11 – JM focus

The music ended and cheers erupted from the few hundred spectators. Jimin was incredibly out of breath, but he didn't care. He had done it and not messed it up. He searched for Yoongi's face in the crowd, but he wasn't there. Of course he isn't, he has better things to do than watch you dance, thought Jimin as Hoseok helped him to his feet. They walked back to the changing room.

Hoseok, everyone's little ball of sunshine, was spouting off positive messages and congratulating the exhausted performers. Jimin stayed for a while, chatting, before wandering off to find Taehyung and Jungkook.

He walked up to the balcony seats and spotted Taehyung's hair almost immediately. He walked over to them and saw that the two were intently studying a scrap of orange-coloured paper. When he approached them, they didn't say anything, they just looked befuddled and handed him the paper. Jimin was confused and looked at the paper. It read: Jimin, I need u.

Jimin was thoroughly perplexed and looked up at Taehyung. Taehyung looked at Jungkook and back at Jimin and raised his hands.

"I swear neither of us wrote that; I just found it in my pocket after your performance and I have no idea how it got there." Jimin didn't know whether to laugh or ignore it or track the handwriting through every person in the audience. He decided on the former.

"No, Tae, it's fine, I believe you. That's so weird. Do either of you recognise the handwriting?" he giggled and the other two followed his lead. In all honesty, Jimin was just putting on a brave face. He couldn't imagine anyone needing him or even wanting him except for Taehyung, and he had other people on his mind. Jimin's rationality put it down to just a practical joke, but even that didn't make sense – they didn't get to see the outcome. Somewhere, in a shadowy corner of his mind, he hoped it was Yoongi. He knew it wouldn't be, but he couldn't help but dream.

The other performances were good. Really good. Jimin had been confident in their performance before, but now he was sat on the edge of his seat, anticipating the ranks. Seokjin stood up after the final dance and clapped loudly to get everyone's attention. Despite being the head boy, he still looked faintly amused that it worked.

"Thank you! The results are in! Do you want to know who won?" Everyone cheered. "Too bad, I'm starting with last place." Seokjin is weird, Jimin thought. "In 4th place is…" he over-accentuated the dramatic pause before yelling, "Blue!" Jimin jumped as about four girls sitting near them screeched and pouted very loudly. "In third place…..Purple!" The Purple house cheered ecstatically and was a lot more accepting of their achievement. "In second place…" The pause seemed to last forever and Jimin nearly fell off his seat, "Green!" Half the crowd erupted and Seokjin announcing the winner was barely audible over the celebration. Taehyung and Jungkook were shaking Jimin by his shoulders and shouting congratulations in his ear.

Once more, the bell rang and the school was sent out to lunch. Jimin and Taehyung suggested the music block, but Jungkook said he had something to do and left them to go and do whatever that was. In a way, Jimin was slightly disappointed because Jungkook was fun to have around, even if he was a little shy. It was nice to have Taehyung back to himself, though. They walked to the music block and Jimin was laughing at Taehyung for the difference in his manner. Taehyung pouted,

"Shut up! I can't help it, okay? You know for a fact you were like that too and Min Yoongi didn't even come anywhere near us." Jimin hit Taehyung on the arm but smiled because he knew the kid was right. They sat down at one of the pianos and Taehyung started to play again. Jimin didn't recognise the tune, but it was very pretty. Taehyung only played for a few bars until he noticed Jimin watching. Jimin smiled.

"What was that? It was really nice; did you write it?" Taehyung nodded and answered,

"Yeah, I can't play well, though. I was just bored one day and thought I'd write something. It's not perfect or long or elaborate but I still like it." He looked up at Jimin who replied,

"I like it, too."

They sat and talked about nothing in particular and Jimin was so thankful that they were friends. This was someone with whom he could talk about the deepest, darkest thoughts his mind and someone that he could argue about Pokemon with. Jimin couldn't think of a better friend than that.

Basketball was the next event and Jimin was both excited and dreading it. On the one hand, he would see Min Yoongi but on the other hand, he would see Min Yoongi. He wasn't even sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing anymore. Maybe on some level, Jimin wanted the boy to notice him there – he was just so tired of being ignored by him. They walked back across and hoped they'd run into Jungkook but didn't. They wondered where he could have gone that was so important but they couldn't find him in the sports hall either.

The hall slowly filled up with people again and the event was close to starting before Jungkook joined them again. Taehyung reverted back into his strange 'Jungkook' persona and Jimin had to suppress a laugh.

The first game was Blue versus Green. Jimin knew that Yoongi was Blue, but as he scanned the court, he failed to find him. Jimin frowned. He was sure that Yoongi was doing basketball; he had seen him practising that morning.

The whistle blew without any introduction from the captains and everyone set off immediately. It was actually a thrilling first half. By the end of the first half, the scores were tied and things seemed like they were heating up between the players.

Jimin was still curious about the lack of Yoongi, so he asked (very casually), "Jungkook, did Min Yoongi say he was playing basketball today? He's not here." Jungkook seemed slightly caught off guard by the question but answered it anyway.

"Um, yeah, he was just feeling a bit ill at lunch so he said he'd only play in the second half. Look, there he is now," Jungkook pointed down to the courts and, as Jimin took in the information, he noticed that Yoongi was staying away from everyone and staring at the floor, drinking water. It was still strange in Jimin's mind that Jungkook was acquainted with Yoongi so well. The whistle blew again and Yoongi chucked his water bottle to the side of the court and jogged into position.

Jimin couldn't believe that Yoongi was ill; he played spectacularly and never missed a shot. By the end of the match, the Blues were miles ahead and could easily win by doing nothing at all, but it seemed that they had some sort of vendetta against the opposing side. They played as if it was life or death until the last second. Yoongi didn't join in the celebrations. He walked off and Jimin didn't know where.