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“She slaps your wrists? How rude,” Ollie said with a huff. “I don’t know what Fang is gonna do. Whatever it is, he’s gonna have to deal with all of my shit and my pissy attitude. Because I’m gonna be fucking pissy as hell.” they pursed their lips, not even liking the idea of being without their stress reliever. “Oh well. I guess Fang wants me to live a long happy life or some bullshit.” they smiled a bit.

“Yes? To both? Well I stopped with the cheek pinching and I won’t do it again but like I said before, if I think you deserve to hear it, I’m going to say it. I’ll try not to be so…blunt and forward about it though. I don’t want to make you uncomfortable, especially after what you’re doing for me.”

They chuckled a bit and rested their forearm across their forehead. “Mhm,” they said. “Being inside my place relaxes me, too. I mean, I’m good wherever I go, but I hate crowds and shit.” they looked over. “Yeah, smoking helps me, too. Which is lame, because my boyfriend wants me to quit. So, I’m not sure what to do about that.”

Grey nodded in understanding. “I’m not good anywhere outside... period. I get stressed easily.” They said with a hint of a nervous laugh. A soft hum left them and they smiled. “My boss slaps my wrist whenever I step out of the lounge to smoke. She says she’s going to seize my credit card so I can’t buy cigarettes.” They chuckled.

Jimin smiled a little and dropped their hand back to their side. “Stop what? Pinching your cheeks or telling you the truth?”

Grey was quiet for a moment, turning a corner before nodding their head. “Yes.”

“You sure are,” Ollie said with a small smile. “But I yelled, too, so…” they shrugged and bit and looked at Grey. “Feeling a little less jumpy now, I hope.”

Grey gave them a soft smile and a quick nod. “I get stressed easier when I’m outside. So... just being inside walls helped.” They sighed. “The smoke probably helped, too.”

“Doesn’t that mean that you don’t hear them enough? In which case, I’ll have to give you genuine and honest compliments more often to the point where you’ll hear it and not blush like that,” Jimin chuckled, reaching over to pinch their cheek.  “But more importantly, to know that it’s true and the compliments people give you are real.”

Grey whined softly, shaking their head quickly. “Please, let’s not and say we didn’t...” They said, batting at Jimin’s hand and making a face when they pinched their cheeks. “Stooop.” They whined again.

“Am I making you uncomfortable? I’ll stop. I’m out of compliments and praises anyway, they said with a small smile. “To you, it’s nothing. To me, it’s more than that.”

Grey flushed even more and shook their head. “No- I’m just-” They huffed. “Bad at taking compliments?”  They let out a gentle sigh. “It’s... a work in progress.” Grey looked at Jimin then, only smiling.

“Putting up with you would imply I didn’t want you around, and that’s definitely not true,” they chuckled before nodding again and taking off after Grey. “Before I forget…thank you, Grey. For being here.”

Grey smiled softly at that, rubbing the back of their neck and making a soft noise. “A-ah. Well.” They looked over to Jimin. “It’s nothing, really.” They murmured.

“What did I do to deserve someone like you in my life, huh?” they said with a small smile. When Grey spoke, Jimin nodded and stood up and grabbed her bag. “Alright, lets go. You must be hungry too.”

Grey found themself blushing a bit. Then they breathed out a laugh, standing up. “Um. Put up with me?” They said before shrugging. “A little bit... yeah. So, follow me.” They began to lead her back in the direction of their apartment.

Jimin nodded and continued to wipe the tears away, forcing themselves to stop crying. It took a few moments before they finally managed to do so. “You should go home Grey. You’re probably tired from work and the last thing you need is to deal with this bullshit.”

Grey gave them a soft smile and shook their head again. “It’s not bullshit with you.” They told them. “Come on, I have leftovers. And an air conditioned apartment.”

Jimin clung to their sleeves as they pulled them into a hug, burying their face into their chest. “I’m s-sorry,” they said after a few moments pulling away a little to wipe their face. “I literally didn’t cry one drop when it all happened. This is the first time since it all happened that I’m like this.”

Grey rubbed their shoulder slowly, shaking their head. “You don’t have to apologize.” They said gently, ducking their head down to look at them, their gaze was a bit more of a mix of concern and unsure than it was before. “... crying is good. It’s good to get emotion out.”

“I–…” suddenly Jimin had no words. It was rare that they were speechless and to have a sweet, kind and caring person like Grey worried about them and offer them their place along with everything else became too much for Jimin. Before they could stop themselves, they began to cry.

Grey was taken aback when Jimin began to cry, blinking a few times in rapid succession as their tried to figure out what to do. “H-hey...” they said softly, reaching out tentatively to pull them into a hug.

Now it was Jimin’s turn to fall into silence, letting it linger for a few moments. “Don’t say it like that Grey, you’re making it out worse than it says,” she said in the same soft tone. “I came to terms with who I was and when I told them, they didn’t agree with me so they got mad and kicked me out.”

Grey breathed in softly and blinked, mouth hanging slightly open. “... things like that are important.” They said and began looking them over. “I-” they paused, collecting them self a bit. “God, Jimin. Come on, you can stay with me.”

Jimin had to look away when they saw Grey’s concerned expression. “Pretty much since after the festival…so I guess Sunday.”

Grey frowned and press their lips together, eyes softening at them. “... why?” They asked softly once a few moments had passed. “That’s so... sudden.”

Jimin had hoped the forced change in topic would make Grey forget about why they were out there, but clearly, they didn’t. They sighed and shrugged, trying to think of some sort of excuse to use but their mind only drew a blank. Finally, Jimin turned to Grey, a small smile on their face. “Your best friend Jimin is now homeless and has taken the park to be their new home.”

Grey’s face instantly changed from amused to concerned, their eyebrows drawing together. “What?” They said softly, sitting down next to Jimin on the bench. “Jimin, when?”