but I already ate some toast and before you scold me for not eating a proper meal, I just want to say that I can’t eat a lot in the morning, I don’t have the strongest stomach. That’s why I do breakfast when it’s still dark and second breakfast around 9.30 am.”, Yoongi explains.

”Then these sandwiches can be your second breakfast. Never picked you for a hobbit hyung. A dwarf, sure. Very sturdy and stern looking, but I guess you have a fun side too.”, Jimin says while fixing the sandwiches he then wraps in aluminium foil he bought to place his lunch in when he wasn’t a spirit yet.

”Here, I made you one with butter and cheese, one with cheese and vegetables and one with chocolate paste, but only eat that one when the cheese one’s are gone, okay? First the healthy food, then the dessert.”, Jimin looks up through his eyelashes and the chef just melts. Not only is the spirit adorable, he’s also very caring and kind.

”Thank you for the sandwiches, they look amazing. I’ll definitely enjoy them.”

”please do hyung”, Jimin looks down, wanting to say something, but too shy to do so.

”Jiminie, you know you can tell me anything right?”

”Right… Well… Thank you, hyung.”, Jimin says, red dust on his cheeks.

”What for? I didn’t do anything.”

”You came back. I wasn’t sure you would. I’m sorry for doubting you.”

”That’s okay little spirit. We don’t know each other that well, if I was the one being left on my own, I would have doubted my words too. Anyways… I promised you, you wouldn’t be alone anymore and I’m here to keep that promise. I already brought you the phone I promised you and set it up. The only thing you need to do is try and work with it.”, Yoongi hands the phone over to Jimin, who asks him to put it on the table.

”I don’t want it to drop on the floor. Worrying about today and making your sandwiches took a lot of energy out of me, I’m not sure I can take hold of it.”, Jimin admits while Yoongi places it on the surface, "I'm very grateful you brought me this hyung, but why is everything you have and wear black?"

"Not everything is black", Yoongi starts, the spirit just looks sceptic, "Do you see that baby blue truck outside? That's mine."

"It's so pretty! Hyyyuunngg, I want to sit in it!"

"One day you will, I'm sure of it. We'll work hard on", he says in the fondest smile, "To answer your question, why a black phone, because it matches my soul."

”Do souls have colours? Because looking at myself now, I’m just very translucent and greyish… Uuugghhh, of course I’d be that dull…”, Jimin sighs disappointedly.

”Souls don’t actually have a colour, it’s a figure of speech, but if your soul had a colour it’d be rainbow with sprinkles.”

Jimin’s face perks up, the biggest smile appears, his eyes shimmering bright. His tiny hands clap together and his feet stomp happily on the floor.

”Little spirit, do you know how to use it? Or do I have to explain it?”, Yoongi asks after noticing the time on his watch. He has to almost leave for work, but wants Jimin to be set first, so he can check up on him during the day.

”I know how to work it. The information was stored all the way in the back of my head, but once the light of the screen showed up, it came back. How smart am I? I’m just a little out of energy right now. Breakfast really took a lot out of me, so you better eat it.”, Jimin points his finger at Yoongi, which is no real threat, once the tip of his finger starts disappearing.

”I’m going to quickly explain the important parts then. My phone number is already stored in there and yours is in my phone. I have also sent a test message, so you can just use that message to start talking to me. You can also call if you want to. If I don’t answer, I’m working, not ignoring you. YouTube are videos and music you can watch. We can install other apps later tonight when I return with the batteries. There is also a clock on your screen, I’ll be back at around 7 pm, if I’m later than that, don’t worry it’s probably just traffic or something. I will be back Little Spirit.”

”You will be back. I got it…”, Jimin repeats, making sure he believes it himself, “hyung, can I ask one more thing of you?”

”Sure, what do you need?”

”Can you take a selfie please, that way, when my mind tries to convince me you aren’t real, I have proof that you are.”

The chef takes the phone of the table, smiles and quickly snaps a picture. Then places the phone back on the table.



”I have to go now Jimin-ah, but I’ll be back later. Promise. You rest up. I don’t want to walk in later today and not see you because you’ve exhausted yourself. Rest up.”

”I will. Good luck hyung! And eat your sandwiches!”, Jimin reminds him right before the door falls closed behind Yoongi’s back.

-- TEXT --
From: Little Spirit
To: Yoongi hyung

Hyung,
I’m sorry for bothering you, but I just wanted to tell you that you should smile more.
The picture on my phone, it looks really good. A smile looks good on you.
Anyways, that’s it.
Eat your sandwiches!

How do you end a text message?
Jimin.



From; Yoongi hyung
To: Little Spirit

Jimin-ah,
If it makes you happy, I’ll smile more.
Unless you’re being a brat, then I’m just going to glare.
I did eat my sandwiches, they were the best I have
ever eaten. Thank you.

How do you end a message?
Anyway you like.
Hyung.


From: Little Spirit
To: Yoongi hyung

I can make you more sandwiches hyung.
You have to come pick them up though, because I’m
still on house arrest. Another food box is due soon, all you have to do is let me know when you want them and how many.

Also, hyung… I’m bored.
Jiminie


From: Yoongi hyung
To: Little Spirit

You can make me sandwiches whenever.
I’ll gladly eat them and I get to see you at the
same time. I’m not saying no to that.

Did you rest up Jiminie? Do spirits actually sleep?

Hyung.



From: Little Spirit
To: Yoongi hyung

Well, my body is asleep at all times, so in some
way, yes, I am asleep.
As a spirit though, the answer is no. I can lie down
and close my eyes, but I won’t actually sleep.
I guess my brain is just too active, when I focus
I can hear the sounds of people talking around me.
It’s all medical lingo, and sometimes it’s my appa crying, asking me to wake up to visit eomma, but that’s only when I am deep in my relaxing zone. Mostly I recharge by watching my favourite movies or series or by listening to calming songs… Things like that. I can just not move for hours too, but that’s rather boring. Or I can suck the soul out of a living person and use their energy.

Jimin.


From: Yoongi hyung
To: Little Spirit.

I’m about 90% sure you are joking about
the sucking a soul out of a living person,
but in case it’s real, please refrain from doing that
when you are around me. I’ll offer you Jungkook or
Taehyung when they are having one of their annoying
days.

I’m almost done with work Little Spirit, so I’m going to focus on the last meals I have to send out and then I’m making my way to you.
See you soon.

Hyung.



From: Little Spirit
To: Yoongi hyung

Hyung! Were you texting while working?!
You rebel!

Jimin



From: Yoongi hyung
To: Little Spirit.

I was on a break, you brat!

Hyung.



That last text makes Jimin giggle. Annoying his hyung is just too much fun. His reactions are always too funny. The fake annoyance coming off him entertains the younger so much, he is very lucky he has met his hyung. Gratefulness courses through his veins, he won’t take this new bond for granted.

At exactly 6.59pm does Yoongi walk through Jimin’s door. The younger jumps off the couch, then steps in front of his hyung who is still looking at the door with a pensive look on his face. Then he turns around and smiles blindingly at Jimin.

”Hyung, you’re early!”, Jimin jumps up and down, he sometimes reminds Yoongi of a toddler, but he doesn’t mind it.

”I hurried here especially for you. I take my job as your hyung serious.”, He replies.

”Is that what I am? A job? Hyung, if you have better things to do, please go do them… I don’t want to stop you from doing whatever it is you want to do. You work hard enough, you should relax, be with your boyfriends. I don’t want you to have a second job.”, Jimin answers sadly.

”Little Spirit… I don’t see you as a job, that’s just my way of teasing you. I’m actually very glad I’m back here with you. Work was good, but it seemed to drag on forever, which is weird because I actually love being a chef. Anyway, I don’t know if you eat or not, but I brought my dinner with me and I can share it with you?”

”That’s very kind of you, but if I could eat, I couldn’t make you sandwiches with the food boxes my eomma sends me, because I’d eat all the food myself. Your food looks delicious though and I would love to try it someday. The smell on that dish is heavenly! Woah! Normally food doesn’t tempt me anymore, but this… Yummy!”, Jimin salivates.

”One day when you can eat again, I will make you all the best food in the world. Don’t worry! I’ve got you. By the way, I brought your batteries and bough more than needed in case they eat the energy out of them. All these clocks seem quite old.”

”Give them to me hyung, while you eat, I’ll place them in there.”, Jimin floats through the wall, then pops his head back through the kitchen wall, “thank you for picking these up for me. Even though I can read the time on my phone now, it’ll be nice to check up on how late it is no matter what room I’m in or in case my phone is not with me.”

”I know you walk through walls and all, but that still creeps me out so much. Can you let me get used to your weird quirks Little Spirit?”

”Of course I can”, Jimin says, head pocking through the wall once again, “but to let you get used or not let you get used to it, that’s the question.”

”Leave Shakespeare out of this conversation please.”, Yoongi yells to Jimin who is now making his way through the house, finding every clock that’s in need of batteries, “I’m still traumatized thinking of the many hours we had to read his stories in class.”

”You didn’t like Shakespeare?”, Jimin asks, using the door to walk back into the kitchen.

”Nope… That guy had some weird knots in his brain for sure. Not a big fan on his work. Also… So boring… English was very dreadful whenever we tackled another Shakespeare play.”

”Good to know, anyway, I’m done with the batteries. How’s the food?”, Jimin looks into the container that contains Yoongi’s food.

”Delicious, of course, I made it.”, the older smirks, “I wanted to ask you a few things though. But if you don’t want to answer, just know it’s okay. I won’t be upset.”

”Ask away hyung!”

”Can I please add a lock on this door? I’ll keep the key, so no one else can get in, but with how easily this door is opened, I can’t be the only one who walked in here.”

”You aren’t, but it doesn’t happen that often and mostly it’s my fault. Sometimes I have dance parties in here, which means I might put the music on too loud… That’s when teenagers will come in, make a video of the music playing but no one being there. One creaking floor board and they are out though. I don’t even have to scare them. In the past six months it happened maybe five times? It’s not that bad.”, Jimin replies honestly.

”I don’t want that to happen again Jimin-ah. I want, no, I need you safe. The last thing I want is to come here and see an exorcist at work, or the Ghostbusters chasing you out. If people can’t get it, you can do whatever you want to do, without having to be careful.”, The chef looks at the young boy, “Can I please install a lock? Something that is not that rusted excuse of what is supposedly a door lock?”

”If hyung thinks that it’s a good thing to have a lock, then sure, you can install it. Just… maybe write down a list of things I owe you, moneywise… I’ll do my best to pay them back eventually.”

”Can you stop with this paying – me - back - spiel? I don’t mind paying it for you. This is just as much for me as it is for you. Jiminie, if hyung buys something for you and doesn’t mention you paying me back, I don’t expect you to do so. I am your elder, I’m supposed to take care of you. Then let me do that, please.”

Jimin blushes, he isn’t used to be taken care of by someone other than his eomma and appa. Everyone else pretended to be there for him, but eventually just… weren’t.

”Okay, second question I have for you, and I think I know the answer to it, but my boyfriends want me to ask you... Can we take a selfie?”

The spirit starts laughing, hard. He falls off his chair and disappears through the floor, to float back up through the kitchen table.

”So, that’s a no then. It’s the whole no reflection thing you have going on right?”, Yoongi asks.

”If I can’t look into a mirror, I’ll definitely not take on a picture. I tried though, when I wanted to see what I looked like as a soul. My polaroid photos came out empty, except for a few very bright colourful orbs, that might have been dust particles in the air too. Your boyfriends don’t sound very smart hyung.”

”They are very smart, they have just never met a spirit and just rely on the information they gathered from films, series and books.”, the chef explains.

”So, that’s all wrong information then?”, Yoongi asks.

”Well, seeing as you can float through things, can pick up things and are scaring the crap out of people, I’m saying some of the information is far-fetched, but some of it is more than true.”, Yoongi smiles.

”Would you like to meet them? My boyfriends?”, Yoongi looks at him, patiently waiting, not influencing his choice.

”Ehm… Yeah, I think so… But what if they don’t like me hyung? Will I still be able to see you? Will you still be my hyung? I mean, I have been on my own for so long, I can do it again… Although, I wouldn’t be around for much longer if you leave, but that’s not on you. It’s not fair to keep my hopes on you, you know. I’m just scared that I’m not good enough for them, I’m not that great –“

” Jiminie, can you stop talking like that?! You are great! If I didn’t like you, I wouldn’t have come back this morning and hand you my phone, I wouldn’t have come back tonight and I would most definitely not want to introduce you to my boyfriends. They are going to love you and even if it doesn’t happen straight away, give them the time to get used to you. You might actually gain five more hyungs out of this.”

”They would want me to call them that?”, the spirit’s eyes grow, his mouth falls open a little, shock very visible on his face.

”I’m sure that at least Tae and Jungkook are going to love it. They’re not that fond of being the youngest. Once Hobi is over the shock of you being a spirit, he is going to absolutely adore you. Namjoon hyung as well. The only one who might be a bit sceptic at first, is Jin, but with how adorable you are, you have nothing to fear.”

”I would love to have five more hyungs, just… Don’t force them to come here… If they don’t want to get to know me, that’s fine too.”

”Noted. I promise I won’t force them. If they come with me next time, it’ll be out of their own free will. Last question… You keep saying you aren’t dead yet, but you never seem to elaborate. Would you mind telling me what that means though, I have been thinking about it the entire day and it’s driving me a little insane, but I get it if you don’t want to talk about it. “

”Well… I don’t want to give too much away just yet. I know I accepted you as my hyung, but it’s only been a day since I met you and the last person who knew… well, they used me to make themselves feel good. So, Long story short… It’s a race between my heart and my soul. Either my heart stops beating first or my soul withers away because I do not have a lot of people who can think of me daily, to send me prayers, to remember great times we had together. I have only my eomma and appa, but seeing as my eomma has Alzheimer's there will come a time that she’ll completely forget about me, she only now remembers me when her phone’s notification goes off to send me a food box. Her and appa are also both in their seventies… Which means that they might still live for ten more years, or their hearts might give out tomorrow… It’s already so hard to not fade fully, to show myself to you, because I rarely get positive vibes send my way… So, either my body dies first when my heart gives out, or my soul dies. Do you know that Macklemore song? It has a lyric that goes, I heard you die twice, once when they bury you in the grave and the second time is the last time that somebody mentions your name. He’s not wrong, if you're loved… I’m not, so yeah… It’s one or the other for me…”

Yoongi falls silent. He might not have been given the most information, but he has been given enough… It’s all too clear what Jimin has been trying to tell him. No matter who his real parents were, they didn’t want him. The people who he has been staying with, didn’t want him either. He already said he has never had any hyungs in his life, has not spoken of friends. The only two people he has left in his life, are older with one being forced to forget about him soon… And lastly, even though he had seen it in the flashback and somewhat knew already, it has now been confirmed to him that there is something wrong with Jimin’s heart… Driving home, Yoongi feels even more protective of Jimin. The only regret he has of that night, is that he didn’t go in for a hug, but with Jimin admitting that making himself visible to Yoongi is hard on him, he didn’t want to risk him fading fully. 

Yoongi came home late that night, with everyone else already in bed, he quickly made his way to the shower, then put on his pyjamas and climbed into bed next to the last person in their little cuddle train.

”Hyung? Did he say yes? Am I finally going to meet your spirit?”, a tired voice asks.

”Yeah. He wants to meet all of you TaeTae, although he’s a bit wary about it. Please don’t be mean to him.”

”I won’t. I’m pretty sure I’m going to love him.”

With those words leaving Tae’s lips, they both close their eyes. Yoongi presses a soft kiss into his younger boyfriend’s hair and wraps him in his arms, looking for that hug he needed earlier.


-- TEXT --

From: Yoongi hyung
To: Little Spirit.

Jiminie,
Can you do hyung a favour please?

Hyung.


From: Little Spirit
To: Yoongi hyung

Maaayyyybbbbeeeeee.
I’m only going to decide once I know what you want from me.

Jimin


From: Yoongi hyung
To: Little Spirit

Can you not show yourself to my boyfriends at first and scare them,
like you did to me?!
I really want to know if they are going to react the way I think
they will.

Hyung.


From: Little Spirit
To: Yoongi hyung

I’ll do it, only if you share with me how you think they are going to react.

Jimin



From: Yoongi hyung
To: Little Spirit

Fine. I’ll go in order of eldest to youngest.
Jin hyung is not going to be impressed.
Namjoon hyung is going to be a bit spooked.
Hobi is going to be scared, very scared.
Tae is going to be scared for a minute, but will end up liking it.
Jungkook is going to be the reasonable one, like Jin hyung.
Both of them will try to give logical explanations like I did.

Hyung.

From: Little Spirit
To: Yoongi hyung

Well, I made you scream too. Maybe I can get some reaction out of them.
I’ll try. For you. And me. It might be fun.

Jimin.

From: Yoongi hyung
To: Little Spirit

Get ready! We are on our way!
I’m sorry we are so late today. We had groceries
to do and had to visit Joon hyung’s parents.



From: Little Spirit
To: Yoongi hyung

It’s okay hyung. You have a life I’m not a part of,
I understand. Besides, scaring them will work better when
it’s dark.

Jimin



Fifteen minutes later, Jimin hears voices walk on the path to the house. He quickly shuts down the tv and places himself in the shadow next to the door. Expecting them to look around for him, he also knows they won’t look behind them. For some reason, none of the people who enter the house ever look behind them. They will turn on the lights first, by now, Yoongi must have told them about their first encounter and how he dropped the candle, if it’s true what he said about his clumsy boyfriend, they are not going to light a candle today.

Walking into the livingroom, someone immediately turns on the light. A guy with broad shoulders walks in first, the rest follow him closely. Just by watching their posture he can pick out a few of them. Taehyung must be the guy who would be waggling his tail if he could. The spirit wonders why he’s so excited about an old house that isn’t all that fancy to begin with. Hoseok is definitely the one with the very stylish outfit on, who looks almost as pale as he does. One gust of wind and the guy is running for the hills. Jimin almost finds it mean what he and his hyung are planning. Jungkook must be the one with the many piercings who’s looking rather bored. Now only two men are left, both are looking unimpressed so far, one of them is the guy with the broad shoulders, the other one’s muscles are more defined. His hyung never said who’s the one with the black hair and who has blond hair, so he’s a bit lost there. Seeing how the one with the black hair and broad shoulders places himself first, as if to protect the others, which is funny seeing as Jimin is right behind all of them, he is guessing that is Jin. Isn’t the eldest often the most protective?

Jimin decides to start the haunting by turning off the light. A loud scream fills the room, a few ‘what is this?’, some ‘ah yes, old wires’ are added to the mix. Next on the list is him opening the drawer of the small cabin underneath the window, but it doesn’t make enough noise to distract the five men, so he quickly moves on to the cd player that he already prepared earlier that day. Highway to Hell blasts loudly out of the speakers with a single touch of the on button, which results in so much chaos. Hobi, he thinks, falls down on the ground, grabbing his ears, yelling to make it stop, Jungkook and Jin are just looking at the device to find a way to shut it off, Tae and Namjoon are looking around, trying to figure out what is happening and commenting on the weird song choice while Yoongi is turned with his back to his boyfriends, shoulders moving up and down, clearly laughing loudly. Once he has composed himself, he goes to his partner who is still lying on the ground, hugging him close while still grinning from ear to ear. Jimin can’t help but think his hyung is enjoying it a little too much, but so is he. With everyone focusing on the loud noise, Jimin decides to distract them from that by putting on the tv, going to Netflix and put on the slasher film he had chosen earlier that day. It’s only when he hears the man in the chef’s arms whimper, that he turns the tv back off. Giving him a reprieve from everything that is happening. By now the room is engulfed into silence, complete and utter silence, the only thing they hear are their own breaths, which in turns unnerves them too. Jimin wants to pull one more stunt before he decides to give up, so he taps Jin and Jungkook who are standing together, still looking very unimpressed, on the shoulder. They turn around, yet see nothing. When they turn back around, Jimin puts on the light on his phone, points it at himself, places his face so close to the two men and goes ‘BOO’ so loudly, he has all five of them screaming.

Jimin quickly jumps back in the shadows, just like he did with Yoongi that first day. He doesn’t know what he is afraid of, but he doesn’t want to take any risks.

”The fuck was that flying face?!”, Hobi screams, still lying on the floor, “tell me I dreamed that?”

”God, my heart… I mean, at least I know I’m alive now. Is this what happened to you the first time you met that ghost of yours?”, Jin asks.

A groan reaches their ears, a whispered ‘how many more times? Spirit or soul. Not ghost. Not dead yet’, follows closely after.

”Wait is that him? Is he still spooking around? Am I going to lose another five years of my life? Hyung? I cannot deal with that?! You never told me he was mean.”, Hobi whines.

”He isn’t mean. He is actually very kind, totally adorable and a child at heart, even though at times he’s a complete brat.”, Yoongi starts and chuckles when he hears the spirit huff at his words, “but I have to come clean though. I asked Jimin to frighten you a little. I wanted to see how you would react to meeting an actual spirit. Especially Jin hyung and Jungkook as they are like me, very unbothered when it comes to the supernatural. Jimin just agreed because his hyung asked him.”

”You actual shithead!”, Hoseok hits Yoongi over the head, the chef in turn winces and rubs his head, “I hope it hurt. You claim you love us and then do crap like this, giving Jimin a bad name?! How dare you!”

The others are watching the little quarrel going on, both men still on the floor, while trying to find where the spirit is hiding and making sure they aren’t stepping over him or walking into him.

”Jiminie, can you show yourself? Or did you drain yourself scaring them?”, Yoongi asks.

”I can show myself hyung, I’m just not sure I should…”, A soft voice comes from somewhere near the couch.

”Jimin-ah, it’s fine. They aren’t annoyed with you and if they are, I’ll tell them off. How about we ask them, huh?”, Yoongi turns around to his boyfriends, “Do you want to meet Jimin?”

A chorus of yes’s answer the chef’s question. Yoongi turns around, smiles and hold his hand out for the spirit to take. The silver haired boy wraps his hand around his hyung’s pinkie, reluctantly stepping out of the darkness.

”Guys, meet my little spirit, little spirit… meet my boyfriends.”

A gasp takes away their attention of the boy in front of them and makes them focus on their youngest boyfriend.

”Yoongi hyung, you are so right!”, Tae exclaims excitedly.

”About what TaeTae?”

”Hyung! He is the babiest. Look at him! I get to be his hyung?! That’s not even going to be a hard task, it’s going to be so easy! I’m going to coddle him so much. Jiminie”, Tae singsongs the spirits name, “We are going to be the bestest of friends. Hyung is going to take care of everything for you!”

”Tae, calm down. You’ve literally met just 5 seconds ago”, Yoongi sighs annoyed, he then turns to the soul next to him, “can you guess who’s who?”

”Well, I mean, it is clear who Taehyung is.”, Jimin smiles, making everyone chuckle.

”The one with impeccable fashion, who is also the most scared should be Hoseok?”, Yoongi nods, Hoseok waves at him, “I’m sorry for scaring you so much. When hyung told me you were scared of spirits I didn’t think it’d be that much.”

The spirit blushes, a pout forms on his lips, which has all the men in the room cooing at him.

”It’s alright Jimin, you turned off the slasher film for me, that was very kind of you. Don’t worry though, I’m just a big baby who scares very easily, that’s on me, not you. I’m very excited to meet you.”, Hoseok smiles encouragingly at the younger, “Can you figure the rest of us out?”

”Ehm, the one with the blond hair, who was a little startled, I think is Namjoon?” Jimin looks up at the man, not revealing how he feels about the man’s very well-formed muscles he would like to touch sometime, just like his dimples.

”Then the one with the bunny teeth seems younger than the one with the broad shoulders… Both are equally unimpressed with things, but did jump when I scared them… Also, the one with the broad shoulders came in first and always placed himself a little in front of everyone, as if to protect his partners. He’s still doing that now too. I don’t know much about hyungs and what they do, but seeing how Yoongi hyung is protective, I’m saying that is a hyung trait. Broad – shoulder - man is Jin, bunny - teeth – guy is Jungkook?”, Jimin looks at Yoongi, question marks in his eyes.

”Look at how adorable he is?!”, Taehyung squeals, “and he got all of us right. What a smart boy.”



”Tae, he’s 20, not 5. Calm down, sit down and just get to know each other.”

”That’s rich from the one calling him Little Spirit”, Tae retorts.

”Not just that, did you hear the 'my'? My little spirit? Can you be even more cheesy?”, Jungkook says, once again unimpressed with everything happening.

Jimin scratches the back of his neck, trying to make him as small as possible, a faint blush on his cheeks. It first appeared when he heard the ‘my’ in front of little spirit. Hearing Yoongi considered him his, made him blush like crazy, now his cheeks are dusted red out of uncomfortableness. It doesn’t look like Jungkook’s a big fan of his.

”Keep your jealousy at bay Kook, you’ll come to love him soon enough. Maybe show him you actually like him instead of looking bored.”

”Ah… I’m sorry Jimin, it’s really nice meeting you and if I may say this, you are extremely attractive for a ghost. Djeez, your looks are out of this world.”

Jimin looks at Yoongi and lips ‘not ghost, spirit’, the elder in turn rolls his eyes, they then both giggle softly, enjoying their little moment, their inside joke.

”Jimin really does look beautiful, I’m kind of bummed out I can’t see you in colour.”, Namjoon admits.

”I agree, but the shimmery, silver hair… phew. It looks so good on you!”, Hobi looks at the younger, a soft smile on his face, “No wonder our hyung snuck out of the house early this morning. If I had found a pretty ghost, nope spirit, sorry Jimin, I would be here all the time too. You look like an angel!”

”Maybe it’s for the better people think this place is seriously haunted. If anyone ever saw you, they would never leave.”, Jin tells him dryly, “I know I’m handsome, but I can’t compete with you little one.”
Even in that dull tone, it is clear that Jin just complimented him and it does something to the younger. They all think he’s pretty?! No one ever told him that, well no one except his hyung. Does that mean they don’t dislike him?

All of them walk to the sofa, allowing Jimin to sit next to Yoongi. Jin, Jungkook and Namjoon grab extra chairs to sit themselves down, all still staring at Jimin who’s trying his very best to not make unexpected movements and scare them even more.

”Jiminie, do you maybe want to introduce yourself a little?”, Yoongi asks.

”I’m not that special, but sure… Ehm… So yeah, my name is Park Jimin, I turned 20 two weeks ago apparently, I have been living on my own for twelve months and have been a spirit for six of them. I tend to forget information I don’t need, but it comes back to me when we trigger said information. A hyung is something I’ve never had before, so I’m very grateful to Yoongi hyung for wanting to stick around and take care of me.”

”You’ve never had a hyung? Have you been one?”, Jin asks.

”Nope… I was always the youngest in the households and never seen as part of any family. Older people never told me to call them that, so I didn’t.”

It collectively breaks their hearts, hearing how no one wanted to be his hyung. On the way to their place, they promised Yoongi to only ask questions with simple answers. Digging deeper would be for later, when they know he fully trusts them, when he understands his hyungs are here to stay, that they are in for the ride, no matter where it leads them, to make sure he knows they aren’t leaving, no matter what issues he might have or what happened in his past.

”If you want to, you can call me hyung too. I’m sorry for looking a bit unbothered, but I promise, I’m very excited about getting to know you. If you are in need of a cuddle, or you need to talk or just don’t want to be alone, I’m here for you.”, Jin tells the younger.

”No way hyung. Jiminie and I will be cuddle buddies from now on. We’ll be the best friends in no time.”, Tae looks at Jimin, eyes big and hopeful, “You can call me hyung too.”

”Same for me! Also, Tae and I are kind of a package deal, so expect to be in the middle of a lot of hugs.”, Jungkook tells him, bunny smile in full force.

”He’s lying”, Tae whispers secretly, “we can cuddle on our own too.”

”If you want a more quiet hyung to spend your time with, or if you want an answer to whatever question or just a deep conversation, I’m always here for you.”, Namjoon says, “I’m also available for cuddles, just ask.”

”I think you know this by now, but I’m your hyung too and you can call me that too. If you are ever feeling very down and need someone to cheer you up, believe me when I say, I’m the one to come to, even if it’s over text because I’m at work. Yoongi hyung put our numbers in your phone, right? Just select mine and tell me what you need. I’m very easy going, and not as loud or bouncy as Tae.”

”Ah… Well… I may have only entered my number into his phone. I was in a hurry yesterday and made sure he could contact me seeing as he didn’t know you…”

”Always so possessive over the people you like…”, Jin tuts, “Jiminie, sweetheart, can we have your phone for a minute.”

The young spirit nods and hands the device to his eldest hyung, one of six, who voluntarily want to be there for him. Jimin is over the moon, completely in shock, but also enjoying every minute of it.

Once they put their numbers into the spirit’s phone and have handed it to their other boyfriends, Namjoon leans closer to Jin. They make eye contact, to make sure both men know they are involved in a silent conversation.

”Hyung, is it just me, or does Jimin look familiar?”, Namjoon whispers.

Chapter Text

“I hope you don’t mind me telling you guys everything. I just… I don’t know you all too well and I don’t want to have hope that you might be able to help, only for you to decide that you don’t like me and leave me behind. I’d rather you leave me behind before I put my fate in you.”

”Jimin, we understand. Don’t worry, but I think it’s safe to say we will be coming back. Yoongi is not going to let us hear the end of it if we leave tonight and turn our backs on you, but also… The minute we walked in here, the minute we saw you, we knew and we still know that we will be here for you. How about we get to know each other, we have fun, we convince you that you are not alone anymore and that we are actually here for you. Once you believe us, you can open up. We won’t push you, I can promise you that. No matter how long it takes.”, Jin looks at Jimin.

”I agree with Jin hyung. We would love to get to you know Jiminie and not just because you are a ghost. As the youngest of the bunch, I can say that I hate that title. Ask Yoongi hyung, he convinced me to come here by telling me I’d be your hyung. So, if you allow me to be that to you, I’m sure we’ll be besties in no time, because I will take such good care of you and teach you everything before our hyungs can teach you. Also, I’m going to make sure your house looks amazing again, by telling the others what to do, while we are having all the fun.”, Tae smiles, “I’ve got you!”

”Ahem, we both have him. Don’t forget we are the same age, therefore I’m also a hyung, but also young enough to teach you everything you need to know in live to survive and have all the fun with you! We could have a nerf gun fight while our hyungs paint this place.”, Jungkook adds.

”Omg Kook! That sounds like so much fun!”, Tae says enthusiastically, looking at the younger with big eyes, waiting for him to say anything.

”Ehm… Well… I have never had a nerf gun fight so I don’t know if I’d like that, but I would need to know in time, because holding a gun would take a lot of energy from me… If I haven’t rested enough that day, I won’t be able to play with you. It also doesn’t really seem fair that we get all the fun, while the rest works. I can help by handing them something, by making food or going around giving compliments…”, Jimin says, looking at the others, “Oh, also… I don’t know if Yoongi hyung told you this, but I’m not a ghost.”

”Right! I’m so sorry Jiminie! Hyung will try to do better. Forgive me?!”, Tae stares at the younger with his puppy eyes, knowing he’s forgiven when the spirit can’t look away, “Can you explain the difference to us?”

”Ah yes… Ehm… A ghost is when you’re dead. I’m not dead, so I’m a spirit or soul.”, Jimin answers shortly, really not wanting to give anything away.

”How do you know you’re not dead”, Namjoon asks, watching Jimin flinch, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean for that to come over so harsh. I’m just genuinely curious how you know. Is your body in this house?”

”No, it is not. My soul is tethered to two places. This one and the one where my my body is. As long as I’m alive, I can only move between those two places and I need to rest up to show myself. I’d be dead if I can walk out of this place, when I can go wherever I want to go. You would also not see me anymore and I would be expected to walk in the white light or whatever it is I’m supposed to walk into. Once a year, I would be allowed to cross over to this world to visit family and friends, but that’s under certain conditions.”

”Which are?”, Hobi asks, listening so intently, he needs all the information at this point.

”Well, being in this form, me dying is a battle between my body giving up or my soul giving up. A soul gives up when a person isn’t remembered anymore. When he has no family or friends to think of them or when nobody loves them enough to actively think of them, to wish them well, to talk about them… If your soul gives up before your body does, you will just vanish. No more afterlife. If your body dies first and you go the afterlife, you can only cross the land of the living if you still have people who remember you, who talk about you, who love you. If they stop doing that, the same will happen to you as when your soul gives up, you’ll just vanish. It’s basically the same condition, but in a different situation.”, the silver haired soul replies.

”You are still here, so you have people to keep you alive, right?”, Jin wonders frantically.

”For now.”

”What does that even mean?!”, Hoseok screeches.

”For me it’s literally a race between my body and my soul. I have my eomma and appa who think of me, but both of them are in their seventies, which means… They can be around for a while or not… Also, my eomma has Alzheimer's and only remembers me once a week when her alarm goes off to make food boxes for me. Appa keeps it from her that I’m on the brink of dying, because we only want her to have good memories when it comes to me, but yeah… I might be here for another ten years, or be gone by tomorrow. That’s why sometimes my form disappears for a few seconds, blinking in and out of existence… Soon, only one person will remember me and then it’s just… A countdown I guess…”, Jimin replies sadly, “Don’t worry though, I’ve learned to accept it. We all go eventually; I will just disappear sooner rather than later.”

“Not on our watch mister. I refuse to let go of my maknae, not now that I’m maknae off and I’ve been promoted to hyung. Okay, quick easy questions to get to know you better, that we can think off later on to keep you alive. ANYONE, SOMEONE! I NEED QUESTIONS NOOOOWWW!!”, Tae panics.

”You are literally the social butterfly out of all of us. If anyone knows any questions it’s you. Just calm down. This isn’t going to help anyone. Us thinking about Jiminie and texting him throughout the day is, that shows the universe we are thinking about him, wondering how he’s doing.”, Yoongi rolls his eyes, completely used to his overdramatic boyfriend, “You talked about compliments and well wishes when we talked about it the other day, what do you mean by that Jiminie?”

”Oh, ehm… Often when someone is ill or not doing well in any other form, people burn candles and send prayers out in the world. That works too. Every time my appa speaks a wish into a candle I feel better. Not for long, because one person can only do so much, but every bit helps. The same goes for thinking back to a moment I did something right and you speak a compliment into the world. Knowing about me helps too, if that means you’ll be talking about it among each other. Like if I tell you my favourite flower is the sunflower and you talk about it during breakfast, it helps. Unless you get stuck googling facts about sunflowers and forget about me, then well… It clearly doesn’t.”

”That’s it. Quick fire round! NOW!”, Tae opens up his phone and googles questions he thinks the spirit can easily answer in a short period of time. It is getting late and they don’t want to weaken him even more.

”Favourite season?”, Tae starts.

”Winter.”

”Why?”, Hobi asks, feeling himself shiver at the idea of the cold that comes with the season.

”I love snow.”

”Cats or dogs?”, Namjoon goes next.

”Both.”

”Favourite colour?”, Jungkook looks at the younger.

”Yellow.”

”Nice! Mine too”, the gym trainer says.

”Favourite food?”, Jin quickly asks, with how important food is to him, he needs to know.

”Cup noodles, the extra spicy chicken flavour”

”Cup noodles?!”, Jin repeats angrily, “Really?! That’s it?! What about proper food?!”

”There were times where I was happy I had cup noodles for food hyung. The first six months of me living on my own, before I turned into this, cup noodles were all I could afford. My eomma makes the best food though, so when she sent me food boxes, I definitely enjoyed it, but I was grateful for my noodles too. I worked for them. I earned them.”

”What was your job?”, Yoongi has a notebook in hand, writing everything down, making sure they don’t forget everything the younger tells them.

”I was both a tutor and a dog walker.”, Jimin smiles fondly of the memories. Whether he’s thinking of the dogs, the children or both, they’re not sure.

”What subject did you tutor Jiminie?”, Tae asks.

”Mostly math, sometimes physics or chemistry and mechanics.”

 “Why?! Of all subjects?!”, Tae yells disgusted.

”Tae can you stop yelling. It’s giving me a headache”, Namjoon complains, “Besides, why not?”

”We aren’t all geniuses like you hyung.”, Tae rolls his eyes, annoyed at being asked to be quiet.

"Exactly, which is why people need tutors", the nurse bites back.

”Ehm, to answer your question Tae hyung, I majored in Maths and minored in sciences in high school.”

”Oh boy, Joon has found his fellow genius”, Jin sighs, which make the spirit smile broadly.

”What is your favourite game”, Jungkook asks, Jin sits up, completely invested in this question as he is the biggest gamer out of all of them.

”Ehm… I always played cardgames, mostly Solitaire…”, Jimin rubs his neck, admitting once again that he always was on his own is still one of the hardest things he has to do.

”What about actual games… Online or Playstation?”, Jin wonders.

”Ehm… I never had a computer of my own or a PlayStation… At most I had a phone I played solitaire or snake on… The phone I got from Yoongi hyung is the fanciest piece of technology I’ve ever owned.”

”Do you have a nickname and if so, which one is your favourite?”, Hobi quickly asks him next, trying to keep Jimin from feeling too self-conscious about his life.

”Most people just call me by my name. My parents call me Jiminie or Mimi, which I like, but my favourite is Little Spirit.”, A blush appears on Jimin’s face, an endearing smile forms on Yoongi’s mouth. It makes him happy that the younger loves the nickname just as much as he does.

“What is your favourite tactic to scare people?”, Yoongi asks.

”Ehm… I like holding dance parties to music people deem ‘demonic’, but I’ll always have a special place in my heart for showing my face in candlelight and yelling ‘Boo’”, Jimin looks at Yoongi and sticks his tongue out, the older just rolls his eyes.

”Ah, Jiminie, it’s getting late. It’s about time we go home.”, Namjoon looks up from his watch, regret very visible on his face.

”Yeah, I wasn’t going to say anything, but I’ve been getting tired. With work tomorrow…”, Hobi looks around and sees the others nod.

When all of them look at Jimin though, they all know that actually walking out of that door is going to be extremely hard. The silver haired boy is sitting on the couch, his arms around his legs that are tucked against his stomach, his chin hooked over his knees, a wobbling pout on his lips and tears in his eyes. It makes him look twice as tiny and it breaks their hearts. 

”Jimin-ah?”, Yoongi asks, approaching him slowly, “are you okay?”

”Hyung”, the spirit whispers, “do you really have to go?”

”Unfortunately yes”, the older replies, “we have work to go back to and that means we need to sleep.”

”Will you come back? To me?”, the young boy asks, a glittery tear falls from his eye that he quickly wipes off.

”I promised you, didn’t I? You aren’t on your own anymore. We, the six of us, are here for you. Believe me when I say, we are coming back as soon as we can. The idea of leaving you behind tears my heart into small pieces. Little Spirit, I’ll be back tomorrow morning for my sandwiches. You promised me you would make me those so I would eat, remember?”, the boy nods, tears still falling from his eyes, “I’m holding you to that. Tomorrow evening after work, we’ll bring our food with us and eat it here with us and you have your phone. I can’t make promises that we can reply immediately, but we’ll add you to our group chat, that way whenever one of us has a break, they can reply. Besides, I know you’ll use your phone a lot seeing as I’m your background. How could you not? I look good in that picture, even if I do say so myself.”

Yoongi chuckles, stares at Jimin and is surprised how he can touch his face, how his hands aren’t going through it. The soul sinks in to the feeling, taking deep breaths, trying to remember how it feels to genuinely be touched in case it doesn’t happen again. The elder lifts his thumb and wipes away the few stray tears still clinging onto Jimin’s cheeks.

”Are you letting me touch you right now or do I have a superpower here?”, Yoongi asks the spirit jokingly.

”It’s all me. If anyone has the superpower it’s me hyung. I’m just that cool.”, the boy’s soft smile disappears when he looks back at the man holding him, “Can you promise you are coming back, hyung? Please? I just… I want to believe you, I do… But I…”

”Little Spirit, I promise you right here, right now, I’m coming back to you. Cross my heart, hope to die.”, He stares into Jimin’s silver eyes.

”Yoongi hyung isn’t the only one who promises! I promise too!”, Jungkook shouts from near the door.

“AND YOU HAVE MY AX!”, Tae screams from behind him.

Everyone turns to the former maknae with confusion written on their faces.

”What, he made it sound like we are at Elrond’s council okay. Jungkook was like Legolas and no way does Gimli stay behind. Therefore, he has my ax, but what I actually mean with that… is that I promise to come back too! Tomorrow, I’ll be here! I’ve got a few shoots but I’ll make sure to leave the studio at 5pm like I always do!”

”As a doctor and nurse we do have our shifts of course, we still have to be available once they are finished, but we will come by even if it’s for like an hour or if it’s very late. Jiminie, Namjoon and I will be here tomorrow, we can’t give you an hour, but we promise you that we’ll come by. Even if it’s in our lunch break.”, Namjoon nods at his hyung’s words, smiling big, watching Jimin smile back, albeit not as big.

”I’m Tae’s last client tomorrow, we have a shoot together, so I’ll make sure he's out of the studio at 4.30pm.”, Hobi announces, “So both of us will be here tomorrow and yes, I promise too.”

”And once again, as a reminder, I’ll be here in the morning for my sandwiches and I’ll come back in the evening. If you forget tomorrow, that’s okay. Just text the group chat, we’ll remind you.”, Yoongi tells him.

Before he can turn around and leave with the others, he notices Jimin fading away and his hand going through his cheek. He braces himself quickly, expecting to happen again what happened on the day they met.

”I’m sorry, but we can’t keep him.”, The woman shoves the young boy forward. His knees are scraped, a tooth is missing from his mouth, a black eye adorns his face.

”Did he do something wrong?”, The man sitting behind his big blue desk, takes his glasses of his face and opens his arm for the younger boy to find solace into.

”Did he do something wrong? He is the worst kind of child! He threw a tiny car at my son's head and now he has a bruise on his arm. I do not take kindly to anyone hurting my child!”, the stern woman screams, threateningly walking closer to the little boy shaking in the man’s hold.

”Jimin, did you hurt her son?”, the man asks, seeing the younger boy nod, he just knows something is up, “Can you tell me why you did it?”

”I was playing with a car… He had all the other cars, I had one and he wanted that car too, but then Jiminie wouldn’t have one…”, the boy answers honestly.

”What happened next?”

”When I didn’t want to give the car to Dae, he jumped on me, pulled my hair, hit my face a lot and then he dragged me out of the playroom and pushed me off the stairs. When I was at the bottom of the stairs, he ran up to me and that's when I threw the car at him and it hit his arm.”, Jimin sniffles, trying to keep his tears in. He isn’t weak after all.

”Jimin, are you hurt anywhere else?”, the man asks him.

The young boy doesn’t react, he just seeks more warmth from the man who is holding him close.

”Jimin. Can you please answer me? You are not in trouble. Not wanting to share isn’t a crime and throwing the car to keep yourself safe isn’t something you should be punished for either, but if you are hurt somewhere else, I would like to know where so I can take away the pain.“

The young boy lifts up his shirt, revealing his chest, where bruises start to litter his skin. Turning the boy around, the man notices how his back is dealing with the same faith.

”Jiminie, your tooth… When did you lose it?”

”Oh, two days ago, when I was eating an apple, but…”

”But?”

”I think I’ve been bad… Because Mrs Ahn told me to throw it away, but I wanted to keep it to give to the tooth fairy… She didn’t come though… Probably because I didn’t listen.”, The black-haired boy tells him, eyes looking down at the floor, his tiny hands in his pockets.

”So, if I understand this correctly, you have to call your parent ‘Mrs Ahn’, you have to give her son every toy even if that means you have nothing to play with, she lets him hurt you for not sharing, can’t even give your tooth to the tooth fairy and then gets angry at you for defending yourself?”, the young boy just looks at the man with big eyes, afraid to answer with the woman in the room, “I’m going to ask you three more questions Jimin and you can answer them honestly. She is not going to hurt you anymore.”

The small child nods, wanting to be good, because being good means not being in pain.

”How old are you now Jimin and how old is her son.”

”I’m seven and Dae is eleven.”, Jimin replies in the softest voice.

”How do you have to call your dad?”

”Dad? Do you mean Mr. Ahn?”

The man takes his glasses from his desk and puts them back on, trying to distract himself. Not that it makes a difference in how he feels. His anger is still very much taking over.

”Last question Jimin, has Dae hurt you before today? Have Mrs and Mr Ahn hurt you?”

The young boy just nods, then turn around and shows the bump at the back of his head. He then takes his right shoe and sock off, revealing a crooked little toe with a very blue nail.
It’s clear the younger doesn’t want to tell how he got it, but it’s also clear he doesn’t want to lie to the only nice person in the room.

”Does it still hurt?”, the young boy doesn’t have the chance to reply as he is interrupted by the mean woman.

”How can you believe a seven-year-old?! Isn’t it clear that he’s the problem here? If we have to punish him to keep his awful behaviour at bay, then that is what we will do. Although he isn’t our problem anymore, we don’t want him in our home ever again. Honestly, we understand why his parents didn’t want him, he’s just a dumb, idiotic and weak thing, too stubborn for his own good. A good beating is the only thing that will have actual effect on him and will teach him how to be obedient and listen to those who are above him.”, Mrs Ahn sneers.

”You are still blaming all of this on a child that never acts up, never talks back, plays on his own and even now stays quiet because he doesn’t want throw your son under the bus? You think hurting him, having him give up all his toys, don’t treat him as part of the family and being thrown of freaking stairs is his fault? Did you ever hug him? Did you ever call him anything else than “boy” or “thing”? You clearly didn’t take him to the hospital to take care of him and you couldn’t even put his tooth under his pillow?! I’ll gladly take Jimin back and find him a proper family. Your contract with us will be terminated and you will be blacklisted, I will also be the one who takes Jimin to the hospital, make sure the doctor writes down all his injuries and file a complaint against your family. How even dare you!”, The man then turns to the boy clinging on to him, “Jiminie, you still remember your room here, right? Well, it’s still empty, why don’t you go put your tooth under your pillow, I’m sure the tooth fairy will find it tonight. You’ve been a good boy by answering all my questions, she’ll feel that magic.”

”Good luck with that boy. Even if that stupid fairy was real, a few won isn’t going to make your rich all of a sudden.”, the woman turns around after that, closing the door after taking one last look at the little one that is quickly wiping away the tears that are threatening to spill over, because he still isn’t weak.

”Yoongi? Are you good?”, Namjoon asks, “Ready to go home?”

”Yeah… I am. I’m coming back Min.”

With that he turns around and leaves with his boyfriends. Once they are outside, making their way home, Yoongi tells them about the flashback he experienced once again when his hand went through Jimin. Once he is done talking about it, all of them are angry. Pissed off is a better word.

”How dare anyone treat him like that?! How, as a parental figure, do you allow your child to get hurt?”, Jin asks incredulously.

”Simpel, because that woman never saw him as their child.”, Tae responds bitter.

”According to that guy Jimin was always nice though, played on his own, always the sweetest kid, then how can you not see him as your own?”, Yoongi angrily throws his hands in the air.

”A lot of people who adopt children, or take on foster children do it for the wrong Yoongi hyung, they do it to brag to others how helpful they are, to prove that they are good people, while in reality they just don’t care…”, Hobi says, “wasn’t it the same in the first flashback you mentioned. How his parents couldn’t keep him and asked him to join that one family even though they wanted to take him in for the wrong reasons, but at least they could afford some kind of medication?”

”I think I start to understand why Jimin can’t deal with people leaving. This woman dumped him, the people he considers his family couldn’t keep him, he has been living on his own for a year so that other family didn’t work out, his birth parents didn’t keep him and the one person he seemed close to, which is the man from that institute send him off to different families. Granted, he did it in hopes to find Jimin a good home, but he still sent him away. No wonder that little kid learned to build walls, especially if he had to deal with abusive families…”, Namjoon says sombrely.

”If future memories are going to be like that, I don’t want to hear it anymore… I mean, I do… The more we know about Minnie, the better, especially if it helps us keep him alive, but… I just want so much better for him. Hopefully the next flashback is something happy, because I can’t see him suffer like that.”, Jungkook admits.

Walking into their home, they silently get ready to go to bed, all of them shooting a little prayer out there to keep Jimin alive and well. Before turning off the lights, they take their phone, add Jimin to the group chat and one by one wish him a good night and ask him to rest up. All of them noticed his flickering form by the time they were ready to leave and it worried all of them, it still does.



”Jiminie?”, Yoongi softly calls when he enters the building, when he doesn’t get a reply, he quickly goes to the kitchen, where he also can’t find Jimin. Quickly he climbs up the steps and practically runs to the spirit’s bedroom where he, thankfully, finds him floating a little above his bed, eyes closed, completely at piece. He knows Jimin isn’t actually asleep, but it also feels sad to ‘wake’ him up.

”You know, if you keep staring at me for much longer, I’m going to combust into dust particles and you’ll never see me again.”, Jimin whispers softly, the corner of his lip moves up. Then he softly opens his eyes, looks at Yoongi and sits up straight, “your sandwiches are in the fridge, I made them at 4 am and then I got tired again. Then again, I couldn’t really rest up before that, reading your texts gave me an energy boost, which was nice. Thank you for that.”

”Imagine how much energy you’ll have when we think of you, all the time. Which will happen the more we know about you. I hope you are ready for that.”

To that, the spirit just hums, walks up to Yoongi and softly touches his pinkie. A big smile forms on his lips, a giggle leaves his throat. The older has to practically run to keep up with the ghost, but when they both are in the kitchen, with his sandwiches on show, he doesn’t mind anymore. The food is double the size from the day before and smells incredible, even though Yoongi already had a small breakfast he unwraps one of them and takes a bite enjoying the taste exploding on his tongue.

”I know I’m the chef here, but woah, you should open a professional sandwich shop Jiminie.”, Yoongi moans.

”That’s a bit hard in my state hyung, but who knows, maybe one day, if a miracle happens.”, the soul whispers, “Although I never really wanted to be a cook or whatever.”

”Do you know what profession you want to have in the future?”, the chef asks him curiously.

”I do… But I don’t want to talk about it. I have accepted that it’ll never be in the cards for me. Anyway, enough about a job I don’t have, when you do actually have one you need to get going to. Thank you for coming by hyung! It’s the best way to start my day!”

”Are you kicking me out?”, Yoongi grumbles, not ready to leave the younger behind.

”Me? I would never?! But if you don’t want you to lose your job… Now that every clock in my place works, I can keep up with the time and it says it’s time for you to go. Hyung… Please… I would hate for you to get fired from the job you love so much because of me.”, Jimin pouts, knowing it’ll convince the elder, even though he doesn’t want Yoongi to leave at all.

“When I come back later tonight, I’ll install that lock! I already had the key made six more times. I’ll leave your copy in your clutter drawer.”

Leaving the house, his phone goes off with a text from Jimin.

Can you at least turn around and wave back at me when you leave me for another 8 hours?!
I’m going to think you don’t like me at all *Sad face*

The chef turns around, waves back at him and watches Jimin’s face light up. Yoongi loves the effect he has on the younger. He never thought that someone would love his company this much, except for his five boyfriends, of course. Often, he finds himself wishing for Jimin to be alive, or at least to be awake and a ‘normal’ person, so him and his partners could take him out for dates, friendly or romantically, and hold him close to them. Jimin would fit in with them so well, in whatever form. They would take care of him and never let him go. The younger would feel loved and wanted for the rest of his life. Granted, they are doing that already, but it’d be easier without the fear of him disappearing any minute.

Throughout the day Jimin lounges around, he doesn’t have the energy to clean up or hold dance parties. So, he decides to "sleep" in order to be at full strength by the time his hyungs arrive. It’s still so weird that he has six of them, that they voluntarily want to be around him. Of course, the one time in his life he has something good going on, he’s a spirit and can vanish any minute. The fear of being forgotten is still there, even though he feels the energy they send him. Knowing he doesn’t have to worry about disappearing when the only two people who think of him often leave this earth, helps him relax, but there’s still the issue of his heart and that still freaks him out, because that is not something his hyungs can help him with.

At 4pm, the first hyung arrives at the house. Jungkook opens the door in silence and finds Jimin with his eyes closed on the couch. If the fitness instructor didn’t know better, he’d be convinced the boy would be fast asleep.

”Jiminie, are you okay?”, the elder asks softly.

”Jungkook hyung! Hi! Yes yes, I’m fine. I just… I’ve been without energy today, so I just wanted to catch up on some imaginary z’s.”, The spirit replies, rubbing his neck.

”What do you mean, you have been without energy? We have been thinking about you though. Did it not help?”, Jungkook asks, voice full of worry.

”I know and I can feel it, but we don’t know each other that well and to keep my energy up, I need more than just a five-minute prayer my way. Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate it! I do! It’s just that spending time with you… It has been amazing… but it has also been draining because I make sure you can see me at all times and sometimes, I touch objects too… By the time you go home, I have to stop showing myself, but then I’m reminded that Yoongi hyung comes by in the morning, so I have to make sure I’m visible and now as well. Not that I think you’d worry about me if you don’t see me, but… Just in case…”, Jimin rambles, trying to explain everything without insulting the elder in front of him.

”Min, calm down. I understand. We need to up the ante when it comes to thinking of you, we’ve got this. From now on, we’ll make sure to none stop think of you, it’s not even a hard task, I’m actually looking forward to it.”, Jungkook smiles at the younger, “and I’m certain the others will too. You make it so easy to think of you. Besides, just so you know, if we can’t see you when we walk in, we would be worried, so I am grateful that you make yourself visible, but if it’s ever too hard to show yourself, just write a note of where you are and we’ll be fine too.”

”I can do that… So, how was your day?”, Jimin sits down, head in hand, elbows on his knees, giving Jungkook all of his attention.

”It was good. Lots of client and the last one actually called me to cancel seeing as he’s ill, which is why I am here earlier than planned.”, the elder tells him, “How is your energy level? Did you rest up enough? Or do you want to disappear for a bit?”

”No! Hyung! I’ll be fine! Don’t worry about me! I’m fine”, Jungkook looks at Jimin, doubt on his face, “Hyung, I promise you, I’m fine. Please, I wouldn’t lie.”

With that Jungkook nods, because somehow, he knows Jimin wouldn’t lie, but he also doesn’t know if the younger knows his own limits. Yoongi told them about the flashback from the day before and if Jimin as a young child already stopped him from crying because he saw that as a sign of weakness, how can they be sure he wouldn’t convince himself he’s fine too every time he gets tired…

For the next half hour, Jungkook and Jimin talk about everything from games the older would like to play with the younger, about how they could maybe make the place a bit more comfortable to live in by painting it, cleaning it properly, airing it out and maybe adding some newer pictures, they talk about how Jungkook loves to sport and draw and about how Jimin never got to figure out what he liked.

”You like dance parties, don’t you? Maybe we can bring ‘Just Dance’ next time and see if you like that game? I can’t wait to find hobbies for you! Don’t tell Namjoon hyung though, because he will give you all his smarty pants books now that he knows you are into science.”, Jungkook whispers slyly.

”I think I would like those though.”, Jimin whispers back, giggling.

”Ugh, of course you would. You are just as hopeless as him!”

”And yet, you do love me for me, right?”, A deep voice, coming from the door interrupts them.

”Jiminie, if there is one thing you need to know about Namjoon hyung is that he always shows up unannounced when you are talking about him. Properly annoying.”, Jungkook looks from the younger to the nurse, “But yes, I love you, even though you are a nerd. Where’s Jin hyung?”

”Parking the car. Someone has to do it seeing as I can’t.”, Namjoon answers the question, “Hi Jiminie, how are you?”

”I’m fine hyung. Really happy to see you actually.”

When Jimin walks into the kitchen, to place some cups on the counter and to take out some extra food in case some of them forgot dinner, Jungkook leans closer to his boyfriend to inform him about how tired Jimin actually is and how he has been resting up the entire day. Both of them in that moment, start thinking of the younger, hoping that the two of them can give him an extra burst of energy. Both men figure out it didn’t work when they hear a glass shatter on the floor.

”JIMIN! Are you okay? Don’t move, we’ll clean this up!”, Namjoon yells while running through the kitchen door.

”Hyung don’t! This can literally not hurt me. Look.”, Jimin jumps on top of the glass, his feet just float right through it, “Just wait until I have a bit more energy and I’ll pick it up. I’m not in my body, so these cannot do anything to me.”

Jimin’s voice sounds tired, he looks paler than usual and his image keeps glitching. It scares the two men who are taking it all in. While Jungkook takes a broom and cleans everything up, Namjoon tells Jimin to go sit down in the livingroom, then takes his phone and tells his boyfriends to start thinking of Jimin the moment they see this message. The nurse doesn’t give extra information because he knows he doesn’t have to. When Jin finally walks into the building, explaining he had to park the car further away seeing as there was no free parking spot near the house, Namjoon waves his phone at him. Understanding that it’s something serious and to do with the younger, who is still glitching, Jin reads the message and starts to think of the very first time they met Jimin. Him scaring them and being so proud of himself.

After fifteen minutes, the spirit’s form becomes clear again, with the three men not knowing whether it’s because Jimin rested up enough or if it’s their thoughts that did the trick, they decide to be cautiously happy about him being seemingly fine. The four of them are sitting down, talking about their day when Tae and Hobi walk in. Immediately they run to Jimin and make sure he’s fine. The younger is confused, he doesn’t really know where all of their concern comes from.

”Did it work?”, Hobi asks, his voice a little unstable, eyes wild.

”Honestly? I don’t know, but I’d like to think so.”, Jin replies back.

The younger is confused, has no idea what’s going on or what they are talking about, but if there’s one thing he has mastered, it’s keeping quiet when the grown – ups are talking.

”Is Yoongi hyung coming?”, Jimin asks when everyone is done talking.

”Are we not good enough Jiminie? Are you already picking favourites?”, Tae teases the younger.

”What?! No no, hyung, I like all of you. I don’t… I mean… It’s just that hyung promised and if he doesn’t show up, I’ll be worried. Don’t get me wrong though! Iwouldbeworriedaboutallofyou!”, Jimin rambles, freaking out because the last thing he wants to happen is for one or more of them to feel left out and walk out his door, to never return again.

”Woah woah, calm down Jiminie, I was just joking.”, Tae says, placing himself in front of the spirit, “I didn’t mean it. I’m sorry for making you freak out, I keep forgetting you are not yet used to our banter.”

”Why is it, that the one time I’m here later than everyone else, you managed to upset my Little Spirit. He needs to save his energy, not burn it up on freaking out about potentially upsetting you. Aish… Also Jiminie, I brought the lock! No one is going to enter this house without our or your permission!”, Yoongi says fast, so much faster than he normally talks, which takes his boyfriends by surprise.

”While Yoongi installs the lock, we wanted to ask you something Jiminie”, Jin looks at the younger and continues once he nods, “Do you have anything planned this weekend?”

”Well, yes, I was thinking I might go see a musical and then I’d go for a walk in the park. Chilly, but sunny weather is my favourite you know. When I finish my walk, I plan on going for pancakes and hot chocolate milk. Yeah… My weekend is all filled up.”, Jimin replies, face straight.

”Oh, that’s too bad…”, Jin sighs disappointed.

”Hyung, please… Jimin told us yesterday he can’t go anywhere but here and the place his body is at. What plans would he have?”, Yoongi reminds the doctor, “For someone so smart… you can be so frustratingly oblivious sometimes. How can you not remember something that has been said only the day before?! This is not going to give Jiminie much hope that we can keep him alive if you keep forgetting everything he said…”

”I’m sorry Jiminie, I promise hyung will do better! You can count on me!”, Jin apologizes, looking more determined than ever to not mess up anymore from now on.

”What hyung was meant to say is that you should rest up well, your weekend will be filled up with a lot of us. We all took time off from work to spend Saturday and Sunday with you. That does mean we can’t stay around too long today, because as a thank you for getting the weekend off we are working longer hours the next few days, but Yoongi hyung will still come get his sandwiches and all of us will still come by daily, probably later than normal and only for an hour, but you will see us and our phones are still very much on so we can still text.”, Jungkook informs Jimin.

”Talking about not being able to stay long today, I actually think it’s time to go”, Hobi says sadly. All of them hate leaving Jimin, they don’t know what it is, but they feel so protective already over the spirit, even though they only know each other for a few days.


    

”Hyungs…”, they all turn to Jimin, seeing the frown on his face they know they’ll agree to whatever he’s about to ask them, “Can I take a picture of each of you for your phone contact?”

”Do you want to look at our faces when we are gone Jiminie? Are you going to miss us?”

”I won’t take a picture of Tae hyung, I’ll just use a standard avatar from my phone, like this smiling monkey one… Looks exactly like you.”, Jimin looks him dead in the face.

”You’ve been spending too much time with Yoongi hyung, he is not a good influence on you.”, Tae says bitterly.

”I beg to differ. Jiminie only spoke the truth after all.”, Yoongi says from the door.

One by one they take a selfie, just like Yoongi did, the second time they hang out. To make sure the spirit doesn’t completely deplete his energy, they set their own picture as their profile picture. Lastly, while Jimin looks at them from the sofa, they take a group picture.

”That way you can always remember what your hyungs look like Jiminie”, Namjoon tells him, “I’m sad we can’t take a picture of you though.”

    
Jimin reaches up the shelf and takes out a photo book. He places it on the table and allows the six men to look through it. Most of those photos show a very young Jiminie, none of them can deal with the cuteness of the little one in the frames, and in some of them he’s a teenager. The age of the younger in the photos are spread far and wide apart, which also tells them that he didn’t have a lot of opportunities to take pictures. One photo, on the last page captures their eyes though. It’s their Jimin, just a tiny bit younger, but looking exactly like the boy staring back at them. Baggy clothes, big eyes, the cutest expression on his face, an unruly mop of hair.

  

”Can we take a take a photo of this one?”, Hobi points at the last picture, asking for permission.

”You can photograph any of those. It’s all I can give you right now, but it’s something.”

Quickly they snap a few pictures starting from a very young Jimin to that very last picture. With a big smile on their faces, they are, somewhat, ready to go home. Leaving Jimin behind will never be easy.

”Oh Little Spirit?”

”Yes Yoongi hyung?”

”You better not change the background of your phone mister.”, the chef winks at the younger.

Chapter Text

On Saturday, the six boys enter the house while singing Happy Birthday loudly. They might be a few weeks too late, but they refuse to let Jimin’s 20th birthday go by without celebrating it, especially after he did not get to celebrate his coming – of – age birthday. Entering the house, everything is really quiet and for a hot minute they think the soul isn’t home yet, which they immediately realise is not an option as he is bound to the place. Looking for him, they find him in his room, floating above his desk, looking out over Seoul from the window. He isn’t moving and he isn’t in full form, they only know where he is because the sunlight illuminates his shimmering form. When the younger notices he isn’t alone anymore, he turns around and looks at his six hyungs, the look in his eyes is sad, his beautiful smile they have gotten used to is nowhere to be found.

”Are you okay Jiminie?”, Yoongi asks, walking closer to the younger and seeing his tired expression.

”Yeah, I’m good hyungie… I just… Remembered something that I had pushed away for a bit and it came back full force…”, Jimin replied vaguely.

”Do you want to talk about it?”

”No, Yoongi hyung, it’s fine. Just… I guess I need to learn how to trust you more.”, Jimin sighs, then rubs his eyes.

”What do you mean?”, This time it’s Tae who speak up softly, which Jimin thinks is very weird seeing how loud his hyung always is.

”You texted me yesterday that you couldn’t make it, but that you would be here in the morning to spend the entire day with me… I told you I understood and that I was fine, and for most of the day I was… I guess I’m just really afraid of being abandoned again…”

”Again?”, Namjoon catches the use of that little word and wonders what the soul exactly means with that.

”It’s nothing. You are here now. Let’s spend the day together, but only if you want to. I totally understand if you have different plans and need to leave in a bit.”, Jimin whispers, sounding insecure.

”There is no leaving you today mister. We promised you we would celebrate your birthday today and that is exactly what we will be doing! Unless, you want to do something else, but we even brought you a cake! You might not be able to eat it, but you can blow the candles and make a wish.”, Hobi smiles.

”I also brought Just Dance as promised, there’s a handful of board games and before we came here, we bought us some nerve guns! We’ll have all the fun today!”, Jungkook walks closer to Jimin, showing him the bag full of games, hoping that will distract the younger from his gloomy mood.

“What do you want to do first. Blow out candles, play a game, shoot some people?”, Yoongi asks the younger, but the distant look in his eyes tells him that the maknae isn’t present in this conversation, “Jiminie? Are you sure you don’t want to talk about it?”

”I just… I’ve been feeling very out of it… Spending yesterday on my own with a low energy level and my brain telling me you wouldn’t come back, even though you kept texting, so I had no reason to believe you wouldn’t come back… Also, I heard my dad talk… My mother has officially forgotten about me. I mean… I had an idea, the last food box I got wasn’t the same as the one’s before. Normally she would write a letter, place it in the box and then put inspirational quotes or funny anecdotes on all the containers. She would remind me of eating healthy, of working hard in school and quitting my jobs if it became too much. The last box was filled with food, but there wasn’t a letter, not even one of her notes. I guess I didn’t want to see the truth, I didn’t want to believe that she was doing worse… On top of that… My doctor’s voice is getting louder… Which means my soul might be leaving this place soon and be stuck in my body, when that happens… Well… I won’t be here anymore, if you know what I mean…”

”I don’t think we are following Min.”, Jin tells him.

”It means… I’ll die… Once my soul is stuck in my body, it means it has given up. My body, not my soul. I can still live on in the afterlife, until you forget about me too. Which you will, because we’ve only known each other for a few days. You’ll forget what I look like, my voice, you don’t even know my smell… We haven’t even had that much fun together. You’ll forget me in a heartbeat even though I won’t have one anymore…”

”Okay, first of all… Don’t worry about it just yet. You are still here, with us. We’ll make sure that we’ll take more pictures home with us, we’ll hang them everywhere. We’ll make videos in which we talk about our memories with you, maybe you can write some notes to us that we can hang on our walls. Don't worry, we will feed your soul. You’ll see, once you feel our energy, your body will keep fighting too.”, Tae smiles hopefully.

”If you want to, we can visit your parents? Take care of them too, so you don’t have to worry about them? We wouldn’t mind.”, Namjoon proposes.

”My family knows I have no friends, if you six barge in, claiming that we are friends, they won’t believe you. My dad will think you’re trying to scam him out of his money.”

”How about we try to have fun today, make some memories, because the more we know about you and the more we have to remember you by, the longer we’ll be able to keep you alive. Also, maybe it’s time to tell us more about your condition or where you are?”, Yoongi looks at the younger, “I promise you that we are here to stay, even if you wake up and aren’t a ghost anymore. I don’t think you’ll be much different from who you are now. Once you wake up, and I know you will, we can help you out so you don’t have to stay on your own.”

”I… Maybe later. It’s only been a week or so… It’s so short. You can’t make that promise without knowing me better.”, Jimin says them, his voice unstable, sad.

”We won’t push you in this Jiminie, but as your hyung, I want you to know that myself, and the other five men in this room, already adore you and not just because it’s cool to be friends with a spirit.”, Jungkook laughs, “Let’s have fun, make memories, celebrate your birthday and forget your worries for a bit. We’ll be besties before you know it.”

The gym instructor walks up to the ghost and holds out his hand, when Jimin tries to take it, he notices that it isn’t working and sees his hand go straight through Jungkook’s. With a shiver the older of the two stands still, looks forward without blinking and doesn’t react to Jimin calling his name. Yoongi immediately understands what is happening and hopes his boyfriend will share it with the rest later, which he does the minute they sit down in the living room and Jimin demands he makes them drinks. Having his phone, he found a great mocktail online that he wants to try and with the groceries he asked Yoongi to bring him last night, he now has the ingredients to make them.

”Jimin, why don’t you sit down here. Stay put. Be a good boy and wait for us. We are just going to buy you ice cream in that parlour over there. We’ll be back soon! Good boys deserve rewards, right?”, The woman smiles at him, the man waves. Both adults wear clothes that are overly worn, the woman’s are still somewhat bright in colour, the man’s are every shade of brown.

The young boy, he can’t be older than five, sits on his hands, trying to keep them from fidgeting. Good boys get ice cream, but he knows his new parents don’t like his hands moving all the time, so he has to keep them still in order to get his treat. His little legs are swaying back and forth, his big eyes are taking in everything that happens around him. The trees swaying in the wind, the ducks waddling by, the water that splashes down in the fountain, the bees zooming between the colourful flowers, all those families walking past him, dogs barking in the distance… There is so much to see in the park, that the younger boy doesn’t even notice that his parents never even enter the ice cream parlour, but walk in the alley next to it, then walked back out and start running away with a little bag of white substance in the man’s hand, while the woman giggles loudly.

Without any idea of how time passes, Jimin keeps waiting and waiting and waiting… The only way for him to know that his family stays away for a long time is because his stomach is grumbling and he still hasn’t had his ice cream. For a moment he thinks he should go into the ice cream parlour. If something happened to his parents, maybe he can help, but he doesn’t move. Good boys get ice cream, Jimin is a good boy.

It gets dark and then it gets light again, the clouds go from sunny to cloudy to windy, and the wind starts blowing much harder than before. Sitting in a sweater that has too many holes, shorts that are a little too short for this weather and shoes that aren’t exactly waterproof, Jimin feels the first drops of rain fall. No one stops, apparently seeing a young, drenched boy on a bench is a normal sight, so Jimin does the one thing he can do to shelter him from this miserable reality. He puts himself down on the wet bench, in the pouring rain and falls asleep. His tiny body is exhausted from the cold, the rain and the hunger. By now he also peed his pants several times, which no one notices because of how wet he is. When he comes to, he’s surrounded by soft blankets, his eyes are heavy and the only thing they notice is too much white, it hurts so much. The young boy starts to cry, he’s convinced he’s in heaven and it scares him.

Seeing a nurse come in, who tells him a man had brought him in after finding him lying, unmoving, on the wet bench in the pouring rain looking light blue and coughing his lungs out, Jimin is just happy he is still alive, but then he remembers that good boys get ice cream and he never got his… There is no sign of his parents or his ice cream… Seeing the man from the orphanage come in, Jimin understand what that means, he has seen him a few times now, these parents were his second family he was placed in.

”Jimin, do you want to come with me again, once you are better?”, The man looks at him with a sad look in his eyes, Jimin doesn’t like it. He is the only one who’s only ever been kind to him, so if he can make him smile by nodding, he’ll do just that. Answering yes does make the man happier, “What are you thinking of Jimin?”

”I’m a bad boy.”, the younger whispers, his face falls. Talking hurts, his throat feels like it’s on fire, just like his skin.

”Why would you say that?”, The man questions.

”Good boys get ice cream…”, Jimin sighs, a tear escaping from his eye.

”Well, how about I go get you one then, because all the nurses here have told me how kind and good you have been.”

The smile on Jimin’s face brings out the sunlight in the skies, it is that bright. The man doesn’t understand why the young boy in this clinically white room gets mistreated so often, when he has the kindest heart, but he is determined to find the right family for this very small child.

When Jungkook finally, properly, wakes up from his daze he looks at Yoongi and tells him he doesn’t like the feeling of a flashback, it chilled him to bones and he can’t seem to shake it off.

”How do you deal with it hyung. The goosebumps are still here and I can’t unsee the imagine of little Jimin sitting on that bench in the rain, or the little bundle of blanket in the bed with the mop of black hair sticking out from underneath or just the hopeful look when that guy said he’s giving Jimin his ice cream. I feel like this is going to stick with me forever… How do you do it? Watch it and then move on?”

”I don’t move on from them. Every night I dream of one of the Jimin’s I’ve seen, especially the one who was thrown down the stairs and then clinging onto the man of the orphanage because he was so afraid… But this is the only information we are getting about him, unless he decides to talk to us. I fear that it might be a while, because if you never had someone to trust in your life, it’s hard to believe that you suddenly have them now. Also, who would want to relive everything they had gone through if their past is filled with sadness, fear, disappointment… I wouldn’t either.”, Yoongi confesses.

“Who wants some mocktails?!”, Jimin’s voice yells from the kitchen, “If you do, they are in here and you can come get them. If you don’t, too bad! You still want them because I worked really hard on them and depleted all of my energy and I will keep guilt tripping you into drinking these drinks until you’ve all tried them!”

The boys have to laugh at the soul’s little speech. As if they’d refuse anything he makes for them. Walking into the kitchen, they see six glasses with the most pink drink ever, none of them like what it looks like, but once they taste it, they are totally addicted to it. It’s fruity and sugary, maybe a little too sweet, but there’s a little bit of sour too and it just works. The bright coloured paper umbrellas on top finish the entire drink and it makes them coo. This drink is definitely something that only Jimin would make. They take a quick picture, then clink their glasses and continue drinking.

With the drinks gone, they set up Just Dance in the hopes that it settles Jimin’s mood even more. The soul has no clue what the game is about and once he sees his hyungs flail around, he doesn’t even want to try the game. He just wants to keep looking and laughing at their moves. Tears in his eyes are pooling together and proper belly laughing coming from the youngest, has his friends try even harder to make him laugh. Jimin is literally glowing right now, it’s the brightest his figure has ever been and it gives them hope that he’ll be better, that he won’t just fade out on them. The ‘Just Dance’ part of the day covers several hours and only stops because the maknae can’t stop laughing and is begging them to stop in order to collect himself.

After that they play some Monopoly, but never having played a board game, he has no clue what the smart choices are to make in this game and loses easily. It doesn’t bother him, watching everyone quarrel and calling each other ‘cheater’ and ‘thief’, makes him happy. This is the atmosphere he’s always wanted to experience and live in, he thinks he can feel his heart actually jump around in his chest. With everyone else getting hungry, they put candles on the cake and have him blow them out. Yoongi smiles at the younger who has the biggest grin on his face and is looking back at him, both thinking back of that one time Yoongi nearly burned down the house because Jimin scared him on the first day they met.

While Jin is cutting the cake so the six of them can eat it, they finally show Jimin his gifts, the newest Nintendo with some games the boys themselves enjoy and hope Jimin will like, a few books about science that Namjoon picked out for him and some mixtapes they made with songs they all like in the hopes that Jimin will enjoy their music as well. The silver haired boy’s eyes are shining when he opens his gifts, he almost starts to cry, and when the boys ask if they messed up because he’s so quiet, the soul tells them he’s just never had birthday presents. His birthdays at his parents' house were the happiest he had, but they never involved gifts. They did spend time together, his mother cooked him his favourite food and they’d watch a movie he wanted to see. That was more than enough for the younger, he got attention, they sang for him and he got a lot of hugs. This though, the gifts, the games, the laughter, the blowing out of the candles, even the cake he can’t eat, it’s just the best surprise, one he never thought he’d have again. His laughter is the best gift to the six men looking at him. None of them understand how he can be happy with so little in his life and even though the gifts may have been more expensive, it’s nothing like what they would normally do on birthdays seeing as they always go all out. Seeing him this happy though, their hearts smile along. In that moment, they furiously hope that they can celebrate his next birthday with a living Jimin and not this flickering figure. He deserves to be spoiled rotten and do things he never had the opportunity to do.

Having been focused on eating their cake and giving the spirit some time with his gifts, they suddenly notice how quiet the room has gotten. Looking at the end of the sofa, where Jimin had been floating a few minutes ago, they notice the books, the Nintendo and the cd’s on the couch in a pile, with no Jimin in sight. The boys start to freak out. Yoongi jumps from the couch and starts to look through every room while screaming Jimin’s name, Hobi is doing the exact same thing, while Taehyung and Jungkook start throwing every memory they made with the younger out there, they talk so fast it’s impossible to figure out what memory they are trying to think of. Before Jin and Namjoon can actually think of doing something, their phones go off, they are needed for an emergency in the hospital and seeing as they are two of the most stress resistant doctors, they are needed asap. Both men apologise, then run out of the door while yelling to think harder of Jimin, to not let him disappear.

In the hospital, Jin and Namjoon are immediately directed to the right OR. Running in, changing into their medical gear and washing their hands, they are informed about the patient lying on the hospital table who is about to die. His heart is failing him for a while now, but they think there’s more going on than just heart failure. They believe the boy doesn’t have enough oxygen in his heart, which is causing the heart attack. If they don’t handle the situation quickly, he is definitely going to die.

Once they are in the OR and everyone has taken their place, the two men get to work immediately. It isn’t an easy surgery and the only thing they can do is patch him up temporarily. The only way the boy can heal is with a heart transplant. Every time they open him up and fix his heart, it’s like adding a band aid to a wound that won’t close without proper stitching. When they close the boy's chest back up and put the scalpel away, that’s when the doctor and the nurse notice the patient’s face for the first time. An innocent, young man, with a button nose, pink pillowy lips and bright orange hair. Their breaths are knocked out of their lungs, suddenly the room feels stuffy, their visions start to blur and they are taken back to that moment six months ago, where the patient was wheeled into the ER, having been found after he himself called the ambulance right before losing consciousness. This is where they’ve known Jimin from, they’ve actually known him for months. How did they not remember? How did they forget he was in their hospital all along? They could have visited him, talked to him. It’s not even that hard, especially for Namjoon who could have asked to put Jimin on his rounds. Both men feel incredibly stupid right now and scared, because the situation is much more dire than they thought it was. When Jimin told them it was literally a race between his heart and his soul, they thought he meant some sort of heartbreak, not an actual malfunctioning heart.

Four hours later the silver-haired boy’s silhouette pops up again. It’s still vage and blurry, but he’s there, still sitting where he sat before, at the edge of the couch, not moving whatsoever. His eyes are closed and his lips are moving as if he’s praying silently. He only opens his eyes twenty minutes later when the door is thrown open and his two eldest hyungs run in with wild eyes, their hair all over the place and some spots of blood still on their face. None of the other men are shocked to see them like this, seeing as this is how they mostly come back to them after a difficult surgery, but Jimin can’t look away. With his soul stuck between the house and the hospital, he knows exactly what happened and he’s not sure how he feels about this entire situation. The soul wasn’t ready yet to tell them about his bad health, about his failing heart. He didn’t want them to feel obligated to stay or to visit him or to worry every minute of every day. Yet, with the two now knowing everything, including how the inside of his body looks like, he guesses there’s no other option but for the other four to find out as well…

With Jimin being tired, his hyungs take their leave but not before promising that they will never skip a day from now on. There will always be at least one person visiting. Namjoon and Jin worry, if this is the effect of them not coming by for one day, then what will happen to the boy if it happens more regularly. Neither man wants to lose Jimin and they are sure, once they tell their boyfriends what they found out, that they’ll agree. The younger was so out of it all day, simply because they weren’t around for a day. His fear of being abandoned spiked, his sadness took over…What if all of that has an effect on his soul or his heart… What if his heart isn’t just ill, what if it is also literally breaking? So many what ifs and so little things they can do to help. Keeping Jimin’s soul alive isn’t going to be enough to heal him. How are the men going to explain it to the other four who are currently sitting quietly in the car, ready to hear what their partners have to say?
Arriving at home, the two men stay quiet. It’s not until everyone has brushed their teeth and is sitting on their bed that they decide to talk. The both of them do not really know where to start, but when Yoongi tells them to just start at the beginning, they decide to take it all the way back. They tell them about the boy who called them right before he lost consciousness, how his heart had to be patched up several times but how neither of them were ever there for it because they weren’t major surgeries, how the nurses always gushed about how pretty the boy was and how good his orange hair fit with his pale complexion, even though him being this pale was cause for worry... They talk about how the only two people ever visiting him are his parents who aren’t his actual parents, but some sort of adoptive mother and father who couldn’t afford to adopt him and how they are trying to keep him alive by patching him up because finding a new heart, which is the only solution, isn’t easy. They talk about how when they met Jimin he seemed familiar and when they finished the surgery they went to earlier that day, they finally noticed his face. The boy on the operation table was the same boy they brought in six months ago, the same boy with the striking orange hair and the insanely pale complexion. How that boy is the same boy they have been visiting for the past week. They tell them that the boy, whose heart they are trying to fix but will never properly be able to, is the same boy who shimmers so brightly when he is happy, but who is also slowly fading away. They tell them that’s why Jimin was so familiar to them, they had seen him before but never connected the dots. Seeing as their boyfriends are quiet and letting it all sink in, they decide to continue and tell them the hardest part.

”Jimin won’t ever get better unless he has a heart transplant… We can keep remembering him, we can send him well wishes, but that will not do much for now. It will keep his soul alive, which would result in us meeting again after we’ve died, but it won’t save his body. With how bad his heart is working, we don’t give him a lot of time anymore… A few months tops. What we can do for now is give him the best time and make him feel as if he’s part of our family, but whatever we do, we can’t keep him alive, not unless we can find a heart donor, which is impossible without anyone else dying…”

They all gasp, none of them had realised how bad the soul’s situation was. That night, no one sleeps, they all just cry and keep coming up with impossible ideas. They also make the promise of never leaving Jimin alone for more than a couple of hours, that way, if he ends up disappearing, he at least won’t be alone. Namjoon agrees to put Jimin on his rounds as well, he already planned on doing it anyway, but if his boyfriends need to hear it then he’ll easily make that promise. Jin also decides to go by daily and when their boyfriends hear that the younger is allowed to have visitors, they all want to see the younger. Jin and Namjoon ask to not do that just yet. The spirit’s dad still comes by a lot and Jimin’s body can’t handle a lot of noise and stress. With them sitting next to his bed and asking him not to give up, it would put such a burden on him, that his heart would cave in sooner rather than later. For now, they’ll stay away, visit soul Jimin even more and have fun with him. No word will be uttered about his condition and how they know more than what he told them. The boys know Jimin isn’t dumb and that he is aware the eldest two will have informed all of them, but unless Jimin is talking about it, and it doesn’t look like he’ll do that any time soon, they’ll ignore the issue when they are around him. Giving Jimin a happy life, no matter how long it still lasts, is what matters right now.

As always, Yoongi shows up in the morning for his breakfast sandwiches. Before even thinking of opening the door, he takes a few deep breaths, then puts the biggest smile on his face that he can muster and walks straight to the kitchen. By now, they have formed a little routine, which is the chef walking into the kitchen for his food, then walking out to the couch with a cup of coffee, have a bit of banter and then the older has to leave. With Yoongi gone, Jimin takes his phone, sends a ‘good morning’ message to the group chat and then lies down for an hour. Normally, he would put on some music to listen to while his eyes are closed, but today he decides to open one of the books he got as a gift. He grabs one that is called ‘The Great Mathematical Problems’ and opens it. Within a few minutes he is fully engrossed in it. The silver-haired boy has completely forgotten how much he liked maths and science, this book piques his interest again, even though he has to reread several parts again to fully grasp it. He might have applied to study science in college, but the bit of knowledge he had was not as advanced as the math in this book.

When the door opens again it’s 4pm Jimin is still reading his books and doesn’t notice the six men walk in. They look at him, take in how much he flickers, how his glow is much softer than usual, but still stronger than yesterday. According to Namjoon, who went to see him in the hospital, he is doing a bit better than the previous day and there is actual hope that he’ll be doing even better in a few days. Seeing him lie down, floating above the sofa that contains his book, they breathe in. Throughout the entire day they were worried about him, none of them had a clue how he was doing, especially because their messages never got an answer. Watching Jimin struggle to turn the page, they realize it must have been too hard to grab his phone from the table it’s on, open it and push all those buttons.

”Maybe one of us should take some time off from work, to make sure he doesn’t just vanish.”, Jungkook whispers.

”I don’t think Jimin would like that, especially when he figures out it’s to keep an eye out for him. He’s going to complain about it, he’ll feel guilty for us not being able to have time off together.”, Hoseok replies just as quietly.

”How about we all take time off?”, Tae suggests.

”I think I’d rather keep my days for when he’s actually gone, to either camp out in the hospital or to mourn. It is morbid to think about that, but at the moment I can’t believe we’ll be able to keep him, not with what Jin hyung shared with us yesterday.”, Yoongi sighs sadly, “I don’t want him to go on his own, I need him to be surrounded by people who adore him till the very end.”

They all agree. If anyone deserves to be surrounded with happiness it’s the younger who doesn’t really know what it’s like to feel wanted, to feel like he belongs somewhere.

”JIMINIE! HYUNGS ARE BACK!”, Tae screams, just as loudly as he normally would, pretending as if his heart isn’t in pain, “AND I BROUGHT PICTURES FROM ALL OF US THAT WE CAN HANG UP IN THE LIVING ROOM.”

While the others are closing their ears, trying not to suffer too badly from all the screaming, Tae jumps over the couch and lands next to Jimin with the biggest smile on his face.

”WANT TO SEE THEM?”

”Tae hyung”, Jimin smiles back, just as big, “You know you don’t have to shout right, I’m a spirit, not bad of hearing…”

”Meh, whatever. At least now I’m sure you hear me. When I was younger, people told me to speak up, now they need me to shut up. Honestly Jiminie, people need to make up their minds.”, Tae winks at the younger.

”Well, in that case, be as loud as you want to be. Just make sure no one walks in here to see which ghost is screaming so loudly and before you say something... I know there’s a lock on the door, but you never seem to use it when you are all inside, so people can still walk in and assume all of you are the ghosts.”, Jimin replies grinning, “And yes, I know I’m not a ghost, but people who enter this building think I am, hence my choice of words.”

”I understood though”, Tae chuckles, “No need to explain yourself.”

”You say that now, but I saw Yoongi hyung open his mouth already. I’m sure he was going to go fully 'know – it - all hyung' on me.”, the maknae smirks, sticking his tongue out.

”Rude! I would never. I knew exactly what you meant Min-ah. Hyung lives longer than you, which means I have much more experience than you.”, Yoongi winks back.

”Pfrt, who says? Your boyfriends who don’t want to break your heart? Guess what hyung, mine is already broken, people don’t need to protect me. At least I can handle the truth, which is that I’m way smarter than anyone here, except for maybe Namjoon hyung.”

”Aish, you are a brat. If I could flick your head, I would.”, The chef shoots back.

”Perks of being a soul. How much does it suck to be stuck in a human body you can kick at all times?”

”That’s enough for now. The quarrelling is very cute and all, but also extremely tiring. Jiminie, do you mind if we eat here?”, Jin asks him, not wanting to make the younger jealous by doing something he can’t anymore.

”No hyung, go for it. What did you bring?”

”Nothing yet, I was thinking we could order some fried chicken.”, The doctor replies.

”Wait, you are going to order food and have it delivered at the door of the town’s haunted house. That poor delivery guy. I wish I were a fly and could see him receive that order. He is probably going to think he’s about to die. Should I scare him? For the fun of it?”, Jimin laughs mischievously.

”Jimin! Who raised you?!”, Namjoon giggles.

”No one! Not one family I was placed in put in the effort of raising me. Well no, that’s a lie. My mum and dad did, but I only lived with them for about two years, so… Basically no one. The fact that I turned out this okay is a miracle, really.”, Jimin replies, the others fall silent. None of them understand how Jimin can joke about his past like this, but they also don’t want to be the ones who ruin the atmosphere.

In the next week, they visit Jimin every day, some days they go all together, on other days they go in smaller groups. On those days they tell the one’s that couldn’t make it what they learned about the younger. It’s when they figure out that Jimin’s voice is picked up by the voice recorder on their phones, because Jungkook and Tae were filming an Instagram reel, that they now tape all their conversations. That way, they’ll always remember Jimin’s voice and they can all just listen to the recording at the end of the night to know what was being said that day.

”Oh, ehm… How did I survive the first six months while living here? Well, as you know I had two jobs, a dog walker and a tutor. Living with families, I could save up quite a lot, but living on your own, even with weekly food boxes and not having to pay rent, there are still a lot of expenses, so I went to school and then worked until midnight. My homework I did in school during lunch or while the kids were doing their own exercises. I didn’t have a lot of time for it, but paying attention in class I already remembered a lot of the material, so doing homework mostly went easy. With the money I earned, I put more than half aside and then mostly bought cup noodles, sandwiches and soup, pretzels or sausages. I also always bought water and once in a while a bottle of soju. Unless I needed new clothes or school supplies, I didn’t need a lot of money. Applying for a university wasn’t too hard with the scores I got in school, so quickly I was accepted in multiple universities. I was doubting between staying in Seoul or going back to Busan, but then I dropped dead, literally, and never got to reply. My dad called both universities to explain what happened and they both told him there will be a place for me still if I ever wake up.”

”What school would you pick now?”, Yoongi asks him, somehow nervous to hear the answer. It’s as if, depending on what his reply is, he could lose him a second time.

”Ah, at first, I was thinking Busan. Living close to my parents would be nice, but if I ever woke up and I would still remember you… and… if you’d still… You know… Like me… I wouldn’t be opposed to staying here. Although, living in this house on my own is quite lonely, but not seeing you every day would be very sad too…”, Jimin answers honestly.

Listening to that recording the boys decide to stay the entire weekend with Jimin. Him telling and showing them over and over again that he doesn’t want them to leave, that he needs them to stay, that he is genuinely afraid of not being around them makes their hearts feel heavy. None of them know what it feels like to be this lonely, they have gone days without seeing their boyfriends and are fine with a sole text at night, but on bad days Jimin can’t even send them a message… Everything they took for granted, is now put in a new light and makes them want to work harder in order to give Jimin the best time of his life.

At the end of the recording, they hear Jimin scold himself for wanting to keep them close, especially because they have a life of their own, one he doesn’t belong to and never will… How he should let them go seeing as that will be less painful on them once he’s gone. It breaks their hearts to hear him say those words. All of them are doing the best job at ignoring that one day Jimin will be gone, that he won’t be a part of their lives anymore, but seeing as the soul thinks about it all the time… How he wants to set them free to make it hurt less… Jimin is an angel, for now metaphorically, but soon literally and it makes them all cry again. The amount of tears they have shed over the younger is insane, but it shows them how important he became to them in such a short time.

     
That weekend they help him clean the house, or better, they don’t allow the younger to move from the couch while they clean the house. It’s the first time in a while that all the dust is actually wiped away, they paint the house in a lot of different colours seeing as Jimin told them in the previous week that he loves colourful places and wants to have a rainbow house one day. His bathroom is blue, his toilet is dark green, his bedroom is dark yellow, the living room is light purple and his kitchen is the brightest pink anyone has ever seen by the end of that weekend. They even bought new furniture and checked out every electric wire sticking out from the walls. By the end of the weekend, not only does the soul’s place look brand new, he is also glowing. The six boyfriends think for a hot second they can see bright red cheeks, but when they blink, he looks like he always does, silver, glowy silver, shimmery silver and bright silver. When Hobi mouths ’50 shades of Silver’ to his boyfriends, they all giggle. Jimin doesn’t understand what’s happening, but he doesn’t care. He feels better, less tired and happier, his house looks incredible and he is surrounded by six men he adores and who seem to want to stay, just as much as he wants them to stick around.

For the younger, these feelings are new. Sure, he has always wanted to belong, but besides the few years he lived with his eomma and appa, he never wanted to stay somewhere, he never wanted to plant his roots and make that place his home, he never wanted the families to stay around and the feeling was mutual when it came to all his adoptive relatives. They never liked him. Either he was too small, too frail, too skinny, too girly, too emotional… In every family something was wrong with him. Despite having a fear of being left behind, some of his best memories are also that, him being dropped off at the adoption center because he wasn’t a great match for the people he was living with at that time. 

That Sunday evening, they tell the spirit that they have to go back home, seeing as none of them packed work clothes, but if he wants to, they’ll come back after work with extra outfits so they can stay for the week. They’ll leave their air mattresses, but will go home pack a new bag, wash the dirty laundry they have now, they’ll bring more groceries, extra shower soap and shampoo because the little bit they brought now will never get them through the week. Jimin has a little dance party at that and even though he is jokingly moving around, Hobi immediately recognises the feeling for rhythm the spirit has, which makes him ecstatic. One day, when they are able to save Jimin and he truly believes they can, because no way would whatever deity let this little bean die, he’ll bring him to the dance studio he often occupies and teach him a few moves.

Leaving him behind, is once again filled with tears, lot of pouts coming from their maknae and him clinging onto Yoongi for dear life. It’s only when all of them kiss him on the top of his head and pinkie promise that they’ll be back in under 24 hours that he lets them go. The minute the door closes, Jimin starts to feel tingly and not trusting what is happening to him right now, he quickly takes a piece of paper and a pen, writes a note that he can barely finish before he sees his hands disappear, he stands up, runs to the nearest mirror and is just in time to see himself vanish. This isn’t like the previous times where he could decide himself whether he wanted to be visible or not, whether he wanted to save his energy or not. This is clearly decided by his body and it’s not giving him a choice.

At around 6pm, the following day, all men walk in, anxious. They have taken over Yoongi’s jitters. The chef has been anxious all day because he couldn’t make it for his breakfast sandwiches, which he had texted to the younger, who still hasn’t read or replied to it, and for some reason that made him nervous throughout the day. It also didn’t help that he woke up from a nightmare in which he saw the younger vanish in front of his eyes. Looking around and not seeing Jimin it scares them, all of them. When Jin’s phone goes off, all of them, collectively, know what time it is. This isn’t their promised several months with the younger, which angers them. A week… That is all they were given. A fricking week, while they were promised months, several weeks, maybe even half a year! Not a bloody week! While Jin is listening to the person rambling on the phone, Yoongi finds a note on the livingroom table, in which what he feared the most all day has been confirmed.

Hyungs,

I’m sorry for not being here, but I think… No, I’m sure my heart is giving up.
Thank you for all the memories and no matter what, even if I die, please…
Remember me.

Jiminie.

Chapter Text

Dropping the note, they all run home as fast as they can to pick up their car and drive to the hospital. Frustrations run high when they have to stop for every red light and for a moment, they all just want to ignore them and just drive on, but then they remind themselves that if they get into an accident, they can’t help Jimin out, they can’t keep remembering him, they can’t hold his hand and be with him until the very end. That thought is what calms them down. Although they all swear every time they have to stop or when a slow driver inserts themselves in front of their car. Arriving at the hospital, Jin and Namjoon immediately run to the OR where the younger once again has been brought to, the other four ask the receptionist for his room and make their way there.

In the silver haired boy’s room, they keep on walking up and down, tapping their fingers on the wooden table and moving their knees rapidly up and down. The ticking of the clock drives them insane and even the drilling sound of the construction site next to the hospital works on their nerves. If they don’t hear anything soon, they won’t be responsible for their own actions. Three hours later, Jimin is wheeled back into the room. His orange hair a stark contrast against his sickly white skin. Watching him, they are shocked that he’s lying in front of them, that he looks exactly the same yet so different from the spirit they have befriended, that he is actually real. With all the wires wrapped around the boy, none of them dare to touch him, none of them dare to move, so when Namjoon and Jin walk in half an hour later, the room is deadly quiet.

”It was the same problem as last week. There wasn’t enough oxygen in his heart, so he was having a seizure. Once we were trying to fix that, we also noticed that not enough blood is pumping through his heart, so we tried to solve that too. Sadly enough, it’s all still temporary and we will have to do this until we can’t anymore or until a donor is found. Do me a favour though, if ever a different nurse than Namjoon walks in, don’t tell them Joon and I know Jimin. If they figure out that we do, we aren’t allowed to operate on him anymore. Which means, we won’t be there if he dies during a surgery and we can’t be there if they do find a transplant. Which will also mean that you have to wait for information much longer than you have now.”, Jin tells them.

Everyone promises to keep their mouths shut. The hospital staff knows the two men are dating, but they don’t know they have more than one boyfriend. It’s not that they are ashamed of their boyfriends, it’s that it never came up and because society can be judgemental. Also, the less their colleagues are aware of who they know and date, the more they can be there for their partners if something happens in the future. The both of them aren’t willing to wait to find out what happens when they can be the ones to receive any kind of news first.

For the next few days, they all stay at Jimin’s bed. They go home two by two, to take a shower and pack an overnight bag, when they have to eat, they do the same thing. Two different people will pick up the food they ordered from the cafetaria and on days Jimin’s appa is with them, they pay for his food too so the man can stay with his son. Hearing the soul’s father talk about his son, none of them understand why his life had to be so hard. The fact that he took a job as a paper boy at the age of 15 to help pay for his mother’s medication, the fact that he never stopped studying and aimed for the highest possible score in every class, to show his parents that them spending money on him wasn’t a waste of funds. Him taking on more paper rounds, simply so he could start saving up for college or university in case he didn’t get a scholarship. Jimin being accepted in two of Korea's most prestigious science universities and even in Stanford, which they are surprised about because the maknae never told them that fact. Him refusing Stanford immediately when his mother got worse, to make sure his dad didn’t have to deal with her illness on his own seems like such a Jimin move, even though they don’t know him that well. Yet, him providing yoongi with sandwiches, making mocktails for them, sending them texts when they ask him to… They aren’t surprised that his kindness shines through in whatever decision he makes.

Whenever his father isn’t sitting with him, two of the boys are holding his hands. They also keep talking to him. Jin told them that coma patients can hear whenever someone is talking to them and even though some of them are sceptic about it, they decide to give the theory the benefit of the doubt, and do it anyway. Whenever they don’t feel like talking or have no idea of what to talk about, they play some of the mixtapes they made for the younger. Every other day, they have to call in a doctor and Jimin is wheeled out of his room, to be brought back hours later. According to Namjoon, things are becoming really bad and none of the doctors have high hopes that they actually can save Jimin. Every single person who has tried to save him so far is preparing themselves to say goodbye to the younger, and against his will, he advices his boyfriends to do the same. It silences them once more, because doing that, means giving up on their promise to help Jimin, but not preparing themselves would shatter them even more.

It’s Jungkook who gives them a little sprinkle of hope by remembering that one of his clients in the gym is a surgeon too. Maybe he has some contacts when it comes to donors, although how do you even find a heart donor? It’s not something you can easily give up, like a kidney. He decides to call the man anyway and he promises Jungkook that he’ll ask around. Yoongi asks one of his loyal customers in the restaurant he works at how she acquired a donor for her wife. They once got talking about their families, to which the woman opened up to him about her wife’s lung transplant. The woman was so grateful that Yoongi wanted to listen to her, that she now comes to dinner twice a week, every Wednesday after her work and every Saturday as date night with her partner. The woman gives him a phone number of someone who helped her and wishes him good luck. Thanks to both phone calls, Jimin is pushed up higher on the donor list. Normally they would never do things like this, their life isn’t more important than that of anyone else, but Jimin hasn’t had a chance to feel loved, to belong, to just live and they want him to have a chance to experience it all. When Jungkook’s client calls them and tells them he was able to push the soul to the number one spot on the heart transplant list, they thank him profusely. When the call is disconnected, they all bawl their eyes out. Jimin isn’t saved yet, but there is a chance, no matter how small, that they can help him as long as he keeps holding on.

Another five days later everything seems to happen all at once. Jin gets called with the news that they have found a potential donor for the maknae, Jimin’s heart stops beating in that moment, his skin turns blue, his breath stops and panic ensues. In order to give him a new heart he needs to stay alive, so without thinking Jin climbs on the bed, on top of Jimin and starts to reanimate him with the assistance of Namjoon. While he’s doing that the bed is wheeled out once again to the OR, leaving behind four traumatized men, who are silently crying while praying out loud. None of them believe in God, but they promise they won’t be too sceptic about religion if the deity keeps Jimin alive long enough. None of them knows what is happening in the OR and it kills them, so they keep doing what they can, which is pray, cry, bite their finger nails and hope.

Ten minutes later, two people walk into their room, both of them seem in their early fifties and are crying just as much. Before the men can question who these people are, a doctor walks in behind them and introduces them as Mr and Mrs Yang. The doctor quickly explains that their son has drowned earlier that day when he was dared to go swim in the sea by his friends even though the coast guard advised against it. Because of the cold and the waves that kept on crashing into him, they were too late to save him. His brain died first as a lack of oxygen, his heart is still beating, but without his brain working and therefore him not being able to breath on his own, they don’t know how long his heart is going to function on its own. Instead of putting him in a bed, hooked up on all sorts of machines, knowing their son won’t get better, the Yang’s want to give his heart to someone who needs it, someone who will be helped with it, someone who deserves a second shot at life. After having heard Jimin’s story, they decided he was a right a fit, that is if the heart accepts his body. The only condition they need the men to agree with is that they get to meet Jimin if he wakes up, so they get to know the man who has their son’s heart and will hopefully keep it safe. All four of them agree immediately. They can’t even find a reason to disagree. Their Jimin will live on, hopefully, and knowing him he would love to thank them, which now is possible seeing as they want to visit him. It’s the easiest of requests and denying it would be extremely ungrateful. Once the agreement is made, the doctor leaves the room in a hurry and runs to the OR. The four boyfriends hug the parents close and offer them their condolences. Having to say goodbye to your son isn’t an easy thing to deal with, having to make a decision to give up his heart to save someone else isn’t either, because what if you hand it over to the worst possible human being... They invite Mr and Mrs Yang to stay with them until the surgery is done, to be each other’s support system, but also to talk about Jimin and the kind of person he is.

An hour later, Namjoon and another nurse run in covered in blood and tells them he needs their help. During the operation, Jimin has lost a lot of blood, too much and their blood bank is running low. He needs Jungkook and Hobi, who are blood type A which is the same as Jimin, to donate blood. Immediately they give their arms to the other nurse, who immediately starts working. Yoongi also offers his arm, because being blood type O, he can donate to any person. Taehyung, who is blood type AB is properly annoyed that he can’t help out, so he decides to give blood too, for other people who are AB and in need of blood. Mr and Mrs yang, who are also blood type O, decide to help out.

”Namjoon hyung, aren’t you A and Jin hyung O?”, Hobi asks them.

”We are, we’ll give blood once the surgery is over and done with. Jin hyung needs to focus on saving Jimin and so do I. Right now, we have to choose, operate or donate.”

With fifteen bags of blood Jimin can use and 3 bags of blood they’ll store for later use, Namjoon leaves the room. Five minutes later, a different nurse walks in with some cookies and a chocolate drink for each of them, to bring their sugar level up again, which is definitely needed, seeing as all of them feel queasy from giving up blood.

Besides knowing that Jimin is bleeding out, they get no more news for hours. The surgery takes a total of six hours, but feels like several days. When Jimin is brought back to the room, he is still unconscious and still extremely pale looking, hooked up to an IV and a ventilator. Looking up at their boyfriends, they explain that the heart isn’t fully excepted by the body just yet. When it does, they’ll wake him up, that doesn’t mean he is safe just yet. The heart can still reject Jimin’s body years from now, so he’ll have to, for the first year, have check up’s every two months. The year after that it’ll be ever six months and then for the next three it’ll be annual check-ups. On top of that he’ll have to take his prescribed medication, otherwise his heart will guarantee reject his body. They also tell the men in the room, who are intently listening that most heart donor patients have a lot of mood swings for the first couple of weeks. Sadness is what most people go through for a while, but also disappointment. Sometimes they experience extreme happiness, but it’ll all wear off, once people are used to the situation. Not telling him to get over it or ignore his feelings, but letting him feel what he needs to feel and comforting him is how they can help him deal with these overwhelming emotions. Jimin will also have to build up his muscle mass again and work on his immune system, seeing as it will probably not be all too strong from laying in a sterile room for so long. What the boyfriends hear is that they’ll have to help out a lot, take care of Jimin and seeing as they were already planning on that, they all agree immediately. With his heart not fully being accepted by his body, they won’t wake Jimin up, until they know he’s out of the danger zone.

"But we are confident that he will love a long and happy life if we keep a close eye on things.", Jin tells them, relief visible on everyone's faces. 

Being patient for a while longer is the hardest thing they ever had to do, it’s so frustrating that Mr and Mrs Yang decide to go home after they promise them, they’ll text them once Jimin wakes up. By now, the four of them refuse to leave the hospital. The staff just doesn’t care anymore, as long as they are all in the room when the lights go off. Even Namjoon and Jin stay around, most of their colleagues agreed to keep their secret. Sure, now that they know, they probably won’t be able to take care of the younger anymore as doctor and nurse, but they don’t care. The biggest part has been done, no mistakes were made, the younger came out of it alive and almost well. Mission accomplished.

Three days and several IV bags of medication later, they decide to let Jimin wake up. According to Jin and the doctor who took over the care of the younger, it can take up to four hours before he opens his eyes, hearing this they sigh. They have been waiting for over 10 days now to get to know the younger, a week and a half in which so much has happened, yet so little. The one thing they wanted to happen, which is Jimin waking up, keeps being delayed, while everything else that can go wrong, did. Impatience is taking over them, so much so, that if they could walk holes into the floor they would. Two hours later, Yoongi, who has been intently staring at the boy in the bed, too afraid to miss out on anything, sees his fingers on his right-hand twitch, then notices his eyelids flutter. While still staring at Jimin, he hits the person next to him hard in rapid succession, Hoseok takes his hand to stop him from hurting him further, follows the finger the chef is now pointing at in the direction of the bed. Hobi’s gasp is what alerts the other men in the room that something is happening, they all quickly turn to the bed, where they see panic fill Jimin’s face. When he tries to sit up, fails, then grabs at his throat, Namjoon and Jin jump forward, while asking their boyfriends to stay seated. Jin is the one who tries to calm Jimin down, while Namjoon unhooks the ventilator machine. Completely drained from the panic he just went through; he allows Jin to softly push him back down on his back.

Lying down, he looks around. For the longest time he isn’t uttering a single word, he just looks. Taking in everything about the men in his room, from the colour of their hair, to the way their eyes look and if they are saying something to him, he doesn’t even know it. Their mouths are moving, but the words don’t reach him. Focussing on everything around him his hard, it’s as if he’s in a dream he can’t escape from and these six men looking at him, possibly having expectations, it confuses him. Right now, he’s not sure what to do. The only thing he does know is that moving is hard, as his body seems to be extremely heavy and slow, and painful. Opening his mouth, besides a few groans, no words come out, but he doesn’t have time to complain about it when there’s already a cup of water with a straw in front of his mouth. The liquid feels cold on his lips and tongues, but once it hits his throat, it feels refreshing. Looking up at the tree of a guy with very beautiful glasses in front of him, his eyes silently beg for more water. The man immediately understands and fills the cup. It’s a little unnerving to have five other people still looking at everything he does, especially because he feels like a sloth with his slow movements, so he decides to focus on drinking. The feeling of swallowing feels foreign to him, as if he hasn’t done it in a long time. The orange haired boy has no idea how long he has been in the hospital for and somehow, he’s afraid to find it out. What if he missed years of his life?

”Do I know you?”, Hearing these words in his head, they ring loudly in his ears. It makes him wince, which hurts his body again.

The younger feels like everything is so alien, so foreign to him. Words sound weird, more like meaningless gibberish, his movements are sluggish and uncontrollable, every little sound feels loud, as if explosions go off in his head, his brain feels like it’s wrapped in cotton balls, as if it’s soft, but unclear. His vision is surrounded by a white glow at the edges and blurry. Is he just tired? Did he wear contacts? He loses his focus on the entire situation, but is called back to the present when he hears a voice.

”You do know us. Don’t you remember? We met at Halloween.”, The boy is surprised, did he say those words out loud?, “You scared me badly, I nearly burned the house down. You met the others a few days later, scared them because I asked you to. After that, we established that all of us are your hyungs and we kept coming over. Also, I don’t know if you wear glasses or contacts. I guess you didn’t need them in your ghost form.”, the man in front of him, who has catlike features and seems like the shortest out of all of them, replies.

”I wasn’t a ghost though. I didn’t die. Or did I? Am I in heaven? Are you angels. That would definitely explain the glow I’m seeing. If this is heaven though, I need it to be a lot quieter if I’m going to live here for the rest of eternity. The ringing is driving me up the wall. Never liked the sound of bells….”, The boy abruptly stops talking, then looks back up, closes his eyes, rubs them, sighs when he still sees the glow, “Is it just me, or is my talking very slowly?”

”It’s slower than what it normally would sound, but you’ve been in a coma for six months. You didn’t have to do any actions, except for lying still. Every action you are going to take is going to seem weird, at least for a little while. Don’t worry though, you’ll be back to normal in no time.”

Looking at the man with the most handsome face, and the most pillowy lips, he blinks again. Does he really know them? This can’t be? Jimin never had friends. Just his mum and dad, who are not in the room, he notices. The man’s face doesn’t seem familiar to him, yet there is something that is nibbling in the back of his brain, he just can’t put his finger on it. Looking back at the one guy who said they met first, he tries to take in everything as quickly as possible. For a while, he has the same feeling of there being something familiar, but not being able to remember it and then, something seeps through. A scream, a candle, him stomping out the little flame on the ground, the man not reacting to curtains moving or lights going on and off, to him bringing the younger a used phone. Bit by bit vague memories flash into his brain. They make no sense and the only thing it does is confuse him even more. Closing his eyes, trying to make sense of all these memories and where they come from, he’s trying to pay attention, but notices he’s losing the fight against the exhaustion trying to pull him under again. Right before giving in and falling asleep, two words falls from his lips, ‘Yoongi hyung’. 

Hearing his name, Yoongi smiles, if there is one thing he his certain of, is that the young man in front of him is never going to forget him, just like how he is never going to forget the former spirit. The bond they created, from being scared to death on Halloween, to having a lock on his door, to seeing some of Jimin’s history… you can’t erase that, even if Jimin wasn’t fully alive then. The chef is a little miffed that he won’t be able to see parts of Jimin’s past anymore, the boy was just too cute as a kid and he doesn’t know how comfortable the student will feel with opening up to them, but Jimin waking up will always be the greatest gift. His hope for now is that he remembers the other five and they can continue where they left off. Also, his boyfriends would be heartbroken if the maknae couldn’t remember them. All of them, especially Jungkook and Tae have gotten used to being there for him, to being his hyungs, it would make them sad to know that bond has disappeared. For now, he is happy that Jimin remembered him first, it seems logical, but the brain works in mysterious ways. It’s just good to know that he made an impression on the younger too, fingers crossed it’s a good one.

With his eyes closed, little puffs coming from his lips, his soft pink cheeks, the younger looks angelic and even though all of them agree, none of them want to utter those words again. Him being an angel reminds them of him dying, yet he is alive and from what the doctors say, he’ll be fine, that is if he keeps taking his medicine and gives himself the time to heal, to become stronger. The men have already decided to help the younger with it, but seeing as Jimin will have to stay in the hospital until he can walk up and down the hallway without getting tired or falling down, they know he’ll be here for a while longer. None of them care though, Yoongi, Tae, Jungkook and Hobi have already called work and explained what happened. Well, not everything… Telling their bosses they befriended a ghost who turned out to be a real boy, seemed a bit… Far-fetched, fairy tale like. For now, people think Jimin is a friend who woke up from a coma, which isn’t a lie, just not the full truth. The important part is that all of them got permission to stay with the younger for at least three weeks. Thank God for their bosses, who all have a kind heart and hate the idea of a young man recovering on his own without a family or friends. All of them might have also kept from their bosses that Jimin does have parents though, but seeing as his eomma is ill herself and his dad can’t leave her alone for long, is it actually a lie?




Eight hours later Jimin wakes up startled, as if he’s waking up from a nightmare, eyes still closed and the heart monitor indicates just how hard his heart is beating. A soft ‘Yoongi hyung?’, said in a trembling voice, follows, to which the older immediately reacts. The chef goes to sit next to the younger and holds his hand, while wiping the sweat of the maknae’s forehead with his other hand. A smile stretches over Jimin’s face, followed by a soft smile.

”I thought I dreamed you being here, or waking up at all… I thought it was all wishful thinking, that if I opened my eyes I would still be at the house, but the beeping of the machine and you easily holding me even though I feel so weak… Yoongi hyung? I am in the hospital, right? This isn’t a dream?”

”No, my Little Spirit, this isn’t a dream. You are in the hospital surrounded by people who want nothing but the best for you, people who genuinely like you.”

”Ah, I’m going to miss you calling me that.”, Jimin confesses softly.

”Calling you what?”, Yoongi questions.

”Little Spirit.”

”Why wouldn’t I call you that anymore?”, The chef is baffled, wonders why he would stop calling Jimin that.

”I’m no longer a spirit?”, Jimin’s replies.

”Minnie, I’m not a cat either and my boyfriends call me Little Meow Meow all the time. Which… don’t you dare call me that either, because I will tickle you until you beg me to stop.”, Yoongi threatens playfully.

”Hyung?”

”Min?

”You do look like a cat though. A cute, cuddly, adorable but feisty cat.”, Jimin says, face seriously, showing that he means what he is saying and isn’t joking around.

The others laugh at the orange haired boy’s words. They knew there was a reason why they liked him so much. His sense of humour is something else, and definitely gives Yoongi’s a run for his money.

”So I can still call you Little Spirit. It would be weird to part with that nickname.”, Yoongi confesses.

Jimin hums, then holds on to the older’s hand even harder. He tries to open his eyes, but despite having slept for so long, it’s just too hard. When the light blinds him, the minute he opens his eyes a little bit he decides to give up. Who knew the world was this bright.

”Hyung?”, Jimin whispers, trying to find Yoongi’s ear to talk only to him.

”Yes?”, Yoongi leans in closer, the movement detected by the younger.

”The others in the room… Wait, there are others in the room, right? I’m not going crazy?”

”You can’t go crazy when you already are Minnie, but yes, there are other people in the room.”, the older chuckles.

With great difficulty, Jimin turns his hand, that isn’t held by Yoongi, into a fist and punches his shoulder with all the energy he can muster. The chef doesn’t even feel anything, but he exaggerates his reaction greatly. The younger has suffered enough, if he can see him smile by pretending to be hurt, he will do it easily.

”Are the people in the room, by any chance, Jin hyung, Namjoon hyung, Hobi Hyung, Jungkook hyung and Tae hyung? Are they also real, or are they a figment of my imagination? Did my brain mess me up during my 6-month hibernation?”, Jimin whispers again, his free hand on Yoongi’s shoulder, to keep him steady so that he can whisper in Yoongi’s ear. Or attempt, at least, because with the bed rail up, he is no wear near to being close to the older, let alone his ear.

”They are those people and they are all very thrilled to mee you as a human being that is alive, instead of a soul that is floating through walls scaring the living daylight out of them. Although, they enjoyed you in that form too.”, Yoongi looks at his boyfriends who all smile back at him in relief. Jimin still remembers them. Halleluja!

”Oh, should I introduce myself again then? I mean… I’m a different me now. You know… Colourful, not as shining and alive…”, Jimin says, still processing the fact that he is actually a living being again.

”Sure, go for it.”, Yoongi encourages him.

”Can I do it with my eyes closed though? They are just brown… Nothing special there.”

”Little Spirit, everything about you is special. From your brown eyes, to your very bright orange hair, to the blush on your cheeks, your tiny chubby fingers and the blood that runs in your veins, which is ours by the way.”, The chef informs the younger, who is clearly shocked by that piece of information.

”Excu-, wait wha-, hyuuuunnnngggg, you can’t joke about that. It’s not funny”, Jimin whines.

”It isn’t a joke Jiminie. We gave you three bags of our blood, each. Which means, that you now officially belong to all of us.”, Yoongi places his free hand on the maknae’s cheek, who enjoys the warm touch. Leaning into it, he sighs. This is something he longed for, something he needed to feel, but never properly could. Now he can and he’s not sure he ever wants it to end.

”Hyung?! Why would you do that?! You don’t have to give your blood to someone who isn’t your family?! What if they need it now? Twelve weeks, that’s how long you can’t donate anymore… Oh no… What if your eomma or appa need it and you have to tell them you gave your blood to a stranger?”, Jimin, who is visibly upset by that news, starts to panic. Where at first, the men find it a bit of a weird reaction, Jin softly reminds them that Jimin’s emotions will be all over the place for a while.

”Little Spirit, calm down. My parents, all of our parents will be fine. There is still blood in the blood bank here at the hospital, and I’m actually sure, if we told them what happened, they would have been upset with us if we hadn’t given you our blood. You needed it now, they might need it tomorrow, or in a few years' time, maybe even never. We can’t wait for something that may or may not happen, when we could help someone who needed it in this moment. Please, calm down, it’s fine. None of us regret it and I’m sure our parents will agree with us. If they don’t, we’ll properly apologise to them. Now, how about you introduce yourself to everyone?”

Calming down his breath, his heart and his mind with the job at hand that Yoongi gave him, which is a welcomed distraction, Jimin asks for some water first, then asks the chef to place his head down, so that he’s at least talking in the right direction. When the older gives him the thumbs up, which Jimin doesn’t see with his eyes closed, he tells the younger to go for it.

”Okay, ehm… Hi, my name is Park Jimin. I’m 20 years old and I guess I’m no longer a soul… Nice to meet you all in this living meat suit.”

“I thought you were adorable in soul form, but you are even more adorable as a human. I cannot wait until I can squish your cheeks and hug you every minute of the day. YOU ARE THAT ADORABLE!”

”Tae, shhhttt. You are in a hospital and Jimin isn’t used to loud noises anymore. Can you please keep it down? Unless you want the staff to kick you out?”, Namjoon reprimands him.

”Sorry, but just look at him. His cute pink cheeks, his lips from the perfect little beak, his fingers… They are so devastatingly short. I cannot with him. I thought he was tiny as a spirit, but… oof! How wrong was I?! I can put him in my pocket. Which I will do to keep him safe from any future harm.”

”Shut up Tae! Carrying him around? You?! You’ve got no muscles of your own. As a gym instructor I’m sure that’s my job. Jiminie don’t worry, you don’t have to build muscles and hurt yourself in the process, because you know…Waiting for the stiffness in your limbs to disappear might take a while… I’ll just carry you everywhere. My back is at your service, so are my arms, if you prefer to be carried around bridal style.”, Jungkook boasts, while showing off his muscles.

”Ugh, no one likes a show off Jungkook!”, Tae spats.

”No one likes a weakling either Taehyung!”, Jungkook bites back.

With his ears covered by his own hands and a grimace on his face, Jimin tries to look at his two youngest hyungs. When Jin notices Jimin’s struggle he decides to just turn off the light. Jimin has been suffering more than enough, this is something they can actually help with in this moment. Thinking about it, they should have done this a lot sooner.

”Thank you Jin hyung.”, Jimin says when he can finally crack open his eyes a little and sees the older sit back on his chair.

”You are welcome, Minnie. I hope it helps. Your eyes deserve to slowly get used to everything too.”



With Jungkook and Tae still silently bickering. Namjoon trying to keep them apart, Hobi laughing at his two youngest boyfriends and Jin just sighing at the entire scene playing out next to him, Jimin softly squeezes Yoongi’s hand who instantly looks at the younger, trying to figure out whether something is wrong and how he can help.

”Yoongi hyung, I don’t think I want either Kook hyung or Tae hyung to carry me…. If they fight like this when one of them is holding me… I think I want you to help me out please, even if that means you can’t carry me. If I have to, I’ll do my best to walk next to you, as long as you help me with staying upright.”, Jimin whispers his confessions, which makes Yoongi smile big.

”Little spirit, I will carry you for as long as you need me to. Don’t worry, hyung’s got muscles too.” Yoongi says proudly, “As long as you cling on like a little koala bear, we’ll be fine. You won’t have to use your legs for as long as you don’t want, although it might be best if you try to use them, for your health and all, just know… there is no pressure to anything, anytime soon Minnie.”

”Hyung?”

”Min-ah?

”Are the others still my hyungs? Or do they see me as a stranger now?”, Jimin whispers shyly.

”They have been sitting here next to your bed the minute you disappeared from the house, they gave up their blood without any questions, they then waited for you to wake up, they called their work and arranged to have time off and now they are fighting over you. It’s safe to say they are your hyungs, Min. All of us meant it when we told you that we are your hyungs from now until forever, or until you are sick of us and kick us out, which is hopefully never.”, Yoongi reassures the younger.

”So, I can ask them questions?”

”Go ahead. I’m sure they love to answer them.”

”Jin hyung?”, Jimin says, a bit louder than his previous conversation with Yoongi.

”Yes Min?”

”Is it normal that I’m tired again?”

”Of course it is sweetheart. The best thing you can do for the next few days and maybe even weeks, is eat, hydrate and sleep. Everything else will come with time.”, Jin explains to the younger.

”I don’t want to sleep though.”, the maknae pouts.

”Why not? Can you explain that to me?”, The doctor moves to the other side of the younger and softly combs his fingers through the younger's bright hair.

”I’m scared I won’t wake up anymore and… I’m afraid to wake up and not find you here anymore.”, Jimin softly confesses.

”Jiminie, you are going to wake up. Your heart is being accepted by your body and your medication to keep infection away are doing its job. Also, we aren’t going anywhere. All of us have taken time off from our jobs. Even when we have to go back to work later on, we’ll make sure to come by every day, but for now we are here.”, The older boops Jimin nose, which results in the younger giggling.

Hearing that sound, they all coo. To them, the younger is hands down the cutest person they know and he only gets cuter the longer they know him and the less he tries to be adorable. Jimin doesn’t need aegyo to be cute. His nose scrunch alone has their hearts beating faster and them giggling like crazy people.

”Hyung? What if you get bored? I might sleep a lot and you’ll just be sitting here…”, Jimin’s voice wobbles and Jin knows the emotions the student is going through are mostly because of his condition, but he hasn’t forgotten the maknae’s fear of being left behind and it breaks his heart.

”We don’t care Jiminie. You are our main priority sweetheart. We will always keep ourselves busy. I’m in a room with my five boyfriends, who I love dearly and don’t get to see them enough because of work, and you, someone who we adore with everything we have. I consider myself very lucky and I’m sure many people would love to be in my place. Don’t you fret sweetheart. Just get better and once you are healthy, we’ll find other ways to keep ourselves busy, the seven of us together.”

”Are you sure? I don’t want to-“

”Don’t finish that sentence Jiminie. Please, just close your eyes and go to bed. We will be fine and when you wake up, we’ll still be here.”, Jin looks into Jimin’s eyes, hoping his sincerity shines through.

”Jin hyung?”

”Jiminie.”

”I can’t go to bed…”

”Why not?”, Worry laces through the elder’s words.

”I’m already in it.”, Jimin yawns, a smile on his lips so big it makes his eyes close and if it wasn’t such an adorable sight, the elder would have scolded him, but by the time he is over the view in front of him, the younger is already asleep.

The doctor stays put next to Jimin, still caressing his hair, while on the other side Yoongi keeps holding the younger’s hand, just that little bit tighter, as if to make sure he isn’t vanishing. The other four stare at the maknae in the bed and shoot a little prayer up to the heavens to ask whoever is out there to help their little one recover fully, without any hiccups.

Chapter Text

It’s been two days since Jimin woke up, between the several naps a day, his meals and being washed by nurses, the younger tries to actually talk a little with everyone, despite his hoarse throat. They notice him looking at the door every so often, as if he expects someone to walk in, but they aren’t sure if that’s the case so they keep quiet. The question comes later that day though and proves them to be right.

”Hyungs?”, The room falls silent, all the attention on the orange haired boy in the bed, “Do you know when my dad will be visiting?”

”He might not be for a while sweetheart.”, Jin, who is used to giving sad news, replies in the softest tone, trying to convey all the comfort, “It’s not that he doesn’t want to be here, but he is still in Busan with his wife. She fell off the stairs and broke her hip. She just had surgery, about four days ago, while she’s recovering, they are also doing tests to see how bad her Alzheimer’s gotten. He does call two times a day though, to check up on you and we sent him pictures, new information and all of your schedules in order to keep him updated on everything. Your dad is very worried, but he knows he can stay with your mother because we are here with you, taking care of you for as long as you need someone to take care of you.”

The younger just stares at the doctor, his face blank. No one knows what he is thinking, or how he is feeling until his eyes fill with tears and he starts crying loudly. In just a few seconds, he is full on sobbing, his hands and body are shaking. Jin moves himself to sit next to the boy, but it’s Yoongi who is allowed to climb into the bed and hold him close. There’s no strength in Jimin’s body whatsoever, so Yoongi, with the help of Namjoon and Jungkook, lifts the boy on top of him, until he’s lying down comfortably, his ear over the elder’s heart. The wailing holds on for a bit, but hearing Yoongi’s heartbeat, feeling him caress his hair and his neck, holding Jin’s hand and having Namjoon rub his leg gently, he finally calms down. Physical contact has never been a part of Jimin’s life, unless it was meant to hurt him, so this feels like heaven. With Jungkook, Taehyung and Hoseok humming a lullaby, the orange haired boy falls asleep, completely exhausted from the crying fit.

Watching him for the umptieth time in only these few days they have been next to him, they can’t help but feel sad for the younger. He has waited for his family for the longest time in his ghost form, and now that he is awake and could finally hug them close, tragedy strikes again. None of them know how they would deal with it, but the breakdown is more than justified.

While they hope their presence is enough for Jimin, they understand that needing your family close in time of need is more than normal. He has had so much bad luck when it comes to belonging and now, the people he considers his parents, while not being able to keep him, though they have always looked after him, can’t even be here because of their own health issues. If you asked them a few months ago if they believed in karma or weird coincidences, they would have said no, now they aren’t so sure. With all the bad luck he has had to deal with lately, there must be someone up there that doesn’t like him for some weird reason and the only thing they can think of is that God’s too pissed off about the fact that Jimin is utter perfection.

When he wakes up a few hours later, he’s calm again, accepting that his dad can’t make it, but that he does still love him. The boys promise to let him talk to the older man over the phone when he calls again. Jimin makes them promise to wake him up if he’s asleep. None of them are too keen on doing that, sleep is one of the things that will help him get better, but when the younger pulls the most adorable puppy dog eyes, they immediately agree.

After the call, the younger’s heart feels so much lighter. Seeing his appa in full health, even getting a glimpse of his sleeping eomma, who according to his father is having a good day, makes him smile a little. It is a short call, but long enough to convey their happiness about seeing each other again after so long. When his dad apologises for not being there, Jimin immediately tells him it’s all good, that he doesn’t need to worry. His dad then tells him that he doesn’t worry, not with those six friends of him being with him at all times. Hanging up the phone, a few tears escape his eyes, but they aren’t sad ones.

”Little spirit, there’s something we need to ask you. Or tell. I’m not sure. Just know you have a say in this.”, Yoongi starts, Jimin just nods, indicating that he’s actively listening despite having his eyes closed again, “There are two people who want to meet you. Mr and Mrs Yang. We told them it was fine, because that meant saving your life, but we totally understand if you think it’s too early still.”

”Hyung? Why?”, Jimin asks silently, listening and talking is just too hard for him right now, so he’s focussing on listening.

”Why what Min-ah?”

”Meeting them?”, Jimin manages to bring out.

”Ah, well… Mr and Mrs Yang agreed to give their son’s heart to you. Seeing you and hearing your story, they decided you deserved that second chance at life. They made us promise they could meet you and maybe feel their son’s heart beat one last time. We couldn’t ask for your permission seeing as you were on the verge of dying so we agreed. They waited with us when you were in surgery and after hearing that you lost too much blood, both of them offered to give blood to you. Watching them leave was hard, on the one hand we were sad for them, their son had just died. Being healthy and young, it shouldn’t have happened, they should have still been a happy family and they were ripped away from that future. On the other hand, they helped in saving you by offering their son’s heart and their own blood. We have the chance to get to know you and stay by your side thanks to them.”

”Okay.”, Jimin, who is still lying on top of Yoongi, places his ear again on the older’s heart and holds himself even closer, thankful for all the help his hyungs have given him.

”Okay?”, Tae repeats, not sure what the younger means.

”Mr and Mrs Yang. Okay.”

”That’s very kind of you Min. Thank you. Can I text them now? Or in a few days?”, Namjoon asks him. Letting the younger decide, because only he knows how he feels.

”Nap first. Meeting second.”, His words are accompanied by a little lisp, giving away just how tired he is. If the lisp wasn’t enough of an indication, the slack hand falling down and the light snores just a few minutes later are.

Namjoon texts Mr and Mrs Yang, explaining how Jimin agreed to meeting them, but needs sleep first. They reply back instantly, to let them know once he wakes up. Not living too far from the hospital, they can be there about 25 minutes later. The nurse promises them, that the minute the younger wakes up, he’ll call them instantly. For now, the only thing they can do is wait, something they’ve become quite good at.

Four hours later, the six boys are seated against the hospital wall, giving Mr and Mrs Yang all the space they need to get to know the orange haired boy. Jimin answers all their questions, they range from his hobbies, which he doesn’t really have, to his studies, his future aspirations, his parents and so much more. When they ask about his time in the orphanage, Jimin falls silent. He doesn’t want the Yang family to think of him as a failure and regret giving him their son’s heart. It also isn’t easy to talk about, none of that were happy times, except for the time he spend with his eomma and appa. So that’s what he talks about, the few years he lived with them and him living alone in their small house in Seoul. Once they aren’t total strangers anymore, Mrs Yang asks if it’s okay to feel her son’s heart. Jimin’s a bit weary at first, though he is the one who agreed to this meeting. He’s just scared that this moment won’t live up to their expectations or that it’ll hurt. Lying down for so long, he regularly has muscle spasms and there’s an underlying nagging pain in every part of his body. With only Yoongi having properly held him, in the most cautious way, as if he’s made from porcelain, he is scared that the touch might cause him even more pain. Lightly shaking his head, he pushes the fear aside, because this moment isn’t about him. He gets to live thanks to them, it’s only fair to allow them to say goodbye to their son or to say hello to the part of their child that remains.

Watching the parents cry their eyes out, hurts him deeply, though not physically, but emotionally. The reminder that his parents could be in the same spot as Mr and Mrs Yang if they hadn’t donated the organ, hits him hard. He was close to dying, and being an organ donor himself… Would they have been able to visit the people who were saved by him? Would they have been able to see the people they would have helped out?

”Thank you for allowing us to feel close to our son again Jimin. This means everything to us.”, Mr yang says, hugging the boy close, Mrs Yang kisses him on both cheeks, “This is the best gift we could have received. Your friends haven’t lied. You are the kindest person. As if you aren send from the Heavens above. Mind you, we aren’t religious, but situations like this would make anyone believe there is something more out there. You are an angel, young man. Don’t ever change. The world needs your kindness.”, the woman tells him.

By the time Mr and Mrs Yang leave, two hours later, Jimin is once again exhausted but fulfilled. It was a good afternoon, the conversations made his heart lighter. He also met two new people who like him and want to help him out with his revalidation. While he told them that he could figure it out on his own, like he’s always done, they just shook their head. Both people have a lot of love to give and no one to give it to besides their son, who is now gone, and Jimin. At least that way they get to stay connected to a part of their son, so it’s not fully selfless. In the end, the younger gives in. He tells them to come by whenever they want and feel their son’s heart beat as much as they want to. It’s the least he can do for the people who saved him.




Days pass, with Jimin’s health getting a bit better. The pain is still there, the fear of his heart deciding to stop beating too, despite his tests coming back positive. It’s hard for Jimin to grasp that things are going well for him. In the past, when things would work out for him, he’d be struck by misfortune twice as hard, almost immediately. Now, he has six people with him at all times, none of them want to leave, scared that he’ll vanish, despite him getting better every single day. They have lived with that fear for too long, they can’t just turn it off.

Two weeks after he has woken up, two weeks of him eating, especially the last seven days he has been allowed to eat actual food and while the hospital gives him meals, Yoongi takes them as a personal insult. He arranges for his work to make Jimin some of their bestselling dishes that one of them will pick up. Knowing Jimin might enjoy the food he makes does something to the chef. Seeing him become healthier, makes them all feel tingly. It’s one thing to experience him as a spirit, all grey and see- through, with silver hair, it’s a whole other thing to see him so skinny and no colour in his face. Now, with his cheeks fully present, a pink colour and a healthy glow falling over him, they just can’t contain their hearts. The student has always been handsome, but being healthy looks good on him.

Today is also the first day, he is allowed to go outside. With Namjoon’s help, he dresses himself in a new pyjama set they bought for him, which is a soft pink colour, and slips on the slippers they also brought along, which are little ducks. They are so warm and comfortable, Jimin shows them off to every staff member he encounters. Being rolled out, feeling the sun on his face, while sitting in his wheelchair, he closes his eyes, breathes in deeply several times and just enjoys the feeling of the wind and the sun. He loves hearing all the sounds and smelling all the scents around him. It feels strange to the younger, finally being able to experience the outside world again, though he absolutely loves it. When Namjoon tells him it’s time to go back in, because the weather is too cold and he doesn’t have a coat on, Jimin pouts and actually whines. It’s Jungkook who pleads to give the former spirit a few more minutes outside. Quickly, he removes his coat and places it over Jimin, who puts his arms through the sleeves, that are too big on him. Taehyung promises to go to the store the next day to buy a coat for the younger, one that’s warm, sturdy and has a cap, so he can eat least go outside when it rains too. Hoseok tells his boyfriends, he’ll go with Tae tomorrow, to buy a hat, gloves, winter boots, a scarf and ear warmers.

”And an umbrella!”, Both Tae and Hobi say at the same time, “We shouldn’t limit his time outside simply because it’s getting cold. He has been locked up in that room for too long. I would want to breath fresh air every day too.”, Tae states, convincing the doctor and the nurse that it might be a good idea after all.

"I'm coming too! Both your taste in fashion is questionable, you'll need my expertise.", Jungkook grins.

Going outside, and sitting up straight in his wheelchair, without the help from a bed or Yoongi, does take a toll on him. With his muscles still being weak, he has pain in his lower back and legs by the time he arrives back in the room, though he wouldn’t have taken his time in the hospital garden back for anything. Allowing Yoongi and Jungkook to massage his sore muscles, he asks Namjoon if he can go back tomorrow. Seeing as he needs to strengthen his muscles anyway, it might not be a bad idea, though he is going to have to start his revalidation soon. To which the younger agrees. If Namjoon and Jin say that it’s necessary, then who is he to counter that?

Sleep comes quickly to him, with the massage being so relaxing and the little adventure that was quite tiring, he isn’t able to keep his eyes open much longer. Once the massage is done, Yoongi places himself next to Jimin again in the bed, with the younger automatically moving closer to him. While falling asleep is easy, sleeping throughout the night isn’t always a given. Nightmares often plague him. They are always about him dying and then dying a second time because no one took the effort to remember him. Or it’s the other way around, where he finally wakes up to everyone else being gone and him not being able to say goodbye to the people who mean everything to him. His newest nightmare is about waking up alone, in a world where his hyungs exist but refuse to acknowledge him, simply because they don’t want to be around him anymore. Taking care of him is too hard of a job and they are done with it. Instead of telling him that, they are just ghosting him.

Jimin doesn’t mention it, he keeps his mouth quiet, because he isn’t going to give the six men ideas. Right now, they are still here and he wants to keep it that way. If they don’t notice his nightmares, he’ll pretend he isn’t having any, which works, for the first few weeks as his friends are still too busy fussing over him. Once they know his medication is working, his body is accepting his heart and he is gaining some weight, they still worry over him, but in a much calmer way. None of them set alarm clocks every two hours to see if he still breathes, they don’t plan out his medication early in the morning and check it over again once it’s time to take them, they don’t send entire paragraphs and photobooks to his dad anymore, they now send him ten lines and two pictures. They’ve upped their shower time from 5 minutes to 20 minutes each and allow him to eat the first bites of his food on his own, instead of feeding him the minute his food arrives. Seeing as he needs to gain muscles and energy, he has to start doing things on his own, to the boyfriends’ dismay. By now they are used to helping him out and honestly, it’s what they prefer. To them, the student is still so very fragile, so easily breakable. Being smaller than all of them, skinnier and paler doesn’t help the younger’s case at all. While he claims to be ready to finally do things on his own again, the men refuse to let him do his thing. If it weren’t for the nurses and the doctors telling the boyfriends otherwise, they would never stop fussing over the younger.

It's Jungkook who accidentally notices Jimin waking up startled, when he makes his way to the bathroom at night. It's also Jungkook who notices Yoongi moving closer to the younger in his sleep to press him even closer, as if he senses that something is wrong with the younger in his arms. Jungkook tells them all this when Jimin is still out like a light during one of his naps. It results in all of them watching him closer again, immediately holding him when he stirs in his sleep. 

They start with arm and shoulder exercises, seeing as he’ll need to be able to use his arms if he wants to keep himself up when he has to learn how to walk again. Doing these exercises, it’s clear that they hurt Jimin, but the younger never complains, the six hyungs in his room though… They continuously tell the doctors and nurses to stop pushing him past his limits, to not hurt him, which annoys the professionals to the point that they kick them out. Working with Jimin is easy, the hospital staff adores him. He never complains, does what is asked of him and thanks everyone afterwards. The younger also apologises for his hyungs’ behaviour. Knowing that the nurses and doctors will be met with pouts and angry eyes once they leave the room, he can’t help but to say sorry for their sulking. Every time he is reassured that it’s all good, that they understand that the men are only worried and don’t want to see the orange haired boy in pain. Rubbing his shoulder, they once again tell him it’s all good and to try and see it from their point of view. Seeing someone you like, or love, in pain is never easy.

Thanking the staff once again, he wishes them a good day and tells them he looks forward to their next session. Immediately, once the room is free of people, the men run back in. Within seconds they massage his shoulders, his arms, his hands and even his legs and feet, while he hasn’t even used them. Though he can’t deny that the massage doesn’t feel good. Because of the energy that these exercises demand, Jimin is knackered once again. The idea of closing his eyes and sleeping throughout the day sounds very appealing to him, if his nightmares let him, but with his own private caretakers he knows that is impossible. They won’t allow him to sleep until he has had a bite to eat, which is a good thing because his stomach is grumbling loudly.

A few days later, Jimin wakes up to his hyungs talking about how none of them have clean clothes anymore, how their showergel is almost finished and their own personal snacks are all gone. While the hospital store has somethings, they don’t have everything the men need, so Jimin sends them home, or he attempts to. With a stupid game they decide which three people are going home today, to clean their clothes, pick up groceries and cook some, potentially, amazing homemade meals, depending on who wins. The other three will leave the hospital the day after. Jimin also makes them promise that once they are home, they try to at least nap in their own bed. Them sleeping on some mattresses and hospital chairs must have an effect on their body, which makes him feel very guilty.

In a stroke of good luck, Jin and Yoongi are both send home on different days, which means two days of home cooked meals. One by a hobby chef who is nearly as good as his boyfriend who is an actual professional chef. No one wanted to even think of the scenario where Namjoon, Taehyung and Hoseok ended up in one team. The food would be well plated, but also poisoned, or at least way too salty. For now, the teams are Yoongi, Namjoon and Tae, which Yoongi is more than fine with. He’ll send his boyfriend to do the laundry, he knows they can actually pull that off. Shopping and cooking will be his jobs, with his souschef on speed dial in case it is needed, which it is probably not, but you never know. While he can cook and has a whole plan to keep his boyfriends out of the kitchen, things can most definitely still go wrong with those two present in the house.

The second team are Jin, Jungkook and Hobi. The latter has already taken cleaning duty on him, because by now, dust must have collected around the house. Another job he has assigned to himself is to clean one of the guestrooms and make sure it’s ready for when Jimin comes home with them. Something the younger isn’t aware of, but they aren’t going to let him go home in a house with way too many stairs and is a safety hazard over all. While yes, they did clean up everything and somewhat renewed the place, none of them are professionals in the field of renovating houses. Maybe they can have a professional team look over the house and make sure it’s completely safe by the time Jimin’s health is fully restored. Jin and Jungkook will go for another shopping spree and cook a few more meals. Whatever team one misses out on, they can pick up with them. All of them are looking forward to showering longer than 20 minutes and to napping in their own beds, though they all know their naps and showers will still be shorter than normal, as they will all want to get back to their boyfriends and Jimin.

The amount of food Jimin gets to eat in the next few days is insane. It’s as if the men emptied out the stores and made food for an entire village. Every dish is different, seeing as it’s been a while since the younger had decent korean food. There’s gimbap, kimchi fried rice, tteokbokki, bibimbap, homemade fried chicken, bossam, japchae, kimchi stew and hotteok. Everything they can freeze, they keep for later, the other dishes they keep in the fridge and devour them first.

The younger eats his food noisily, which is a contrast to the silence they meet whenever he eats the hospital food. While that happens rarely, Yoongi or his colleagues can’t always get restaurant food here, the difference between the home – cooked meals and the hospital food is insane though. All of them are happy that Jimin is properly enjoying his food, the food they made for him, the food they put their heart and soul into.

Eating, while sitting down in a 70-degree angle isn’t easy on the younger, while he’s gotten better at it, he still drops some of his food on his pyjamas. He knows that if he asks for help, he’ll immediately receive it, but having to practice his muscles, he refuses. Halfway through his food, his hands and arms start shaking from exhaustion, but even then he keeps trying. Tired limbs and a weird bed angle result in him having to take a shower. In the two weeks the men have been living in Jimin’s room, they have helped him shower more than once, so while it’s second nature by now, there’s always nerves running through the younger’s body. None of them properly look at his body, giving him his privacy, but getting naked every time, it does ask for trust, something they have been working on, but hasn’t come easy to the younger. Something his soul – self and living – self have in common is the fear of being abandoned.

Standing in front of the shower, with Namjoon and Yoongi, he undresses his top half himself, but needs help with his bottom half. He keeps his underwear on until the very last minute, but seeing as he is changing all of his clothes, he has to get rid of it eventually.

”Jiminie, it’s fine. I’ve done this so many times in my career as nurse, I’m not even fazed by it. You have nothing I haven’t seen yet. Besides, now I get to see how you are doing physically, which is important if we want to give you the best care.”, Namjoon smiles at him, honestly not caring about the whole experience, just happy he can help the younger out.

”What about Yoongi hyung?”, Jimin whispers, his body shivering from the draft running through the small bathroom.

”Believe me when I say, he is probably much more nervous about you seeing him, than about him seeing you. Yoongi hyung has helped people shower before, whenever one of us broke a bone, or when a family member injured themselves, he is the first person to help out. Also, him being overly protective of you, is going to stop things from turning weird. He is going to focus on you enjoying your shower as much as you can, feel clean afterwards and make sure you are back in bed in no time. The last person you need to worry about is him. I can promise you that.”

”Why would he be nervous?”, The younger asks, curiously.

”Yoongi , whenever he helps someone shower or bathe, always keeps his clothes on, he doesn’t like showing his body. There’s no particular reason to it, other than that he only shows his body to the people he trusts with it. While he trusts you, it is also the first time he’ll be in here with just his underwear on. All three of us are pretty vulnerable right now and on the off chance that you do make a mean comment about him…”, Namjoon explains.

”I wouldn’t, I don’t care what people look like. I mean… It would be horrible of me when I’m this tiny, scrawny, extremely pale person. Even alive I look more like a spirit than an actual human being…”

”Jiminie… Don’t talk down on yourself please. You are an incredibly handsome young man.”, Yoongi says, while making his way into the shower, effectively cutting Namjoon off.

The blush on Jimin’s face doesn’t go unnoticed by the nurse, but is completely missed by the chef who is trying to regulate the water to the perfect temperature. Within seconds Jimin is sighing underneath the warm water, enjoying the feeling of the washcloth on his skin, the soft massage it gives him and the smell of the showergel. Whenever he gets showered, he always picks a new bodywash. So far, he has tried Jin’s, Jungkook’s and Hobi’s, but Yoongi’s is his favourite. He has chosen that one four times already. There’s something about the soft, subtle smell of pine and amber. It isn’t overwhelming, but it smells warm and comfortable, something he has been craving ever since he woke up between those four clinically white walls that make him feel cold and often distressed. The chef loves sharing his showergel with the younger, there is something so satisfying of smelling his own scent on the younger, as if the smell is keeping him happy and safe.

His boyfriends feel the exact same way whenever Jimin smells like them and even those who haven’t shared their bodywash with the younger, love the smell of their washing powder on his clothes. Something that is even better than him smelling like them, is him being dressed in their clothes. If they accidentally forget to wash the younger’s clothes, because they are in a “hurry”, simply so he can wear their clothes, no one mentions it. As long as it doesn’t harm anyone...



It’s a week later when some of them have to go back to work and ask for more time off. With three weeks having gone by, the time given to them, to stay with Jimin, has passed. None of them are ready to leave him yet. While some of the men are thinking of going back parttime in case they can’t get more time off, others are ready to quit their job. Which is something that surprises them. The fact that they are ready to give up everything for Jimin, this soon… There is definitely something more, something new happening. The only ones who don’t have to go back to their job, the ones who were able to call their bosses and get all the time off they wanted, are Jungkook and Taehyung, which makes their other boyfriends nervous.

It’s not as if they haven’t been trying to be proper hyungs to Jimin, because they have. Their boyfriends are more than impressed by them. Though, there is still that childlike enthusiasm they both possess and can’t hide away no matter how much they want to. It’s a big part of who they are and while their partners love that side of them, they also wish they could contain it in certain moments. Just like today. They need Jimin to be safe, to be cared for and while they don’t think their two younger boyfriends would hurt the orange haired boy on purpose, they wouldn’t be surprised if in their wild enthusiasm, something happens that would not happen with any of the older men.

Warning Jungkook and Taehyung to be careful with Jimin, both nod resolutely, ready to prove themselves. They may be the youngest hyungs, but they can just be as mature. Walking out of the door, giving the two men a swift kiss on their lips, while Jimin looks away to give them some privacy, but also to calm down that weird feeling stirring in him stomach, one by one the other four disappear. Only when the youngest hears the door close, does he look back at the two men who are still with him in the room.

”Would you mind a visit to the hospital garden? I feel weird, probably from being cooped up in here. Fresh air will probably do wonders.”

”Of course Jiminie. We will gladly take you there. Do you need help with your clothes?”, Taehyung asks carefully, not wanting to push themselves onto the younger.

”Yes please. Only for my trousers, socks and shoes though. I think I can put on my sweater and coat on, on my own.”

”Look at him, getting so much stronger already. Before you know it, your muscles will be as big as mine”, Jungkook flexes his biceps.

”I doubt it. My frame is very different from yours hyung. While my muscles were present, they weren’t that present. Also, according to my PE teachers I would never really grow buff, I would be more lean and lithe. I could never find out with my heart condition whether their words were true, but I guess they knew what they were talking about.”

”As long as you are happy and healthy, I don’t care whether you have muscles or not. Look at me, my body is far from being toned, but I am in good shape. That’s what really matters here. That muscle bunny over there just doesn’t things by halves, he’s either not interested or fully committed.

The well-aimed trousers smack Taehyung straight in the face, which in turn makes Jimin giggle. Ready to retaliate, Tae changes his mind when he feels a small hand on his arm. Looking back at the boy in the bed, who is patiently waiting for his friends to help him out so he can finally leave his room. Jimin is much more important than his revenge. At least, for now. That revenge will come when Kook least expects it.



Being pushed outside by Tae and Jungkook, Jimin is happy he is still alive. On the way to the garden area, both men kept running while pushing him and then letting him go at full speed, to then catch him right before he smacked into a wall, which resulted in the younger almost falling out of his wheelchair, several times. Thankfully Jungkook put his muscles to use by grabbing Jimin’s coat right on time to keep him upright.

When Jimin is finally placed in the grass, between the colourful flowers, with his cap on to protect him from the rain that is drizzling down, he holds onto his chest quickly, making sure his heart is still beating. In those couple of minutes that it took for them to get outside, he most definitely lost at least 5 years of his life. At this rate, he’ll be back to being a spirit sooner rather than later.

With the rain falling on his face, the student keeps his head upwards, enjoying the cold feeling on his nose and cheeks. Who knew he could enjoy rain this much. Almost dying makes him very grateful for the things in life he used to take for granted. Somewhere in the distance he hears his two hyungs squabble, but he can’t be bothered to find out where exactly they are. It’s only when his hands turn ice cold and can barely move his fingers that he looks around for them. It’s an elderly man who is visiting his wife in the hospital that notices him sitting outside in the rain and hears his call for help. Once he is inside, Jimin thanks the man profusely and then slowly roams through the hallways. For the first time since getting to know his hyungs, he starts to feel frustrated. Why couldn’t they have just stayed in the garden with him? Thinking he can call Yoongi and ask him for advice, he is on the verge of grabbing his phone from his coat pocket when he hears some shouting.

”JIMINIE! OH MY GOD! WE THOUGHT WE LOST YOU!”, Tae screams, running as fast as he can towards the younger,” Why didn’t you stay in the garden?!”

Placing his ice-cold hand on top of Taehyung’s, the younger’s face falls when he feels the burning yet icy touch. Of course, the student wasn’t going to stay outside when he’s freezing.

”We are so sorry Min! We were just grabbing some food from the cafetaria because we were hungry. You looked so peaceful, so we decided to not disturb you. Next time just text us or something.”, Jungkook adds.

”With my fingers being basically frozen?”, He replies sassily, “I can barely move my hands now, but I had to find you, because I was never told my room number and I forgot to look at it when we left the room… Which would have been okay if you stuck around a little longer so we could get food together.”

Jimin hates that he is this upset about it, but to him it comes across as being abandoned once again and it didn’t even take them a lot of thought to do it. His multiple foster parents must have been right, he is easily forgettable.

”Jimin-ah, we are so sorry, we should have known better. Looking at you now, with your red nose, cheeks and blue lips, it’s quite clear we left you out in the cold too long. Next time, we’ll ask you what you want to do, stay out longer or join us.”, Taehyung puts his hand on the younger’s cold face, instantly feeling like shit. How will they ever be good hyungs when they don’t even realise that their actions have consequences and this one could have ended badly.

Jimin just nods, silently accepting their apology, but inwardly thinking this is the last time he asks anyone for help. He doesn’t want any of them to give up their life for him, the last thing he wants to be is a bother and right now, that is exactly what he is. As a ghost, he could just disappear, maybe he should do the same thing now. He always had a knack to blend in with the background, to go around unnoticed, to not stand out in a crowd, he can do that once again.



While the student is sure that his two hyungs are sorry for leaving him behind, he is also sure they have the attention span on a goldfish. One minute they are worrying over him, apologizing for the umptieth time and telling him they’ll do better. The next, they see two empty wheelchairs in the corridor of the hallway Jimin’s room is in and challenge each other to a race. Making sure the younger is placed safely at the sideline, the two men start wheeling themselves through the hallway nearly bumping into other visitor every few seconds. Whenever these people pass Jimin, he always apologizes for his hyungs antics with a deep bow, or as deep as he can muster, getting pitying smiles in return. Despite Jungkook and Taehyung’s rowdy behaviour, Jimin eventually falls asleep. With his neck bend backwards and his hands clasped together, he gives in to his lack of energy but also the warmth of the building that is slowly seeping into his skin.

”Min? Min? MIN! Oh my god! why isn’t he waking up?”, the panicked voice fills his ears, which slightly terrifies him. Who are they are calling and why aren’t they replying?

”Min! Min! Come on, just open your eyes.”, This time, he feels hands on his shoulders that start shaking him wildly. A grunt leaves his lips. Who is Min and why is he being punished for that person’s lack of reaction.

”Oh my god. Okay, he is still alive. He just grunted. I guess he is just really tired.”, One voice says.

”That’s good Joon. Though the next question I want an answer to, is why he is sitting in the corner of a hallway on his own, in a wet coat, looking like Jack Frost, minus the platinum hair, that is. And why is he not wearing the scarf, gloves or hat that we bought him.”

Joon? That name sounds familiar.

”Jin hyung, we have to make sure Min is in his room by the time Yoongi appears. While we all adore this little one, you know how protective Yoongi is over everyone he likes, especially his little spirit.”

”Has Hobi arrived already?”, the first voice asks.

”No, he is driving with Yoongi.”, the second voice, Joon, answers.

”Good. Let’s get Ji-. OH MY GOD! YOU TWO! Where the hell have you been and what have you done to Min-ah?!”, the first voice shouts, “I told you to look out for him! I told you to not do anything stupid! You PROMISED me you could handle this task and we come back to him sitting on his own in wet clothes looking like he’s on the verge of dying again! I honestly don’t care that you are immature most of the time, we have never complained about that, but for people who claim they want to be good hyungs, you are so… irresponsible! UGH! I don’t want to say words I’ll regret later… BUT LOOK AT HIM! You are dating a doctor and a nurse! I think you know what sitting in wet clothes can do to you, especially when you aren’t fully recovered from nearly dying the first time!”

”But he asked us to go outside, because he was cooped up inside for too long.”, Jungkook sulks, understanding why his eldest boyfriend is upset, but also wanting him to know they didn’t fully mess up.

”It’s good that you did. We all know how much he loves his time in the garden, but wasn’t it the two of you who went out shopping with Hobi for gloves, a hat, a scarf and an umbrella?! I see you remembered to put him in that coat you brought along, but what about the rest. My issue isn’t that you brought him out in the rain, he needs to build his immune system, so that’s all fine, my problem is that you allowed him to get soaking wet and ice cold! WHICH IS STILL DANGEROUS FOR HIM! But you know… if you had brought him to his room, given him in a warm shower and dry clothes, I wouldn’t have said anything, but instead we find him abandoned in a hallway, looking like THAT while his teeth are chattering. While I’m sure he’s slowly warming up, his wet clothes aren’t going to allow him to get fully heated up. He can get a pneumonia and die! Look, I appreciate you wanted to help, but helping means putting yourself second for a bit and doing the task at hand. Which in this case was make sure Jiminie was happy, healthy, warm… Not you racing around in wheelchairs you do not need because you have two working legs!”, Jin pinches the bridge of his nose, taking a few deep breaths to calm himself down, “Can you at least put away the wheelchairs, go back to the room and put some dry clothes in the bathroom?”

Both men can’t even reply before a ding is heard, an elevator slides open with two men emerging from it. Looking at the four men standing around an exhausted looking boy, the shortest man out of the two who have just arrived, lift up the tired boy, glares at his boyfriends and walks through the hallway as quickly as he can. Putting the student on a chair he instantly starts to undress him, carries him to the bathroom, closes the door, to come back out twenty minutes later with a healthier looking Jimin who is still fast asleep.

”I’m not even going to ask what happened, but I want you to know I am very disappointed. Not angry, because somehow, I expected this, but I am disappointed that you proved to me that neither of you have a clue what it means to be a hyung. Whatever made you think that it was fine to leave him in wet clothes for God knows how long… Seriously… I thought you knew better.”, Yoongi says, while still holding onto to Jimin, rocking him gently back and forth, making sure he isn’t waking up.

”Hyung, we’re sorry, we just… We didn’t think.”, Tae confesses, there just isn’t anything else to say.

”Yeah, that much is clear… I’m going to put him into bed, to make sure he sleeps and hopefully sweats out anything that can make him ill. Maybe, in the meantime, you can research what it means to actually take care of someone. You know Jimin has suffered his entire life, we do not know exactly to what extent, but we know enough to want him to get out of this place and live his life. Then why would you do anything to keep him in here longer?”

”That’s not how we saw it… You are right, we don’t know what it is to be hyungs. We have always been babied by you and while we thought we didn’t like that, I guess we got used to doing what we wanted without having to think of the consequences. We’ll do better hyung, we promise. Tae and I, we’ll learn from you guys, because you really are the best at everything you do.”

”Flattery is getting you nowhere Kook-ah. Actions do. Please, next time, just do as we ask. If you were the one lying in the hospital bed, I’d be equally worried about you, but you are not, so for now, I’ll fuss over Jiminie more. If you are jealous, you can tell me that.”, Yoongi tells them.

”It’s not that, seriously. We honestly want the best for Jiminie, we adore him just as much as you, we just aren’t used to setting aside our inner child. You never asked us to and with Jimin having to grow up so quickly, we thought it could be fun to be kids with him. Only we forgot to include him or to ask him if he wanted to. And maybe, we shouldn’t have turned this hospital into our playground either… That was very disrespectful to everyone else staying on this floor.”, Taehyung turns at Jungkook who nods in agreement.

”I’m glad you realised that.”, Jin walks into the room later than everyone else, after having been stopped by his fellow staff members who wanted to give him an update on his boyfriends' behaviour, “Maybe next time, you can also quietly walk Jimin to the garden instead of nearly pushing him into walls?”

Chapter Text

Three days of a very silent and a very pliant Jimin creeps Yoongi out. To him, the younger has always been funny, witty and sassy. That’s how he got to know him in his spirit form, but even when he was awake in the past couple of weeks he joked around the more he got to know the other men.

Ever since everyone but Jungkook and Tae had to go back to work, ever since they found him completely knocked out in the hallway with his wet clothes on, the former spirit has been silent. The only thing he has been doing is what they have asked him to do. He hasn’t asked them for anything and has been trying to sleep even more than before.

Even when Yoongi asks Jimin questions, the boy just nods, smiles and replies with a “Whatever you think is right, hyung.”

It really freaks the chef out. Hearing his boyfriends agree with him, doesn’t make it better. He had hoped they would tell him to calm down, that he was overreacting, that he was too protective for his own good.

“This needs to end. I need sassy, smiley Jimin back.”, Yoongi tells his boyfriends, “This isn’t right. I really wonder what’s going on. I know his emotions are all over the place, because of him having been a spirit, having been in a coma and receiving someone else’s heart, but he isn’t even opening up about any of it. He did before, so I wonder why he stopped.”

“How about you talk to him?”, Hoseok suggests.

“I want to, but I’m afraid he isn’t going to talk if all of us are here.”, Yoongi responds.

“We can’t pressure him in opening up. So I agree with you, the less people that are here, the better.”, Jin says, “How about you take a day off from work and we’ll make sure we aren’t here.”

“But hyung, how are we going to do that? I don’t have work.”, Tae reminds them.

“Neither do I!”, Jungkook chimes in.

“Well, then find something to do. It’s not that hard. Besides, it’s the perfect time to show us you can be responsible and do what you need to do. Stay away, let Yoongi talk to Jimin, do not interrupt that conversation.”, Namjoon tells them, “Maybe you can do something that shows you are proper hyungs. Do some research on how to take care of people who are younger than you. Buy something Jimin might like to keep him entertained. Talk to people on what it means to be a hyung. Anything. As long as you’re not here when Yoongi talks to Min.”

“Fine.”, Grumbles Taehyung.

“Whatever.”, Sighs Jungkook.

“Put that attitude away. This isn’t about you. I get that becoming responsible adults isn’t easy, but don’t forget that this is what you wanted. We never told you to be Jimin’s hyungs, you wanted it yourself.”, Yoongi reminds them, “You can’t change your mind whenever things get hard. Right now, Jimin needs you. He’s confused, overwhelmed, in pain and who knows what else. I don’t need you to turn boring, but I do need you to learn when you can be playful and when you have to be an adult.”

“We know, we know.”, Jungkook nods, “It’s just… while we want to be hyungs, we want to be maknaes too.”

“Finding that balance is hard.”, Tae agrees.

“We all go through that fase. No one says you can’t be your playful self, just learn when you can. Being playful now means that Jimin can get hurt. So for now, try to be responsible. Once he’s healthy again, maybe you two can take him out on new adventures, have him try new things, make fun memories.”, Namjoon suggests, “While you still have to be the responsible ones, because Jimin is used to moving through walls and not getting hurt in his ghost form, you can also have fun and be young when you deem the situation safe.”

“I like that.”, Jungkook smiles wide.

“When Yoongi hyung has his talk, we can look up things to do with Jiminie.”, Tae suggests.

“Deal!”, Jungkook offers his hand for Tae to shake, which he does.

“Pleasure doing business with you.”, The photographer says.

“Likewise.”, The gym trainer states.

“Believe me when I say, none of us will ever see you as hyungs. You are two big children.”, Yoongi chuckles.

“You take that back!”, Tae disagrees.

“We will show you!”, Jungkook snarls, “Come on chingu! Let’s plan our future playdates with Jiminie!”

“If you go now, what will you do when Yoongi hyung actually has the day off?”, Hobi questions the two younger men.

“Right… I forgot about that detail.”, Jungkook scratches the back of his head.

“Why don’t you call your boss hyung? Quick, quick! We have planning to do and I’m done waiting.”, Taehyung practically throws Yoongi’s phone in his hand, urging him to set a date for his talk with the former soul.





Yoongi gets time off on Monday, the slowest day of the week in the restaurant. While he is getting himself ready to talk to Jimin, the others one by one leave for a day of work or a day of research on fun things to do with someone who hasn’t been able to live his life.

With the room empty, the chef walks up to the bed. Jimin looks at him with curious big eyes, wondering why Yoongi has time off and why his youngest hyungs have gone too when they don’t have to go to work just yet.

“Can I join you in bed Little Spirit?”

“Sure hyung. There’s room enough for two.”, Jimin smiles sweetly.

“It’s been a while since it’s just been the two of us.”, Yoongi starts, “I hope you don’t mind.”

“I don’t. I really like the others, but you are still my favourite, hyung. Don’t tell the others though.”, The maknae whispers. 

“Don’t worry, your secret is safe with me. I am glad that I’m not the only one who thinks our bond is special, that makes our next conversation hopefully a little easier.”

“Did I do something wrong Yoongi hyung?”

“No, not at all. Though, and I hope you don’t mind me saying this, you have been acting differently these past few days.”

“I don’t know what you are talking about.”, It’s clear that the orange haired boy knows very well what his hyung is talking about as the atmosphere grows awkward around them.

“Minnie. Don’t lie to me. We both know that you have been more quiet than normal. Before you would joke around, be sassy, state your opinion, ask questions, show your emotions. These past three days you have been cold, quiet and withdrawn. Why? Tell hyung what’s wrong. I am worried.”

Jimin looks away. He’s debating with himself whether he should actually open up or just tell the man next to him that he’s not feeling well, that he’s tired. It’s not a full lie. He still feels weak, his body still aches from the time being stuck in a coma and his explosion of emotions he experiences every day tires him out so quickly. On top of that he has to relearn things, get used to others and there’s him being overly stimulated every minute of every day. Yet… There is the feeling of him being a burden, of him ruining their lives, or at least halting it and forcing them to stay with him because he’s a pathetic person that isn’t wanted by other people. While he knows his mum and dad love him, it feels unreal with them not being there. The facetime calls are nice, but it’s not the same as being with them, face to face, hugging them and telling them he loves them.

“Minnie. Please talk to me. Even if you think it makes no sense, or if you don’t know what it is you feel. Just try to describe it. I’m not going to be angry with you, I’m not going to deny you your feelings… I’m here to listen and hopefully help. Please to talk me. Please.”, Yoongi almost begs.

“Hyung? Am I a burden? Because I don’t want to be one.”, Jimin confesses, his eyes sad, his mouth forming a little pout.

“A burden? Where does this come from?”, Yoongi questions, wondering where this thought comes from.

“You guys are giving up your lives for me… You go to work, then come back here. You sleep, eat, shower in this hospital. Sometimes two of you leave to go grocery shopping or wash clothes, but once you’ve done those tasks, you come back here. None of you go out on dates anymore, you don’t just go out to do a hobby. I never hear any of you complain, but it must bother you somehow, because when you can leave me, you do… For a longer time and you forget about me… I can’t blame any of you though, I would forget about me too, most people did anyway.”, Jimin sighs, then scratches his cheek, “Look, I know none of you expected to find a spirit when you were dared to enter my house, but you did. I don’t know why you kept coming back, but I feel like maybe I tricked you or guilt tripped you into keeping me company. And you must have thought that I would never wake up and you’d be rid of me the minute I would disappear, but then I didn’t and now you are stuck with me again, so the best way to get rid of me is to kill me, but you can’t stab me because that would put you in jail, so dying of pneumonia is the best option… What I’m trying to say is… None of you have asked for this and I get that you would rather live your lives than be here. I am a burden, but I’d rather you tell me than you trying to kill me.”

“Oh Little Spirit. If only I knew how much your little outing with Kook and Tae affected you… I would have talked to you sooner. Minnie, when Jin hyung, Namjoon hyung, Hobi and I were mad at those two idiots, it wasn’t an act. Seeing you in that wheelchair, soaked, pale and shivering, it scared the crap out of me. I would have always been your friend if you stayed a spirit and I would do everything within my power to keep you alive, or well… Visible at least. I would even try to figure out how to move you to our place, because going to work knowing that you were on your own the entire day, on the verge of vanishing was the worst feeling. You have no clue how happy I was when you learned how to use that phone. Checking in on you calmed me down considerably. To this day, I hate that your heart failed you, but it was also a good thing. It brought you back to us, it gave us the opportunity to get to know you better, to nurse you back to health, to make sure you were never alone. I have not forgotten about your abandonment issues and I never will. You are stuck with me Park Jimin, and you are stuck with the others as well.”, Yoongi looks at the younger who is listening intently to his words, clinging on to him, scared that he might disappear any minute and that all of his words so far have been lies, “Tae and Kook feel horrible about that day. They never wanted to leave you alone for that long or give you the feeling that you bothered them, but the both of them never had to act like adults and that is on me and the other older boyfriends in this relationship. We allowed them to be young, carefree and idiotic because we thought that was adorable. They told themselves that they hated us babying them, but now… Even though they want to be the best hyungs to you, they also don't realise that we expect more of them. You are our youngest now, you have gone through a lot, keeping you safe is our top priority now. They want to be part of that, they just don’t know how.”

Yoongi stares at the younger boy, who by now is lying on top of the older, his chin on the chef’s chest, looking up at him. Some tears pooling into his eyes, tears that are quickly wiped away by Yoongi.

“Minnie, you have to believe me, us meeting you… It couldn’t have been accidental. You fit with us so well, none of us even want to think of the idea that one day, you might not be with us anymore. We know you will have to go back home, figure out everything with your school and finally start college the way you wanted to. But once you do, that means we’ll see you less and that scares all of us. You may not know this, because we don’t talk about it around you, seeing as you should get better first instead of worrying about us or trying everything within your power to make us feel better, but we don’t want you to leave. You are our maknae. I know Tae and Kook messed up, but it’s not because they don’t adore you, it’s because we never taught them how to be responsible for someone other than themselves. Please don’t be upset with them. They are trying their best, but next time when they mess up, tell them. Explain how it made you feel, tell them what you need in that moment. Don’t hide like you did now. You are an equal part of this little family.”

“Family?”, Jimin asks in a tiny voice.

“Yes, family. The minute we met you, we adored you. It doesn’t matter that we met you as a silvery, shimmering spirit and have you with us now as this orange haired, adorable, red cheeks boy. We like any form you are in. Though, you being this lively is for sure the better option, because we don’t have to be afraid that you’ll disappear on us without a warning. I mean, if you want to leave us, we’ll let you go. The last thing we want to do, is keep you with us against your will, but if you’ll have us, we will most definitely do everything within our power to make sure that you are staying with us for the rest of your life. You aren’t alone anymore, you have us and your parents, even though they can’t be here for now. All of us, we are your family, unless you don’t want us to be. That choice is up to.”

Jimin’s lip start to tremble, then he hides his face behind his small hands. Loud hiccups leave his mouth, hiccups that turn into wailing not much later. Yoongi just holds the younger close to him, letting him feel what he needs to feel, no matter how ridiculous it may be to others. Jimin has been in a coma for a long time, stuck with all these feelings he couldn’t get rid off, if this helps him feel them, if this helps him relax a little, then Yoongi will gladly hold him until he stops crying.

It takes Jimin a while until he calms down, a few sniffles are heard through the room that is still empty outside of the two boys in the bed. A yawn then leaves the younger’s lips, followed by a slurred, “I would love to be your family. Thank you.”

Not much later, Jimin’s head falls slack against the chef’s shoulder, his eyes close, his soft breathing reaching the elder’s ears. Yoongi lies himself down completely, slowly coaxing Jimin’s body fully on top of his, caressing his hair, keeping him calm in order for the ginger-haired boy to sleep off the emotional exhaustion.

“I’m never letting you go Park Jimin. You can count on that.”

Chapter Text

Over the course of the next few weeks, the boys are allowed to help Jimin in his recovery. They join him in his physiotherapy sessions, where they replace the bars he would normally hold on to during his walking exercises. He’s gone from being held underneath his arms by two of the men, to holding hands with just one person. Whoever is able to join him for those sessions also help out with his strength training. Throwing medicine balls at him, spinning the rope until he can jump and spin at the same time himself. When he’s walking on the treadmill, they’ll be encouraging him to walk a little faster and a little further. On top of that, they keep an eye out on how much weight he can deal with and up the amount when he’s ready for it, but they also learn to take a step back on days where he’s exhausted or when he’s just not feeling all too well.

Jungkook and Taehyung are the two men who mostly work with him, seeing as they still don’t have to go to work. At first, Jimin wasn’t sure whether this was going to be a good idea, but the opposite has been proven. Being together throughout the day, they have slowly learned to work together. The first few days forced the two men to grow up as none of the physio staff wanted to leave them alone with their patient. Their little stint of having left Jimin behind on his own in the hospital garden made its rounds amongst the nurses, doctors and other workers, which resulted into everyone making sure that these two boys knew what they were doing before even thinking of leaving them alone with their patient. Now, several weeks later, it’s just the three of them together, with one physiotherapist sitting in their office in the far corner of the room.

Neither Jungkook nor Taehyung even think of leaving Jimin alone and have to remind themselves that they can’t always let Jimin rest or give him the easy exercises when he’s tired if they want him to get better and stronger again. Their newest maknae fully trusts them and when he falls down, he knows there will be two sets of arms to lift him up. He has learned over time that the two boys never meant any harm and that they have never seen him as burden. That they were just a little immature. He still likes that side of them when they are in his room, where they can’t hurt or annoy anyone else.

Every day, when they return from Jimin’s physio and strength training, they either go to the garden to get some air or go back to his room for a nap, depending on what he craves more, but once they have rested up a little, the boys will always come up with the silliest games for Jimin to play and distract him from the fact that he is basically living in the hospital for weeks now. They have noticed that at night the younger still suffers from nightmares and while he does open up to the both of them, and the others when they aren’t at work, it’s clear that sometimes he just wants to forget about his past, about the fear that his heart will give up one day, about having to say goodbye to his parents eventually and about the six men possibly leaving him once he’s healthy again. Yes, the boys have made it abundantly clear that he will be their family forever, and he believes that during the day, but at night… His fears come out to play and convince him otherwise. He’s been abandoned by everyone who was supposedly his family, why would the six men be any different.

So Taehyung and Jungkook keep his mind away from his doubts and make sure to fill it with nice, happy memories, so that he has something to hold on to when Jimin needs it. Today, the other four men walk in on them playing tag on a small obstacle course that involve the two chairs in his room, the small sofa, his bed and the table. When Yoongi opens the door, Taehyung is standing on top of the bed, Jungkook has one leg on the sofa and one on a chair and Jimin is sitting on his knees on the table, perfectly following the rule that they can’t stand up on the table to prevent them from falling off.

“Ehm… Why is Jiminie on top of the table?”, Hoseok asks from behind the chef, a little confused about what is going on.

“I don’t know, but I don’t like it!”, Yoongi runs inside, grabbing the younger around the waste, safely securing him in his arms and then quickly carries him to the bed.

“Hyung, he was fine. We were just playing tag.”, Tae protests, ready to defend their game and their treatment of the maknae.

“And we made rules that none of us have broken at any time while playing! Rule number 1, not standing on top of the table.”, Jungkook starts.

“Rule number 2. If you move towards the sofa, the chairs or the bed, you have to hold on to the backrest.”, Taehyung continues, “Minnie, can you say rule number 3.”

“Yes! If you feel like you are about to fall down, put your feet on the floor and say ‘Time Out’.”, The orange haired boy smiles.

“Exactly! We also have 'Jiminie - Only' rules! If he wants to quit the game, he just has to shout ‘I am done’. If he feels dizzy, exhausted or if he’s in pain, all he has to do is sit down on his bum and we’ll pick up him up and bring him to the bed. Also, no moving when he is laughing.”, Jungkook informs the others.

“The last one is my rule! Because I noticed that our Jiminie closes his eyes when he smiles and therefore can’t see. Which can result in him falling off of things and hurting himself.”

“You did good Tae. So did you Kook-ah. You have become very observant and protective over Jimin. I’m very proud of you. Just… make sure he doesn’t exert himself, okay?”

Both men nod, understanding what their eldest hyung is getting at. While Jimin trusts all of them now and dares to open his mouth more often now, not just to say everything is fine, but also to admit when he is isn’t. If there is one thing he doesn’t do that often just yet, it’s saying no to something or stopping with an activity when he’s actually in need of a nap. The former spirit never got to experience what it’s like to be a child, so he has missed out on learning things naturally. Learning his limits is one of them. Whenever he has fun he refuses to stop, he refuses to address that he is tired and give up on their game. While the others would easily let him take a break and then continue later that day or the following one, Jimin still fears that they’ll forget about it all and therefore doesn’t get to play that game until he proposes it again. Something he won’t do if he thinks it’s not the right time because the others are too busy or too tired. The others are patient with him and for now, they will be the ones to remind him when he needs to rest and tell him once again that they can continue the game after he has his energy back. They don’t mind. All of them had decent enough childhoods, so they learned everything at the right time, but when your biggest worry throughout your entire youth is keeping yourself safe, some things will have to be taught later in life and that’s more than okay.

“Fine, Jin hyung is right. You did good. But now that I’m back it’s snuggle time. Hyung has missed you, a lot, Little Spirit. I also brought you food. Freshly made by me, especially for you.”

“So, food you sell at the restaurant?”, Jimin replies cheekily, allowing Yoongi to tuck him in the hospital bed while the others put the furniture back in its rightful place.

“Not this time. It was quiet today, so I decided to make you mandu from scratch. You’ve only ever had them store-bought and while they are good, fresh ones are better. I made some with kimchi, some with chicken, there are pork dumplings and soup ones. We had so many ingredients we had to finish up today, thus I just made extra so all of us could enjoy them.

It’s only when Jimin lies down in the chef’s arms that he realises just how tired, and hungry, he is.

In total it takes the younger 12 weeks to be released from the hospital which they celebrate with the day out that has been promised by Jungkook and Taehyung. While going out with the two older men, the others pack up his belongings, drive to his house where they pick up more of the clothes, books and anything else he might need and then make their way to their own home where they will be preparing dinner and decorate the living room. On top of that they will make a schedule of when he will have to take his medication, to keep his heart from rejecting his body, to keep his blood pressure low and antibiotics to keep any risk of infection at bay. They also add hospital check - ups on there, two times a day to clean his scars and a moment each day for him to do some light exercises to make sure that he doesn’t lose his carefully build muscle mass and body strength. They also want to schedule in nap time and write rules on the side for him to follow, like ‘do not lift heavy things’ or ‘do not do activities that will strain your chest’, but they also don’t want to make Jimin feel like a toddler. The schedule is already a reminder that while he isn’t in the hospital anymore, he will have to be careful for the rest of his life, he will always be somewhat considered ill with all of his future hospital visits and medication he will have to take.

The last thing they have to add on the list is his therapy sessions, but that’s for Jimin to do himself whenever he picks a new date after finishing a session. He is an adult and has never complained about talking to someone about his past, his nightmares and his fear of dying early, so they know they can trust him with that. If he wants to take over the responsibility of following up his schedule, they will let him, naturally. Though, it does seem that the orange haired boy likes being taken care off, so if he allows them to do so, they will gladly continue to help him out.




“How was your friendship date? Had fun?”, Hobi asks the younger three who just walked in, cheeks flushed, glimmering eyes and the biggest smiles on their faces.

“YES! It was so much fun! We went to an arcade and played all the games! I won them all! Can you imagine hyung! I’ve never tried any of them, but I had beginner's luck on my side all the way through! And in the end, both Tae hyung and Kook hyung won me plushies! I have a rabbit and a bear in a tiger onesie. They told me to name them, so I’m naming them after them! I’ll put them in my room when you drop me home later today!”, Jimin rambles his way through his words, trying to hold on to the happiness he has been feeling throughout the day and ignoring the sinking feeling of having to say goodbye to the others, “I wish could have been there Hobi hyung! All of you! That’s the only thing that could have made this day better!”

“Did you thank your hyungs for the wonderful day?”, Namjoon questions, a soft smile on his face, enjoying the younger’s joy.

“Oh, he did. More than once. We had to tell him to stop thanking us several times.”, Taehyung informs his boyfriends.

“Good job, Minnie. Ready for the food we made you?”, Yoongi offers his hand to walk Jimin into the living room, nervous to see how he’ll react to the decorations.

Jimin’s eyes double in size when he sees the festive garlands hanging all over the place, there’s some balloons tied to his chair and a massive banner that reads “Welcome Home Little Spirit”.

Tears fill his eyes and a look of bewilderment, confusion, forms on his face, “Home?”, Jimin asks softly, his voice quivering.

“Yes, if you want to. We know you have your own place and we aren’t keeping you away from that. At all. We can do sleepovers in the house, or we can move in there together if you want, but seeing as you still need a lot of care, we didn’t want to leave you on your own. That’s why we thought you could stay with us. For now, you would have to sleep with one us, but we are thinking of turning our office into your room. That way we can keep an eye on you and be there in case you need someone to help you out… And you would not feel like you are being abandoned. It would break hour hearts if you were to leave us later tonight, thinking that you might never see us again or that we don’t want you around. This isn’t an obligation to us, not one bit. We love spending time with you and we mean it when we say, we want to be a part of your life, always. So please, stay. You can even pick the room you want to sleep in.”, Yoongi looks at him, trying to silently convey that everything is fine and that all of this is really happening, that Jimin is no longer alone.

“Can I sleep in your room Yoongi hyung?”

“I would love that Min. I’ll go get the air mattress, but no worries, you can have the bed.”

“Can we both have the bed?”, Jimin questions timidly, “I mean… When you stayed over in the hospital, we slept in the same bed as well. I’m a bit afraid that I won’t be able to fall asleep without you hugging me...”

The chef nods in agreement and then opens his arms, offering to be a safe space to the younger who immediately takes him up on that offer.

“How about we get seated and dig in all the food we've prepared? Later on, we need to talk about Christmas and New Year’s.”

“What about them, Jin hyung?”, The former soul asks suprised.

“Well, seeing as you’ve just been released from the hospital and it’s now the end of January, we couldn’t properly celebrate it. If my memory serves me right, you’ve slept a lot on Christmas, because you missed your parents and that sadness took a lot out of you and on New Year’s eve your light was out by 10pm. We tried to wake you up for the fireworks, but you were swatting our hands away and clinging so badly to Yoongi hyung, burying your face in his chest, we just let you sleep.”, Jungkook grins, “That’s why Jin hyung had the idea of celebrating it a little later.”

“Yeah, we would buy small gifts, come up with a 3-course meal, decorate the place better than what we did today, figure out what we want to do the rest of the day. Maybe we could watch Christmas films, or play board games. We can go back to the arcade, or visit a noraebang. So many options! And we can end the night with some fireworks. You know the easy ones that are safe to use by amateurs. Oh and we can decorate a Christmas tree! We have a fake one that we reuse every year. The original plan was to take it with us to the hospital, but it wouldn’t have fit…”

“I’ve never really celebrated Christmas or New Year’s. Like, I’ve seen some of my adoptive families celebrate, but I was never allowed to join in on the fun… I’m not sure if I know how to do it.”

“That’s the fun part about those holidays. There is no right way to do it. We can start our own tradition this year. Only do things that make all of us comfortable, eat the food we want to eat and everything else, we’ll figure out as we go. What do you say?”, Jin questions.

“I would love to. Though… I don’t have money for gifts. The bit of money I have, I’d like to keep that to go back to school… Eventually.”

“It’s settled then, we’ll make our own gifts. We’ll get a budget for crafting supplies and that’s all we get to use.”, Namjoon suggests.

“Hyung…”

“Min-ah.", The nurse looks at him sternly, but with a lot of love as well, "Don’t worry about it. Get better first, then we’ll see if we can apply for scholarships. If so, perfect, school is paid for. If not, no worries, we’ll pay for it. Once you are healthy again and doing well, you’ll find a way to chip in. Whether it’s with money or anything else, like chores. For now, if you want to pay us back, do it by resting up when you are tired, taking your medication on time, not lifting anything heavy, do easy workouts and lastly, hugs. You give the best hugs, we will never say no to one, or preferably more. One step at a time. This is how you help us out now. The fear of losing you is still very much present, pay us back by not making us worry even more about you. Deal?”

“Deal. For now.”

“For now. Now let’s eat!”

Chapter Text

The days leading up to their Christmas, at the end of January, are spent in bed or on the sofa, making plans on how to celebrate the holiday. Or at least in the evening, as most of them have to work again. Even Jungkook and Taehyung have returned to their jobs. Jimin doesn’t like being alone during the day, it reminds him too much of his time being a soul, living on his own, furiously wishing someone would see him. Though, even without him mentioning any of it to the men, he isn’t going to be a bigger burden than he already is, he has an inkling that they know how he’s feeling because all of them will barrage him with texts, photos, voice notes, videos, funny clips and memes throughout the day. Jimin has no clue how the men get any work done, but he is so very grateful for all the attention they are still giving him despite them not being with him during the day.

In the evenings, they can’t be close enough together. Practically sitting or lying down on top of each other, with a notebook in someone’s hands, mostly Namjoon’s, they have pages full of ideas on how to celebrate the holidays, but also spend the days between those holidays, with all of them, but also with just two of them or a few of the men together. They do always involve Jimin though, who is a little bit afraid he won’t have the energy to get through most of their plans, but who is more than willing to try to do as many of them.

The six men have told him that the lists aren’t meant to be dutifully followed, but more of a suggestion of what to do against potential boredom. If they decide that staying home is the better thing to do that day, then that is just as fine. The same goes for when they feel like doing the last idea on that list instead of the first thing. There is no order or obligation to it. Normally, that would calm Jimin down, but seeing how much effort the men are putting in finding all those ideas, he knows he’ll feel guilty if he doesn’t do a single one of them. So far, he likes the idea of the pottery workshop, going out to find the perfect tree, buying Christmas decorations, though he’s not sure they’ll find some now that the official holiday has passed already, learning how to cook more than just the sandwiches he keeps on making, not just for Yoongi but for the others too. The men promised Jimin to take him to an ice cream parlor, because ‘good boys get ice cream’ and if there’s anything the boyfriends agree on, it’s that Yoongi’s Little Spirit is a good boy. He wants to try ax throwing, but it also scares him, so he’s not sure he’ll make it there. Another thing that seems like fun, but makes him nervous is meeting the boys’ parents. They would travel to Busan, to Jungkook’s parents, where they could meet up with all of the other parents, including his own. Or at least his appa, seeing as his eomma might not go home anymore. He’s not sure why, but seeing his appa face to face scares him. Not being recognised by his eomma… Now that would crush him, and he’s not sure he wants to deal with that during the Holidays. Not when his hyungs are adamant to make sure he’ll be able to have the best time and make the most beautiful memories in order for him to not feel bad whenever he thinks back to this time of year.

When the first day of their Christmas Holidays starts, Jimin is feeling a little sad. Not because it is Christmas today, well not really but it is to them, and all the old memories of him not being allowed to celebrate along with his foster parents flooded right back to his brain, but because both Jin and Namjoon were called into work early in the morning, Yoongi already knew he had a shift at the restaurant as they still needed him for the lunch shift before he could get a week off and Jungkook had an important client who needed a last minute training session. Even Taehyung and Hoseok had to make it to the studio as one of the agencies they took pictures for had a problem with their equipment and accidentally erased all the good photos they took for a job with a big fashion house. Because they all had to give up on a day off that was already planned, they are allowed to stay away from work a day longer, but Jimin’s mind and heart were so set on them being home from Saturday to Saturday, it’s a lot harder on him than he expected it would be to reconcile with the idea of Saturday evening to next week’s Sunday. Somehow, that turns his schedule upside down. Not that there is much on his schedule just yet as not a lot of decisions have been made so far, but somehow, his brain is freaking out over things they might not be able to do now. Jimin knows he’s being irrational right now, but he can’t help how he feels. He would like to blame his new heart for it, but he’s quite sure, it’s all him.

None of them knew when they were going to be home, which meant that Jimin was left to his own devices and with no one to help him do his exercises. He’s used to doing them with at least one of them, even when they went back to work, they scheduled their work in a way that every day one of them could start their work day later or come back home earlier to help the younger with his exercises either early in the morning or late in the afternoon. Now, while he knows they would still help him out in the evening, he also realises that all of them have been looking forward to finally celebrate the holidays and he doesn’t want them to postpone having fun and relaxing for another hour until he’s finished training his body. The promise he made to himself, that he wouldn’t be a bother to them, is still one of the only ways he has to repay his hyungs for their friendship and care, therefore he will make sure he keeps that one, no matter what.

On top of that, he still needs to bring his home-made presents to the small fake tree, that they hopefully get to replace with a bigger, real one and place them underneath it. He tries to keep the walking to a minimum when he’s on his own, especially now that the doctor has told him to not use a cane or rollator anymore, two items he had been renting from the hospital to help him out whenever he was on his own the first few days alone at home. Though, with how quickly he was learning how to walk again, he now needs to relearn keeping his balance without any support while taking steps. Something that mortifies him, because if he makes one wrong movement, he might end up in the hospital again and that is just not something he wants for himself. With how the day is going, Jimin is almost certain that’s where he’s going to end up.



Jimin wasn’t wrong. Walking to his room was one thing, grabbing the gifts from his desk also went fine, trying to pass the couch is where everything went wrong. Stubbing his toe against the sofa, Jimin yelped, dropped the gifts and while trying to grab the falling packages, he lost his balance, toppled forward, hit his head against the small wooden coffee table and twisted his wrist while trying to regain some balance and keep the damage to his body to a minimum. So not only did his foot hurt, he also twisted his ankle trying not to fall down, then hurt his wrist and well… He doesn’t even want to think of the state his head is in. He can feel blood trickle down and the splitting headache is a big enough sign to tell him something’s up. Though, being in pain is the last thing on his mind right now. All he can do is panic, panic about what to do next. What if his hyungs come home and he’s lying in a pool, albeit small, of his own blood, while bawling his eyes out? What if his blood reaches the small carpet underneath the table he just hit his head on? He won’t get that stain out and he doesn’t have the money to buy his hyungs a new rug. He gave them a heart attack when he met them the first time in his spirit form, he then gave them a heart attack by having one himself in the hospital… He knows people say “three’s a charm”, but he doesn’t think it counts in situations like these.

Grinding his teeth together, he tries to fight through the pain, which is impossible with the way he’s heavily relying on his wrists, to lift himself up on the coffee table so that he can grab his phone and call an ambulance. While waiting for someone to answer the phone, he notices a chip in the wood of that small table and he refuses to believe that happened just now. No way is his head that hard that he manages to somewhat break a table.

“Hello, 119 speaking. How can we help you?”

The voice on the other side of the line pulls him out of his reverie and his brain is trying to scramble words together in order for Jimin to properly form a sentence and explain why he called them.

“Oh, ehm… I’m Park Jimin. I fell down and hit my head on the table. My head, wrist, foot and ankle hurt and I feel blood trickling over my face. I’m also a little queasy. If my hyungs find me like this they’ll be worried and rush me into the ER with so much ruckus, you’d think someone tried to kill me. Is there maybe a possibility I can be picked up by an ambulance so I can get checked out in peace? I’d walk myself, but I recently woke up from a coma and I am still re-learning how to walk.”, Jimin scrapes his throat, feeling nervous and very uncomfortable. He’s also a little scared about what the people on the other end of the line are thinking of him right now.

“An ambulance might be a little dramatic seeing as you were able to call us, but we are definitely going to send someone to check it out. It sounds like you can do with a little patching up. Don’t worry, if our team thinks you need scans or care they can’t give you on the spot, they’ll bring you to the hospital, but right now… I think that’s not really necessary. Besides, who would want to spend their weekend in a hospital. Someone is on their way, they’ll be their very soon. Enjoy the rest of your day and be careful!”

Putting his phone on the table again, Jimin tries to stand up to make sure he makes his way to the door by the time the emergency team reaches him, but with his head throbbing and the room slightly spinning that task is more difficult than he had hoped for. When he finally opens the door, ready to carefully sit himself down on the doorstep, the team arrives and Jimin is a little too happy about not having to find the balance to lower himself down so he can actually sit.

Before he good and well realises what is happening, he has been carried inside, which in hindsight he didn’t like one bit seeing as he only wants his hyungs to carry him, and is seated on the sofa, with a light shining in his eyes. Fingers are probing his head at the same time, going so fast that by the time he feels them on his forehead they are already roaming around in his hair. In the meantime, he is asked all the questions, something he wants to focus on, but can’t. There is too much happening and he just can’t concentrate on any of it.



“Jimin?! Minnie?! Oh my god! Seriously mister, you are going to give me a heart attack one of these days! Do you know how it feels to get called at work by the emergency operator who tells you she just had your maknae on the phone because he fell badly and she wanted me to know before coming home and getting the shock of a lifetime because that same maknae did not call his hyungs?! Why did you not call me? I’m a doctor. I can help you!”, Jin pushes the emergency team out of the way, grabs Jimin’s face and checks every millimeter of it, “Where does it hurt? Talk to me!”

Jin is starting to panic and Jimin not replying to any of his questions is only making it worse.

“I’m sorry Jin hyung. I just didn’t want you to worry.”, Jimin sighs tiredly. His head is killing him, his foot and ankle hurt so bad he’s convinced they have doubled in size and he’s holding onto his wrist because letting it hang loose is just not an option right now, “Just my luck that the operator woman knows you personally. I just need a band aid, I’ll be fine in a minute.”

“Min. You don’t have to apologise to me. Not about this. These things happen. I would appreciate if in the future, you could call me first. We took you in, we are responsible for you. Not just that, we care for you. I do understand that that is something you have to get used to, seeing as everyone who adopted you and therefore should have cared for you stabbed you in the back, but that’s not us. I don’t know how we can convince you of that fact, but we’ll prove it for as long as you need us to. Another thing we are going to prove to you is that you are not a nuisance. You can call us every minute of every day. If we don’t reply, it means we are busy with something at work and we’ll call you back the minute we can, but know that if I don’t pick up, you still have Joon, Yoongi, Hobi, Tae and Kook that you can. One of us will answer. Especially when we see it’s you. We’ve got you. I promise.”

Jin, who doesn’t like having these personal talks while there are other people in the room that he doesn’t know well enough, leads the emergency team to the front door, ushers them out of the house and and waves them off. He has it from here and he’s a much better caregiver than any of his colleagues. He knows these people can do their job well, they are trained after all, but it is still different when it comes to Jimin. They don’t know him, they don’t know how much he’s suffered in the past. The last thing he wants is for anyone to see Jimin as yet another number instead of an actual human being.

Once the door is closed, he makes his way to the bathroom where he takes their first aid kit. Rummaging through it, he finally takes out two band aids and several bandages. Placing those on the table, he puts the disinfection bottle next to it, then gets up an makes his way into the kitchen where he gets some cold-packs out of the fridge.

Sitting on his knees in front of Jimin, Jin puts ice on his wrist and ankle. He then cleans up the cut above his eye with the disinfectant spray and carefully places a band aid on there, the second one goes on his now lightly blue toe, that will probably turn into every colour of the rainbow, but is not too badly hurt. They then sit in silence for ten minutes. Jin making sure the cold packs aren’t moving, Jimin being afraid to say anything. His hyung might not think he’s a bother, but he himself definitely feels like a disappointment right now. With the bandages finally wrapped around his wrist and ankle, he’s good to go, but moving is not an option. One stern look coming from Jin and the younger sinks back into the couch.

“Hyung...”

“Yes Min.”, Jin’s voice is soft, gentle, and while that should make Jimin happy, it makes him anxious. 

So far, none of them have gotten mad at him for anything, but he has a feeling that’s going to change right about now.

“I’m sorry about your table… I’ll get it fixed.”

“The table? I’m confused.”

“I chipped it hyung. Hitting my head on the wood, a small piece broke off.”

“Min. Are you serious right now? Who gives a damn about that table? I’ll easily burn it or throw it out if it keeps hurting you. Seriously, no matter how expensive or pretty a piece of furniture is, it will never be more important than you.”, Jin sits himself on the edge of the sofa and pulls Jimin closer him, hugging him tight, “My heart hurts every time you work yourself up over something that is out of your control. You fell, that’s it. We all fall. Tables, chairs, rugs… That can all be replaced. You can’t. Honestly, whoever made you feel this insignificant, I hope they suffer a faith worse than those being punished in the 9th circle of hell.”

“Wait.",The younger starts, already forgotten what his hyung just told him after hearing one particular word, "Did I get blood on the rug?”, Jimin’s voice is strained, he swallows loudly, readying himself once again to be pushed aside.

“I don’t know Minnie, I don’t care. Remember what I said, rugs can be replaced. Our little spirit can’t. Now, take these painkillers and try to nap a little. I do think you have a light concussion, so I will wake you up in two hours, but that’s the right amount of time to sleep as by then everyone will be home and we can finally celebrate Christmas.

Jimin isn’t sure where the medication is coming from seeing as it clearly wasn’t in the first aid kit, but he’s very grateful for them. It doesn’t take long for him to give in to the drowsiness and allowing his eyes to close shut. The last thing he feels before he falls into a deeper slumber is the soft caress of fingers in his hair. Knowing Jin is home with him, makes him feel safe and relaxed. No harm will come to him, he is very certain of that and he can’t be more grateful to his eldest hyung for reminding him that in this place, with these six people, he can be himself and he will be loved for who he is. His heart knows, if only his brain could follow. That’d be nice.