1

Park Jimin had been out of breath for as long as he could remember. That's what happens when your parents bless you with an incurable genetic disease which leaves you with crappy lungs. He wasn't a stranger to the feeling of his lungs screaming for oxygen, the light-headedness that made his brain feel like cotton, or little black dots dancing over his field of vision when he overexerted himself. Yes, Jimin had always struggled to breath. He hated it, but he was used to it, and today was no different as he ran across the green grass outside the liberal arts building, his converse getting more and more wet from the morning dew. He was late. Again.

There were countless of days when Jimin had asked, begged his lungs to just work a little harder, just to hold out a little longer so that he could enjoy his life and keep up with everyone else. Like when he went to his classmate's birthday party in middle school but had to go home early because he got a fever, or when he'd missed the week-long class trip to Jeju in high school because the school didn't want to be responsible for him if he got sick, or when he'd tried so hard to keep up in dance practice but ultimately had to sit down and watch his peers continue the routine without him. He now begged his crappy lungs to cooperate as he swung the door to the liberal arts building open, pleaded that his breath would return to normal so he could enter the classroom without looking like he was dying.

There was a bench right next to the door and Jimin sat down to try to make his body return to a semi normal state. He took out his phone and looked at the clock. 08.11. He wasn't that late, but Jimin felt embarrassed nonetheless. Punctuality was a virtue in Park Jimin's world, it was something his mother had taught him. "Being late is one of the most disrespectful things you can do, it shows that you value your own time more than other people's." She had told Jimin and his brother Jihyun multiple times. Yet here he was, late for his morning class, again.

The first time he had been late for class had been because of his phone running out of battery which meant the alarm didn't go off, he'd gotten an actual alarm clock after that incident. The second had been a misread number in his timetable, after that he'd always make sure to double check when he started for the day. To be completely fair, it hadn't been entirely Jimin's fault this time. His roommate Hoseok had accidentally turned Jimin's alarm off that morning which resulted in Jimin waking up 10 minutes before his lecture started. He didn't blame Hoseok though, his roommate was a dance major and had to get up at an ungodly hour on Mondays for early dance class and Jimin's alarm clock was right next to Hoseok's.

The answer to why Jimin had to get up at a specific time, like the answer to so many other things about his life, was of course his crappy lungs. He needed to avoid situations like this. Running the five minutes it took from Jimin's dorm across campus to the liberal arts building would hardly put a normal 23-year-old out of action, but of course this wasn't the case for Jimin. He hadn't really run because he knew it would take forever for his breathing to go back to normal if he did, he jogged instead but it was still quite taxing on his lungs. He'd probably pay for his mistreatment of them later, he'd have to skip his evening dance plans with Hoseok if he had any desire to sleep tonight.

Jimin was easily affected by over exhaustion and he easily contracted infections when he demanded too much of his body, it came with having cystic fibrosis. Getting a minor infection wasn't as harmless for him as it was for normal people his age, a cold could quickly evolve into a serious infection that could even be life threatening. Jimin had spent many days in the hospital because of this and would therefore like to avoid straining his body too much. Usually he would give himself plenty of time in the morning, calmly walk to his lesson and his breathing would be fine. So yes, it was important that Jimin woke up at a specific time.

Jimin's breathing was starting to normalise, enough where he knew he could fake complete normalcy. He stood up and opened the door carefully. Jimin stepped into the small classroom, students and benches kissed by the morning sun making its way through the large glass windows. Everyone looked at him, a few of them snickering. Shit, he should have checked how he looked before going in.

"Nice of you to join us Mr. Park." Said Ms. Sun kindly. "Have a seat, I was just going to introduce our next book." She smiled kindly and gestured to his regular seat two tables down the middle row. Jimin bowed and stammered out some excuses before sinking down into his seat next to his friend Namjoon who gave him a small smile.

Namjoon was a tall boy with brown hair and the most prominent dimples Jimin had ever seen. Jimin had met Namjoon on their first day of university a little over a year ago and they instantly became great friends. They had a lot in common, not only their major, and Jimin could spend hours picking his friend's brain over a cup of coffee.

"What happened to you?" Namjoon whispered and turned his head towards Jimin discretely so their teacher didn't see.

"Alarm didn't go off." Jimin said bitterly as he unpacked his notebook and pencils from his bag. Namjoon gave him a pat on his shoulder and turned his attention back towards their teacher.

Jimin loved books. He had hundreds of them, most were back in his childhood home in Busan, but he still had acquired quite the collection in his dorm room over the last year. The power books had to take you on a journey to another world, to teach you things about life, and to make you feel things you never had before were just a few of the reasons why he loved books. Jimin couldn't think of anything else he'd want to do as a career so he had chosen literature as a major.

The lesson was interesting, the second book they were going to read this semester was Fahrenheit 451 which Jimin had already read but he didn't mind, it was a great book. The hour went by fast and as they didn't have any more classes until lunch Jimin and Namjoon went to the library to get a head start on their studies.

"I can't believe we're two weeks into the new semester and we already have this much to do." Namjoon groaned as they sat down at a vacant table.

"I know, it's like they were easing us into it last year." Jimin replied while opening his edition of Fahrenheit 451 while grabbing his post-it notes out of his bag to make notes. "I already need a break."

"Why don't we plan something with the rest of the guys? We could go hiking for a weekend or something." Namjoon suggested while flipping through his English book uninterestedly.

Jimin liked the idea of planning something together to take their minds off school for a couple of days, but hiking wasn't exactly his forte. "Or we could go camping?" He suggested as he took the cap off his marker.

"I mean we could do both I guess. I think being outside would do us all good." The brown-haired boy shrugged.

Jimin smiled to himself. Namjoon loved nature and he was always trying to get the rest of their friends to come outside more. The boy could often be found strolling through some nearby park or taking a daytrip to one of the mountains close to the city, but he usually had problems getting the rest of their friends to tag along.

Once it was time for lunch the two friends walked over to the main building on campus where the cafeteria was. When they entered their friends were already seated at their usual table, apparently in a heated discussion over whether hamburgers counted as sandwiches.

Their friend group was chaotic, but Jimin wouldn't have it any other way. All of them were completely different, but they strangely matched really well. Only Namjoon and Jungkook had known each other before attending university, they were childhood friends and had pretty much grown up together. Jungkook had met Jin and Yoongi, two third-years, at a welcome party for civil engineer students, all of them sharing the major, and they had immediately claimed they wanted to adopt the younger boy. Jin's roommate Taehyung pretty much forced his way into the group, much to Jin's dismay, but Jimin and Taehyung got along so well that they soon became best friends. Finally Hoseok, Jimin's roommate, was added to the group when Taehyung had declared that the happiness Hoseok spread all around him was needed to balance Yoongi's grumpiness.

Jimin loved his friends, but there was one person he couldn't stand and that was Jeon Jungkook. The boy was and had everything that Jimin didn't. He was rich, incredibly good looking, and popular. The first time Namjoon had introduced them had been a few weeks after they had started university and Jimin knew immediately that he would dislike the boy. Jungkook had introduced himself confidently and Jimin could see the privilege dripping from his expensive jacket and perfectly trimmed hair.

Jimin hadn't exactly grown up poor, they had lived in a small house and had a car, but his mum was a single parent and she couldn't afford to buy him and his brother all the nicest clothes and other things. Moreover, Jimin's doctor's visits and many medicines were a big expense. He'd always resented rich people because they had it so much easier, they didn't have to worry as much. Jimin could see it in people's eyes, the privilege of being able to wear whatever clothes they wanted, of being able to eat out more than a couple of times a year. He could definitely see it in Jungkook's eyes.

Jungkook was also an ***. From the moment they met Jungkook had made fun of Jimin and he hated it. It started with a joke about his height which Jimin did not appreciate and after that the jabs just kept coming. Jimin wasn't much better as he threw just as many insulting words at Jungkook, but in his defence Jungkook deserved it. Their friends had to endure their constant bickering and Jimin honestly felt sorry, but he would never let Jungkook win in an argument. Maybe it was petty, but the fucker won at everything in life so seeing him lose an argument was like Christmas to Jimin.

Infuriatingly enough everyone else around them seemed to love Jungkook. They all fell for his charms and good looks, but Jimin couldn't see what they saw. The boy always had a group of girls following him around and the sight made Jimin want to go throw up in a trash can. Having to watch Jungkook flirt was probably his least favourite thing, but unfortunately it happened a lot more than he would like.

Namjoon sat down next to Jin and gave him a small peck on the cheek, the two boys had started dating last December after they had (according to Namjoon) accidentally woken up in the same bed after a Halloween party. That left the seat directly opposite Jungkook for Jimin to take. He sat down and gave the boy a nasty look.

"Heard you were late this morning," Jungkook looked at him and gave him a crooked smile and a look showing Jimin he wouldn't get to eat his lunch in peace. "how long did it take your stubby little legs to run across campus?"

"**** off Jungkook, I'm not in the mood." Jimin said through clenched teeth while taking his lunch out of his bag.

Other than time, food was another area Jimin was very particular with. Because of his cystic fibrosis he couldn't absorb nutrients as well as other people and therefore had to keep track of what he ate. He had an especially hard time with absorbing fat which was why he put extra butter in everything, his food often came with cream based sauces, and he wasn't afraid to have dessert. Additionally, he always had a special nutritional drink that was prescribed by his doctor. The drink didn't taste the best, and it only came in strawberry and chocolate flavours, but it made it so much easier for Jimin to keep weight on.

Jungkook would often make fun of how much food Jimin ate and how he still seemed to be as skinny as a stick. Jimin bit his tongue every time, reminding himself that the consequences of telling Jungkook the real reason why his diet was the way it was would outweigh the satisfaction he'd feel seeing Jungkook's smug expression turn into shock.

His friends didn't know about his condition and Jimin was planning to keep it that way. Nothing good ever came from telling people you were sick. Jimin had had to tell many people in his life previously, whether he wanted to or not, or they just found out because he'd collapse at school or the teachers would say something about his absence. Jimin had lost every single friend he'd ever had because of cystic fibrosis and he wasn't about to let that happen again, not when he'd found such amazing people who seemed to genuinely like him. He didn't want to be seen as the sick and broken one and once they knew that was the only way they'd look at him.

The only one who knew was his roommate, Hoseok. Jimin had planned to keep it a secret from him as well, but the red-haired boy had accidentally opened Jimin's mail and seen a letter from his doctor a couple of months after he had moved in. Hoseok hadn't read it but he couldn't avoid seeing that it was from a specialist clinic for pulmonary diseases and Jimin didn't know how to explain that so he had to tell the boy.

His roommate had reacted the way he'd expected; shock, confusion, sadness. Jimin liked Hoseok and he didn't want to lose him like he had lost so many other friends, but to Jimin's surprise Hoseok didn't stop being his friend. Sure, he acted a bit weird for the first few months until he got used to seeing Jimin's oxygen tank he kept for bad nights and listening to his strained breathing when he got sick, but he didn't leave. Hoseok was the only friend he'd ever had who hadn't looked at him like he was a broken human being after finding out and Jimin was beyond grateful for his luck. Hoseok still babied him a lot, but he did that with everyone so Jimin didn't mind so much.

"So, me and Jimin were talking about doing something fun together now that the semester is in full swing." Namjoon said excitedly while shoving the gimbap he'd bought into his mouth. "I don't know about the rest of you but the teachers have been piling on work already."

"Tell me about it." Taehyung replied. "I can't believe we're two weeks in and I have a test next week."

"Yeah it would be nice with a break." Yoongi muttered across from Namjoon. "What did you have in mind?"

"We were thinking of going on a small trip or something. Do some hiking, camping, that sort of stuff." Namjoon said while chewing his gimbap and eyeing his friends expectantly.

Loud grunts were heard from Taehyung and Yoongi while Jungkook let out a small laugh through his nose. "I'm not going 'Namjooning'." Taehyung groaned.

"It doesn't matter how many times you say 'Namjooning', it's not going to stick Tae." Jimin said and laughed at his friend.

Taehyung gave him a glare. "I want to relax, not go out in the wilderness or whatever."

"I'm going to have to agree with the idiot." Yoongi said and Taehyung threw a scrunched-up paper towel at him.

"I'm going to help out at this camp this weekend as a dance instructor," Hoseok said while ruffling his cherry red hair "I get a whole cabin to myself and there are lots of activities you can do in the area. We could all go there?"

"What kind of activities?" Jin asked

"There are hiking trails nearby, the cabin is by a lake so you can go swimming or you can rent kayaks, and there are restaurants and shops down in the village."

"That sounds perfect!" Namjoon practically bounced in his seat making Jin look at him fondly.

"Why haven't you told us about it before." Jungkook said raising his eyebrows.

"He told me." Jimin said taking a sip from his nutrition drink. "Maybe you're not important enough."

Jungkook gave Jimin the finger and looked at Hoseok.

"I don't know, it just didn't come up." He shrugged.

"But why do you have a cabin to yourself?" Taehyung asked.

"I'm the only guy going, they didn't want me staying with the girls apparently." Hoseok said with a little laugh.

"You sure it's okay we stay there too?" Jin said raising his eyebrows.

"I think so, but I'll ask to make sure."

"Okay, so is everyone in then?" Namjoon looked around at his friends and they all agreed.

Jimin couldn't help but smile a little. A trip. He was going on a trip with his friends. Growing up he hadn't been able to take many trips with his family or his friends. His mum worked a lot and they couldn't travel anywhere too expensive so they'd only gone on a few road trips, some of which Jimin's crappy lungs had ruined and they'd ended up in the hospital. He wasn't allowed to go on school trips because the school was worried he'd get sick on the trip and he never had any friends long enough for the suggestion to come up. So to say he was excited was the understatement of the year.

He was going on a trip with his friends, for the first time ever. Not even Jungkook could ruin the glee Jimin felt.

---

Jimin was sitting at the small desk between his and Hoseok's beds. They had sacrificed fitting two desks in their tiny dorm room so that they could get a small sofa instead. Jimin didn't mind, he preferred to study at the library or at a coffee shop anyway, but tonight he had promised Hoseok to stay home.

Hoseok had felt really bad when Jimin told him about the mishap with his alarm. He had gone from begging Jimin to forgive him and promising he'd make it up to him to scolding him for running and making him promise to rest for the remainder of the night. Jimin knew better than to argue with Hoseok on this matter, he had gone against Hoseok's advice a few times only to end up in his friend's car on the way to the hospital half of the times. Hoseok had barely talked to him for a week the last time it happened.

Jimin wasn't looking forward to the amount of work he would have to get done in the next few days if he was going to be able to enjoy the trip over the weekend. Two new tests had been added to his workload just that afternoon and he felt like he could kiss his free time goodbye until Friday.

Jimin hated feeling stressed. He used to dance when he was stressed, it was his way of letting all the tension in his body go. Jimin had started dancing when he was five years old, he had begged his mother to take him to the dance studio a few blocks away from their house for months and she had finally relented when she'd realised that he wasn't letting it go. His lungs worked better when he was little so he could basically do anything the other kids in his class could, but as he got older his breathing got progressively worse and he couldn't keep up anymore. That didn't mean he stopped dancing though, no he kept going to the dance studio every week and danced the best he could.

There wasn't a more freeing feeling than flying across a room, feeling the beat of the music in every movement. He didn't let his crappy lungs stop him from experiencing that. When he applied for university he signed up for a contemporary dance class as an elective and revelled at the opportunity to learn new moves from the very talented dance instructor. His classmates were all really nice and equally talented, dancing in that class had been one of Jimin's favourite times of the week. He had cried when he had to give it up.

Barely six months into his first year it was becoming painfully obvious that his body couldn't keep up with dance class anymore. Jimin had tried so hard to keep up that he would almost collapse at the end of every dance practice. Towards the end Hoseok would have to come take him back to the dorms, half carrying him. He would also miss many lessons because his constant over exhaustion was causing an increasing amount of infections. When Jimin had ended up in the hospital, the second time in a month, with a particularly bad case of pneumonia Hoseok had pleaded with him to quit dance class. Jimin finally agreed, but that didn't mean he stopped dancing.

A couple of times a week him and Hoseok would book one of the dance studios, Hoseok insisted on being there and Jimin didn't want to argue knowing his friend wouldn't let him say no. Jimin cherished those nights with Hoseok in the dance studio, it gave him a satisfaction he couldn't get any other way. He wished he was in one of those studios right now, but instead he was rereading the second chapter of Fahrenheit 451 trying to focus.

He was about to pick up his notebook and continue his notes on the book when his phone lit up announcing he was getting a call from his mum. He quickly grabbed the phone and answered.

"Hey mum! How are you?"

"Hi honey! I'm good, how are you?" Hearing her calming voice filled with honey immediately relaxed Jimin. He hadn't talked to her since the first night he got back from summer vacation.

"I'm fine, they've already given us so much school work though so I'm a bit stressed about that."

"I'm sure you'll manage, you've always been the smart one in the family." His mum said.

Jimin laughed a little. His mum hadn't gone to university because she couldn't afford it and Jihyun had no interest in school. Jimin was the only one who was getting a higher education, thanks to the scholarship he'd managed to acquire through his perfect grades in high school. That didn't mean his mother and brother weren't smart though. "You're smart too, you just don't want to spend your life with your nose down a Charles Dickens book."

"That's true." Jimin's mum's laugh rang through his phone and it made him smile.

"What's up with you guys? Anything new happened since I left?"

"Hmm, not really." His mum sounded a bit distant, like she was wondering whether to tell him something. "We've just been busy with Jihyun starting school and things have been picking up at the restaurant, at least I'm getting loads of tips."

"Yeah sounds like it." Jimin felt like that wasn't the first thing that had come to her mind, but he didn't want to push her. "Hey, I'm going on a trip with my friends in a few days. Hoseok is going to be a dance instructor at this camp and he invited us to come along." Jimin couldn't hide his excitement and his mother seemed to be able to tell how happy he was.

"That's amazing honey, I'm so excited for you! Just be careful okay?"

"I know, I'm already taking it easy. Nothing will ruin this trip for me I swear."

"That's good to hear. Promise me you won't be too upset if you end up missing it or having to go home early though." His mum knew him too well, she couldn't stop him from doing what he wanted and just tried to make sure he would be alright if his cystic fibrosis got in the way.

"I promise mum."

"Good." Jimin could practically hear her smile through the phone. "Anyway, I need to get started on dinner now but it was so good hearing your voice. It's empty here at the dinner table without you."

"I miss you too, I'll try to visit soon okay?"

"Please do."

They said their goodbyes and finally hung up. Funny how talking to his mother could make all the stress leave his body.

Jimin had barely picked up his pencil before he heard the door opening behind him and saw his roommate walk through the door, his gym bag slung over his shoulder. He looked exhausted.

"How much have you slept in the last few days, you look awful." Jimin eyed his friend's figure as the boy threw himself onto his bed.

"It's that recital next month," Hoseok said after sighing loudly. "it's double the work since I'm doing a group dance and a solo dance."

Jimin hummed understandingly. Hoseok had been so excited when he found out he would get to do a solo dance, in addition to the group dance with his street dance class, for the annual dance recital the dance majors put on to welcome the students back to the new semester. It was huge to get to perform solo as only two students from each year were chosen. Hoseok had spent most of his waking hours preparing and it was definitely taking a toll on his body.

"I've finally decided on the last steps of the choreo for my solo, but there's still so much work until the performance is where I want it to be." Hoseok looked almost desperate, he rubbed his eyes and ran his hands through his hair.

"Hey Hoseok, don't stress too much. Not sleeping isn't going to help." Jimin said, concern clearly audible in his voice.

"Don't worry about me Jiminah, I've got it under control."

"So, you're allowed to worry about me but I can't even tell you to sleep?" Jimin said feigning offence.

Hoseok laughed and threw a sock at Jimin. "Okay, I get your point."

Jimin walked over to Hoseok's bed and laid down next to his friend. The red-haired boy put his arm under Jimin's head and he leaned his head against his friend's shoulder. "I'm really looking forward to going to the cabin with everyone." Jimin said, his voice barely louder than a whisper.

"So am I." Hoseok replied. "I think we all need a break."

Jimin nodded against Hoseok's arm. "I just wish-"

"What?"

"I just wish Jungkook wasn't coming."

Hoseok laughed and Jimin couldn't help but smile too. "Yah Jimin, don't let him ruin it for you. Just ignore him."

Hoseok was right. He would not let ******* Jeon Jungkook ruin this trip for him. No way.

***Download NovelToon to enjoy a better reading experience!***