By the following afternoon, Jimin was finally done his job. He lifted Jin into the earth and quickly shoved sand and dirt around him. He tried to not look at his face as he did. This was not going to be his last memory of him.
Jimin had often thought of what this unfortunate event would be like. The t0hought of Jin dying was hard to bear then, but he had thought about it. He had always thought that he would be inconsolable. All of his senses would be heightened, he would be in tune with his emotions, he would be so upset...
But now all he was, was blank. He didn't cry, didn't feel sad. There was a strange sweetness in the air. A feeling that this wasn't the end. Jin's life might be over, but his wasn't. Jimin's life would go on. But combined with that was a deep feeling of pain. Of dread. Of numbness. A feeling that Jimin had never felt before and was scared to decipher.
He stared down at the packed earth. He wondered if somebody would find Jin one day. Maybe when this whole war was over, Jimin would bring him back himself, back to his family, back to his home. Jimin promised himself that he would. He wouldn't let Jin always be by himself here. He had been lonely enough.
Well now he was just sentimental. Jimin stood back.
He felt sick. The exhaustion was ten times worse now that he had done all that work. But there was a dry energy that prevented him from sitting down and giving up. He needed to do something else.
Jimin wanted to get far away from this place. As he looked around, he could see the city in the distance. If he started walking now, he could probably reach it by the night. Then he could take shelter in a building, then continue walking again in the morning. He would reach their base again in a few days. Then he would have to tell them that Jin was dead and that there was no point in waiting for him anymore.
With that determined thought in his head, he started heading towards the city. One day, he would take Jin back.
The old numbness was still present in his body but he teared up now, burning his eyes. He didn't want to have to do this. He was supposed to be with Jin right now. Jimin closed his eyes as he remembered the gunshot that had killed him. How unaware he had been. He couldn't believe that all of that had taken place. It felt just like a nightmare.
It still felt like such a nightmare.
It was painful walking alone. He constantly felt like he was leaving someone behind, but when he turned back, there was nobody there. He could still hear Jin's quiet voice if he listened hard enough. He could still hear it all, as if it was camouflaged behind the sadness inside of him. Jin was still alive somehow.
The soles of his feet hurt. Jimin was so hungry. The sun's rage was starting to fade now though thankfully. The uneven dirt path stretched on in front of him. Jimin kept going. He put one foot in front of another, and another, and another, until his eyes grew blurry and his head hurt.
By the night, he had indeed reached the outskirts of the city. It was dark.
Just about a week earlier, they had set out from their base. And now Jimin was finally less than seven kilometers from it. He couldn't wait to get back. A small house provided him his shelter for the first night.
He also got something to eat. In one of the cupboards, he found a half-rotted apple. Normally, he would've wrinkled his nose and refused to eat it, but it was akin to a glazed donut now. He bit into it hungrily, finishing it within ten minutes. It wasn't sweet at all. But it was filling.
The house had been stripped down. There was nothing on the walls. The little furniture that existed looked moldy and broken down. It seemed like the whole place was haunted. But Jimin was thankful for the roof over his head. He lay down on the floor and slept.
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His initial plan had been that he would resume walking in the morning, but when he woke up the next day, his entire body was shaking. He shivered. The floor was cold but Jimin felt burning hot compared to it. He groaned. The sound barely made it out of his lips.
There wasn't much time left, he knew. The house was still within enemy lines and they could storm it any time. If they found him, he would be hauled off to a camp where he would stay for who knows how long. All by himself too. Such a comforting thought.
He knew all this but yet, he couldn't make himself get up and move. His legs were swollen. His feet hurt. The apple hadn't done nearly as much to curb his hunger as he had hoped. Thirst burned his nose, throat and lips. Jimin rolled over, trying to find a position he would be comfortable in.
He didn't find one.
He lay on his back for a while. He shut his eyes. The cold floor tried to pull him into its icy embrace. He resisted it. He would not fall in. He had to make it back. There was no other alternative. He wouldn't lay down and give up. He would do something... but not today.
"Tomorrow," he mumbled.
Tomorrow, he would get up and start moving again. This fever would break the next day and everything would be okay. He would make it back to the base and he would get food and water and shelter. He would get checked out by a medic and be given the all-clear. Everything, in the end, would turn out to be alright.
Then he remembered Jin's fate and he started to cry.
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1013 words
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Louder than Bombs
Fanfiction[Completed] Jimin coughed. There was smoke floating in through the window. He could barely breathe. He was all alone now. The world was blazing. (Platonic Jinmin) Started: April 17th 2021 Finished: October 31st 2022 Best ranking: #2 in warau
