chapter 3

He leans against the front desk, hands playing with a dusty fake plant resting on the counter. Jungkook grits his teeth as he ponders how he should approach the newbie.

Do I really have to be friendly with them? What happens if they try to be friends with me?

He taps his fingers against the desk until he hears the front automatic doors slide open, signifying an entrance. He looks up expectantly, watching as two adults walk inside with a younger following behind them.

His eyes rest on the younger adult as he begins to observe him. He wears a black sleeved shirt, correlating with black jeans of which hug his thighs, and gold spectacles that rest along the border of his nose. His hair is black and ruffled, parting in the middle to reveal a portion of his forehead. His clenched jaw and tense shoulders automatically revealed his dislike of being there, Jungkook could tell.

Jungkook waited until the two adults accompanying the patient had finished checking him in before turning to face the counselor standing next to himself, who just began walking towards the adults. He followed behind her not long after.

"Hello, I'm the counselor for all patients in the west wing of Gatefields Mental Hospital. I assume you're the guardians of-" she checks her clipboard, "Park Jimin?"

The adults nod and begin to introduce themselves, pulling the counselor aside to discuss further discreet issues before letting Park Jimin go.

Jungkook is left with Jimin, who seems to have an unbreakable gaze on the floor. He sighs before deciding to speak up.

"Look, it's not that bad here. You'll get used to it," Jungkook says while waiting for a response, watching as the patient doesn't lift his eyes from the floor.

Jungkook curses at himself immediately after. Why did I just lie through my teeth to help console this guy? He doesn't even care about what I say, so why should I try to make it seem better than it actually is? Why is the counselor making me do this?

He clenches his jaw as he turns to look at the counselor expectantly. She looks over towards him, and smiles as she sees both him and Jimin.

"Jungkook, I assume you can take Jimin-ssi from here?" she nods in his direction. Jungkook only responds by looking towards the ceiling for a quick moment, demonstrating his frustration in the most unnecessary way possible before nodding back to her.

He waits for Jimin to gather his belongings and exchange a tense goodbye with his guardians before turning to face Jungkook once more, this time with eye contact. Their eyes meet for less than a second before Jimin breaks it, averting his eyes to the floor yet again.

Jungkook just rolls his eyes and begins to walk down the hallway, expecting Jimin to follow, which he does.

They walk in silence, with Jungkook listening to the footsteps Jimin takes. They are light, and barely audible despite the hallway's extravagant echo created by the slightest noise. He can hear occasional sniffles or quiet coughs coming from him as well.

Minutes go by in this silence, with Jungkook deep in thought and Jimin in denial.

Jungkook then stops and begins to show him around the facility headquarters of which they're permitted to be in.

Few words are exchanged as Jungkook gives simple, self-explanatory labels to rooms in the institution. Jimin only nods in response to each demonstration, making Jungkook's job much easier than he thought it would be.

"I guess all that's left to show you is your room. Uh, what's your room number?" Jungkook hesitantly asks while looking at him expectantly. Why am I so awkward around him?

Jimin only holds out the form in his hand, pointing to the room number cleanly printed above his name. Jungkook mumbles an "okay" as he begins to lead Jimin to his room. As they arrive, he notes that his room is fairly close to his own. Of course,  Jungkook won't be telling this to Jimin, it's just a note for himself.

Jungkook finally stops in front of his door, glancing towards Jimin's direction once they reach it and motions toward the room. Jimin looks at the paper in his hands to double check the room number before nodding a "thank you" to Jungkook, still without eye contact.

"See you around, Park Jimin-ssi."

the end hope you like it😊

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