I see your spirits (I still want you)

taehyung (3)

He met Jimin years ago, when he first moved to Seoul. He was only sixteen, his grandmother had passed just a year before.

That was one of the hardest spirits to see.

He had been at home watching over his brother and sister, leg bouncing nonstop with anxious worry. His siblings were none the wiser, being as young as they were. But Taehyung knew, could feel it when it happened. Minutes later his dad called and said she had passed.

He saw her that night. He was in bed, trying to fall asleep. His mom and dad were both still trying to get his siblings to sleep and murmuring in low voices about funeral costs, how they were going to balance it with feeding the kids and taking care of the house.

Taehyung heard footsteps and sat up, eyes immediately finding the familiar figure at the end of his bed. The same woman who raised him, who listened to everything he said with a kind smile, who believed him when he said he saw ghosts.

"Ah, Taehyung... You don't look surprised to see me." His grandmother said, smile kind. Taehyung laughed, trying to choke back the tears that wanted to flow freely.

"I knew."

"Of course you did, smart boy. What will you do without me?"

"The kids..."

"Will be taken care of by your parents. They don't have to care for their ailing mama anymore, and you're growing up." Grandma hummed, coming closer to Taehyung and perching (could ghosts do that?) on the bed. It reminded him so viscerally of when he was a kid sick with the flu, Grandma feeling his forehead to check his temperature and feeding him soup.

"I don't think anywhere would be good for... you know."

"Somewhere out there, there is a person, maybe more, who will believe you. They'll understand you. They won't dismiss you. There are people that believe in the spirits in some fantastical sense, but there are a select few who don't just believe, they know that the spirits are there. They might not see them like you do, but they will have faith in you." Grandma explained, reaching one shimmery hand out to try and comb Taehyung's hair out of his face. It passed right through, making him shiver.

"And if I don't find them?"

"You can always raise grandchildren like I did. Pass on your knowledge and wisdom to young minds." Grandma shrugged. Taehyung laughed but it sounded more like a sob. Grandma smiled kindly, the same smile that looked back at Taehyung in the mirror.

"Go somewhere, Tae-ah. You're meant for more than Daegu fields. Find people who care for you the way you care for those around you. Find people who will hold you, all of you, in their hearts."

So he left. He went to the funeral, held his siblings when they cried, and made plans to travel to Seoul.

His parents weren't surprised. They shed tears, wished him well, but Taehyung could see the relief. They wouldn't have to worry about feeding more mouths, not on top of everything else.

Taehyung's first day in Seoul was something of a disaster. He almost got hit by a car as he stepped off the bus (still wasn't sure how that happened), had to pull off an acrobatic move to avoid a kids sidewalk chalk art (he wanted to join them), and managed to flirt his way into getting free lunch from a small diner (he felt bad later and made sure to tip the amount he owed the first time.)

It was pure luck and coincidence that he happened upon Jimin. While wandering the streets with his backpack weighing heavy on his shoulders, worrying about where he would stay the night, he stopped at the mouth of an alleyway as a street cat came up to him, mewing pathetically.