37: Unexpected Discovery

JAMIE POV

Jimin, Suga, Jhope, Rachel, and I walked to Spanish, talking, laughing, and enjoying each other's company. When we got to class, Rachel and I sat down in our seats and waited for class to start. A few moments later, Minho walked in and strolled to his seat. When he sat down, he looked at me.

"Hey Jamie! So did you think about coming to our game?" He asked.

"Yeah... I'm going." I said. His eyes lit up.

"Really?! Cool, now I have motivation!" He said. I was about to respond, but someone else did for me.

"Keep your hands to yourself, just play your game. You bother my girlfriend, you're dead." Jimin suddenly appeared. Minho turned to face him.

"If bothering your girlfriend bothers you, wouldn't I be tempted to do so?" He said with a smirk. Jimin's glare sharpened and Minho laughed. "You have to chill lover boy, I'm not gonna do anything." He added.

"Jimin, relax. It's just a basketball game." I said.

"See? Your girlfriend agrees." Minho said proudly. He turned to me. "Great minds think alike huh? Wow we have something in common!" He said. I scoffed.

"Choi Minho, we will never have anything in common." I said as I redirected my attention to Jimin. I nodded to him in reassurance, and he took a deep breath and nodded back. Then, he went to his seat.

"I'll walk with you to the gym after class ends." Minho said before turning around in his seat. I did the same as I faced Rachel. She gave me a weak smile.

"Boys will be boys?" She asked.

"Boys will be boys." I answered, and with that the bell rang.

.

.

After the bell rang, Jimin and Minho both made their way to me.

"Let's go?"

"Shall we?" Jimin and Minho asked at the same time as they lend their hands to me. They both looked at each other and glared.

"I'm going to the gym anyway and you're going to dance. She should go with me." Minho said.

"I can walk her to the gym, I don't mind if I'm late to practice so go get ready for your stupid game." Jimin said. Neither of them put their hand down, and I sighed. I lifted my own hand and took Jimin's. He smiled out of relief as he pulled me towards him. I hugged him.

"Jimin, I'll go with Minho. I don't want you to be late, and you're the captain, everyone else will be waiting for you. I'll be fine, don't worry." I said. He gave me an uneasy look.

"But... I don't trust him." He said, looking at Minho who looked annoyed.

"Trust me." I said. A moment past before he sighed. He kissed my cheek and let go of me. Then, he sent a glare to Minho and walked off.

"Let's go." I said, using my crutches to get ahead of Minho. When he caught up, we moved in an equal pace.

"Jimin changed a lot because of you, you know. He's softer now." Minho said, trying to make small talk.

"Softer?" I asked.

"Look, I dated a lot of girls and played with them, but Jimin broke a lot of hearts. He didn't even spare the girls a look and he was so cold to them, it made him look really cruel, and I thought he was. But when he met you... I don't know I see him differently. Weaker but stronger. I'm still trying to decide which it is." He said. I smiled as we continued to walk. When we got to the gym, I went to the bleachers. 

"I'm going to go get ready. Cheer us on! It'll really be a lot of help." He said. I nodded as he ran to get changed. I sat down and looked around the gym.

It was big. Everything seemed new: new scoreboard, glass backboard, attached to a shiny red hoop. I looked around some more as people huddled into the gym, the audience growing to watch the big game against our rivals. After around ten minutes, Minho and his team came out, and everyone cheered. I was surprised, Minho looked different with his uniform on.

After a few minutes, the other team came and everyone started booing. Wow, this is a serious game. I watched the other team walk in. They were all tall and had built bodies. It was not going to be easy to beat them.

Once they put their stuff down, they went onto the court and the two teams took a few minutes to practice. While they practiced, I watched Minho shoot and run. He was actually pretty good. Maybe that's why he's the captain.

"He's so hot." I heard a voice behind me say. I turned and saw three girls fan-girling.

"Hey back off! Minho is mine!" One said.

"What! No way I called dibs!" The third one said. They continued to argue as I rolled my eyes. Girls... How can they do that to each other as friends.

The game finally started and I saw Minho walk to the middle as jumper. A second before the game started, I saw him look at me, smirk, and wink. I gave him a poker face back as he got in position.

Once the referee blew the whistle, the ball was thrown in the air and the game started. Minho jumped higher than the opposing player and snatched the ball. He passed it to his teammate, who ran for the hoop, making a layup and making it into the hoop. My heart jumped with excitement. I couldn't help but to clap along with the cheering crowd.

Throughout the game, I couldn't help but get more and more into it. Every time Minho or his teammates got the ball, they did some type of trick to get around their rivals. I watched Minho play. It was kind of like watching Jimin. He was sweating, focused, and serious. I never saw this side of Minho. Seeing him like this gave him a new look. A side I could actually tolerate.

After constant points, cheers, and tricks, the final ring from the score board indicated the end of the game. We won 57-42, and I didn't realize but the intimidating aura the opposing team had before the game shattered to dust. I saw Minho and his teammates smile at the crowd and jump out in victory. They shook hands with the other team, who seemed both mad and disappointed.

Then, our team ran to the crowd and ran past the cheering girls, who they high-fived. Minho spared me a smile and I gave him a thumbs up and nod. After that, they went into the locker room again to dry up and get dressed. From there, the crowd slowly disappeared as they left with happy smiles on their faces. I waited, since I had no where to be anyway.

After a good ten minutes, I watched Minho and four of his friends come out. I'm guessing they are Shinee. Minho ran to me with a smile and sat down next to me.

"So what did you think? I'm pretty beast at basketball huh?" He asked. I scoffed.

"I thought that he was better." I joked, pointing to a guy with blue hair.

"Key?! No way!" Minho whined. Meanwhile, the guy named Key laughed and stuck his tongue out.

"Chick's got some taste." Key said.

"Hey, don't call her chick." Minho said. I turned to him in surprise. Is he defending me?

"Says the guy who calls everyone chick." Another guy said.

"Shut up Onew, she's cool." Minho said. Onew smiled at me.

"And gorgeous." He said.

"Um... Thanks." I said.

"Stop Onew, you know she's with Bangtan." Another guy said. He had a kind face.

"Oh yeah, Jimin right?" Onew asked. I nodded.

"I'm Taemin by the way, and this is Jonghyun." The kind faced guy introduced. I greeted them.

"I'm Jamie, and yes, I'm with Jimin." I said. They shook their heads.

"You should come hang out with us instead." Key said. "We don't treat girls badly."

"Instead you treat them all." I said. They were silent.

"Touché." Jonghyun said. I laughed.

"Well, we have to go, but it was nice knowing you. We've heard quite some stuff about you." Onew said, eyeing Minho who gave him a death glare.

"See you Minho, bye Jamie!" Key said. With that, the four of them left, but Minho stayed behind.

"Don't mind them. They're weird." Minho said. I laughed.

"I'm used to it." I said. He smiled.

"Your support was weak. I expected more." He said, shaking his head. I widened my eyes.

"What? I yelled so much! That was a nice game." I said.

"Thanks, I told you, you motivate me." He said. I rolled my eyes.

"Whatever." I said.

Minho laughed and bent over to tie his shoe. When he did, my world stopped.  His tank top revealed marks on his back. My eyes widened as I saw what they were... As I identified the familiar marks.

"Y-Your back..." I said. He realized what I said as he quickly sat up, adjusting his tank top to hide what was already revealed. He cleared his throat.

"There was a big fire at my house when I was little. I got burned." He said. I felt my heart shift in pain... Don't lie.

"You're lying." I finally mustered up and said. He looked at me.

"Excuse me?" He asked for clarification.

"You're lying. Those aren't burns." I said. He looked at me with a confused expression.

"I don't know what you mean. I got burned when I was little, it's no big deal." He said. I shook my head.

"Those aren't burns and you know it. Those.... Those are lash marks... From a belt." I said. There. I said it. The familiar marks, they were not burns. Minho's expression darkened.

"What the heck Jamie, I'm telling you. They are burn marks." Minho said, a bit harshly.

"Stop it. Someone did that to you. Who hit you with a belt?" I asked. Minho kept his gaze on me, he looked long and hard, trying to study me and figure me out.

"And how would you know that? How would you know if these are burn marks or lash marks?" He asked. My heart raced as I felt anxiety. I never told anyone this before. ANYONE. But then again, I never met anyone whose parents harmed them either.

"I guess we actually do have something in common." I said. Then, I took off my jacket and lifted my hair, pulling down the back of my shirt slightly to reveal my own marks, the ones that matched his.

Minho's eyes widened as he looked at me. I turned back around and put my jacket back on.

"Y-You.."

"Yeah. My dad is abusive. Ever since my mom died." I said coldly. It took him a few moments to take in the situation.

"My dad too." He finally said. "Ever since I was little. My mom is no better... She never did anything to stop him. She just watched, as if I meant nothing to her."

I stayed silent.

"Wow..." I said. This was way too unexpected.

"Wait..." He said, pointing to my broken leg. "Don't tell me.." I nodded.

"He found out that I didn't go to school." I said. Minho's eyes widened.

"Does Jimin know?" He asked with a serious tone. I stayed silent for a while.

"No... He doesn't know anything about this." I finally said.

"Jamie you have to tell him. He can protect you." He said. I was shocked at his words. I turned to face him and saw him with a dead-serious expression.

"You're kidding. You know damn well why I won't tell him. It's the same reason why you won't tell other people about you. How dare you tell me to tell Jimin. That is just going to put him in danger." I said coldly.

"Jamie he deserves to know. He really cares for you." He said. I scoffed.

"Since when did you care about Jimin?" I asked.

"Since I cared about you." He said. I looked at him as he sighed.

"Of all things to have in common... It had to be this." He said. "I know it sucks. I know it hurts, and... It would be nice to have someone to talk to. At least to make the pain more bearable. You're lucky you have Jimin... Why do you think I date so many girls." He said. My heart softened.

"Am I the only one who knows that you get abused?" I asked. He slowly nodded.

"Well you are for me too, so don't worry. Talk to me if you need to. I understand." I said. He looked up to me.

"Really?" He asked. I nodded.

"But don't tell anyone. Especially Jimin okay? I can't endanger him like that." I said. He looked uneasy but nodded.

"I'll walk you to the dance room then. Jimin should be done soon." He said. I nodded and we both got up, walking to the dance room in silence. When we got to the entrance, we stopped.

"And Jamie?" He asked. I turned.

"Yeah?" I answered.

"I'm sorry for calling you weak earlier." He said. I smiled.

"Don't worry about it." I answered. With that, we walked in and I saw Jimin sweating and drinking water with Bangtan.

"Jamie!" He said as he ran to me when he saw me. He embraced me. "How was the game?" He asked.

"We won, of course. I'm going to have to borrow your girlfriend more often, she really motivated me." Minho said, suddenly acting like nothing happened and he was now back to his playful character. I gazed at him in awe. How can he be so good at hiding himself?

"The second her bone heals, she will be back to dancing, so don't get your hopes up." Jimin said.

"Too late." Minho answered.

"Okay guys, this was a nice reunion. Thanks for walking me Minho." I said to him, eyeing him to back off.

"No problem." He smiled. Then, he turned around and left as Jimin glared at him.

"He's so stupid." Jimin said. I laughed and kissed his cheek.

"How was practice?" I asked. He suddenly gave me his cute eye smile.

"Good! But bad because you weren't here." He said. I rolled my eyes playfully. "Come on, let's go hang with the guys." He said. I nodded and followed him, acting as if everything was fine. Acting as if I didn't discover the weirdest thing today.