Chapter 17

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I somehow gained enthusiasm and added 600 words to the 500 I wrote back in April. I can add more to this, if wanted, I have the ideas. But I just didn't want to give too much away so early :) That's a vote, by the way. Yes or no for more added.

-Further confrontation with Namjoon until someone walks in

- That, and the conversation with said person

-Jimin, being turned into a vampire as well. Which, I don't really want to add right now, but it's still an option if wanted enough.

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Around 2100 years ago- Just before the Three Kingdoms Period, I think.

" I know you are, but It'd ease my worry. I love you." With one last kiss on her cheek, he headed off to his father's quarters.

Jimin politely sat outside of his father's office, waiting to be called in by the man. He fiddled anxiously with the hems of his sleeves but released them quickly when he noticed a servant watching him with sharp eyes.

" Enter." Came the stern voice, one that send fear through his body at the undecipherable tone, and Jimin slid open the door to do so.

" Greetings, father. Mother said that you called for me, so I came straight away." He bowed respectfully, straightening when his father waved his hand.

" Yes, yes, sit down." He made himself comfortable across from him, still having his head lowered slightly in respect. " You have grown into a fine man, my son."

" Thank you, father."

" You are by far my most successful child, worthy of being the heir to this family. Therefore, I believe that It is the time for you to be wed and begin your own, having reached adulthood. It is imperative that you have your own heir before you take over the station as the head." Jimin's eyes widened slightly, but he nodded along, agreeing with the man.

" It will be a great honour for me to marry and uphold the honour of our family."

" Yes, it will. I have arranged for you to be wed to a fine young lady from the Song Clan. She will be a fine addition to our line and will allow us to grow closer to the Imperial family. Her father is a high ranking official, so I expect you to grow an amicable relationship with the man."

" Of course, father. I will not disappoint you."

" Ensure that you don't."

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The day of Jimin's wedding was a sombre one. The heavens, as if feeling his dejected mood, had opened and drenched the land with an unforgiving storm, ruining all hopes for an outdoor celebration. Alas, not even the torrential downpour could halt the upcoming ceremony held inside his family's vast hall.

It was with a heavy heart that he accepted the hand of his soon-to-be wife, and with shaky hands, unveiled her face to lay eyes on her for the first time.

She was a plain woman, with no outstanding characteristics that could have wooed him at first sight. As he gazed upon her form, he felt no sudden affection for her, no love nor happiness, just a deep sorrow that he could see mirrored in her slightly glassy gaze.

And as they kissed, all he could feel was disgust at the feel of a woman's lips upon his own, the body beneath him too small and curvy when they laid together for the first time that night to consummate their loveless marriage.

And all the times after.

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Years passed, and Jimin's family flourished with the new wealth they had obtained from being so close with the emperor. Yet, not all was well with the situation.

Jimin and his wife had yet to produce a single child, not even a girl that could be sold off for more valuable connections. It was disgraceful, a stain on their family's pristine visage. People of all classes talked about it in hushed tones, whispering about his or his wife's suspected sterility like the dirty situation it was.

His wife, Soojin, had become more docile, more silent, more reclusive than she had been in the months after their marriage. Jimin could see it, that she was blaming herself for the shame she had brought upon her husbands family, as well as the one she had belonged to before. Before she was sold off to them, a mere pawn in a game between powerful men.

Little did she know, it was no she that was barren, but he, who had been drinking herbal concoctions in the hopes not to bring a child into the world. And it had worked.

But now, as he hung, strapped to a pyre, accused with the crime of murdering his father-in-law, he regretted trading his own happiness for that of a nonexistent child's. And he burned for it.

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Waking up was unexpected. So was the fact that he was no longer in pain, could no longer feel the flames searing his flesh and melting his clothes into his skin-

" You have awakened." The voice was soothing, powerful in a way which his fathers could never be, yet he felt no fear at the sound of it. Quite the opposite, he felt a thrum of contentedness. " You were out for a while, we were beginning to worry that you weren't going to pull through. I see that you are stronger than I believed you to be, despite the mortal body you possessed."

Possessed?

It sent warning bells ringing in his mind, but he couldn't quite work up enough emotion to care.

" Will you tell me your name? My name is Namjoon."

" Ji..." It was all that could make its way through his throat, which felt swollen and itchy, thirst consuming him.

" Ah. Here, drink." A cup was held up to his mouth, and he drank, rearing back at the sharp, metallic taste it left on his tongue. But, it soothed his thirst, so he continued to drink. " That's it." The cup was taken away, and he whined. " Your name?"

" Jimin. Park... Jimin."

" Jimin. What a lovely name. A fitting name." They lapsed into silence, Jimin noticing that the feeling in his body was gradually coming back to him. He felt strangely powerful, for a man who had been burning not too long ago. He turned his head, wishing to see the stranger who had supposedly saved him, and gasped unwillingly.

His eyes were a bright, crimson red, as red as the blood that had flowed from the body of his father-in-law as he had stabbed him to death in front of his wife. The wife who he had been abusing for far, far too long.

Jimin reared back, movements sluggish but determined, and scrambled off of the raised mats he had been placed upon. The man, Namjoon, watched him with interest as his eyes darted about, searching for an escape.

" Monster! Mons- Demon!" He gritted his teeth at the realisation that the only way out was the door behind the man, backing into the wall.

" My, I haven't heard that one for a while. Please, call me Namjoon. We can't have us calling each other such cruel names whilst we are soulmates, no?"

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16/01/22 Word Count: 1130

-Berry

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