EDEN | Yoonmin

sixty-three

sixty-three

_____ 🌿 _____

JIMIN STARED BLANKLY DOWN AT THE CUP OF TEA BEFORE HIM; he didn't trust himself to hold it. His hands were shaking too much. Soft wisps of steam rose from the top of the liquids surface. He watched them in a trance-like state as Yoongi wrapped a heavy blanket around him and sat back down by his side on the edge of the bed.

He smoothed some of his hair down, tucking a lick of hair behind his ear, and lightly kissed the spot below his ear. There was pain in his eyes as he looked at him. He'd hoped he'd never have to talk about him ever again. Yoongi wanted to pretend that he never existed. And now he'd come back to haunt them just as everything was starting to get perfect.

"You promised," Jimin whispered, hoarsely. His throat burned from having cried so much. The bruising on his neck didn't help at all. He felt like he was being choked.

"I know," Yoongi whispered back. "-but I don't know how to talk about it," he admitted. "I don't want to talk about it. I know that doesn't sound fair because you have a right to know, but he killed you — took you away from me and there wasn't anything I could do about it. I thought I could — that I wouldn't ever have to think about him again but..."

"He scares me," Jimin admitted. "Why is he trying to kill me? You don't hurt the ones you love,"

"He was scared of you — of me,"

"Why? Who even is he?" Yoongi pursed his lips.

"Mon Coeur, may I hold you?"

"Yoongi-"

"I'll tell you as I promised, but please, I'd like to hold you close, you're too far away," which was ironic because he was sitting right next to him. Jimin complied and settled himself onto Yoongi's lap, legs straddling his waist. Being closer did help Jimin calm down too, in a way. Yoongi fixed the blanket so that it was wrapped around him more securely.

"His name was Dak Ho," Yoongi began, frowning. He looked as if he had a sour taste in his mouth. "He was head over heels for you, as was most everyone else, but given the fact that Dk was more well off in the town, and being a respected member of the church, your parents settled with him. He was loved by a lot of people in town. Everyone but you. I suppose that's my fault. From the moment I saw you — the moment I kissed you, felt your body against mine, I knew I wanted you, And by some miracle, you wanted me just as much," Yoongi sighed.

"But you were meant to be married to Dak Ho, to spend forever with him. You'd never wanted anything to do with him in the first place, however, you always viewed him as a friend and nothing more,"

"Did he know about us?" Jimin questioned, thinking back to his dreams. Did you think that I would let you sneak off to be with him?

"Not for a while. We were pretty cautious — you 'worked' for me so it wasn't suspicious that you spent almost all your time at my home. When your parents questioned you about your sudden ability to read and write, you explained in a careful manner that I had been teaching you as a sort of thank you for tending to my garden and the grounds. We would meet in secret and tell no one. You would burn my letters or bury them deep in the woods..."

"But he still found out?"

"Yes, and he wasn't pleased. He became more controlling and possessive over you. He came to see me once and warned me to stay away from you or else. I don't think he yet realized what I was but he saw me as competition,"

"Is that why he killed me? Because I couldn't leave you and you couldn't leave me?"

"That might have been part of it. The witch trials — Dak Ho became obsessed with ridding the world of sinners and evil. He burned and drowned 'witches, werewolves and vampires' alike. I warned you not to use your gift unless you were at Eden and even then, I barely let you use it in my presence. Dak Ho might have loved you, but I didn't want to imagine the things he'd do to you if he found out about you,"