Drip, drip.
The sound pierced Jimin's ears as he felt the burning sensation spread from his abdomen to his entire body, aware of the way he felt his lungs constricting.
The attacker retracted the blade from his poor victim's flesh, before plugging it in once more and twisting his knife; wanting to be completely sure he was good as dead.
Jimin coughed, blood dripping past his lips as he slumped onto the cold gravel ground, his breaths becoming shorter as he stared up at the moon above him.
Tears pricked at his eyes as he realized that was probably the last time he'd see it.
Crunch, crunch.
The retreating footsteps of the killer taunted Jimin, his vision going blurry as he accepted his fate.
-
Of course, Jimin assumed that was the last time he'd ever experience the world - that assumption was very wrong, however.
He felt cold all over, lighter even, but above all, he noticed that he wasn't breathing anymore.
And that wasn't affecting him.
He stood up, painfully aware of the alley that he stood in, looking down and nearly shrieking when he noticed the figure below his feet.
Was that him?
It sure looked like him. Orange hair stuck out from underneath what he recognized as his favourite hat, ID tag from his work half fallen out of his jeans pocket.
However, there was also a wound on his stomach that was coated in blood, the figure pale and showing no signs of life.
Was he dead?
Jimin bent down and reached his hand out to touch the figure, jumping back when his hand went right through his arm.
"Was wondering when you'd awaken."
Jumping once more at the voice that sounded in the otherwise silent alleyway, Jimin was on alert now, looking around the entire alley in search for the source of the voice.
He couldn't say he imagined it being from someone who literally walked through the alleyway wall.
The man looked not much older than Jimin himself, blonde hair covering his forehead as he stuck his hands in his pockets. "In case you haven't figured it out already, you're kinda dead."
"K-Kinda?" Jimin stuttered, backing away as the man walked closer to him.
"Kinda." He nodded, "I mean I am talking to you aren't I? Your body's dead, your spirit isn't."
"I'm not sure if I understand." Jimin mumbled, staring intently at the male.
The blonde sighed.
"Your life was done an injustice. You just got out of university, had a nice job too. Had a lot going for you, and then someone took it away from you." Jimin wasn't sure where this was going, or how the male knew so much about him. "Your body lost the fight, your soul is still up for battle. Basically, you're gonna be like this until your killer is brought to justice."
Jimin's eyes widened.
"How long have you been like this?" He asked, wondering if it was a touchy subject.
"Well first of all, my name's Yoongi; in case you were wondering." The male shrugged, "And about twenty years. It sucks because I know who it was, saw his face and everything. Can't tell anyone though because of this one stupid rule."
Jimin raised an eyebrow at Yoongi, glancing uneasily at his own dead body.
"What rule?"
Yoongi huffed, rocking back and forth on his toes.
"Spirits can only communicate with other spirits, and the person who took their life." He sighed, "So even if I knew where he was - which I don't because it has been twenty years - it's not all that easy to convince a killer to turn themselves in."
Jimin nodded, silently thinking about how long he'd be like this; and where he'd go if he ever was brought justice. He'd never seen the killer's face after all, the hood and mask covering his features.
"How were you killed?" He asked, softly grazing his fingers over the spot on his abdomen where his stab wound would be.
"Drowned." Yoongi sighed. "I can still remember it too, although it's been so long. I don't know if people realize just how much that hurts by the way, felt like my lungs were being filled with lava."
Noticing the scared look on Jimin's face, Yoongi ceased the conversation topic. He didn't really care about talking about his death, it was obvious that he had died so why hide how it happened?
He never went into full details, however. "Enough about that. I'll show you around and all that."
Furrowing his eyebrows, Jimin followed the other man, glancing back at his body every so often. "It won't be long until somebody finds you. That alley's in between two restaurants, the employees will find you when they go to that dumpster tomorrow morning probably."
Noticing Jimin had stopped in his tracks, Yoongi raised an eyebrow and turned around. "What is it- oh.."
Walking over to the now teary eyes boy, Yoongi sighed.
"I'm dead." Jimin whispered out. "I'll never get to talk to my parents again. Or my friends. What did I do to deserve this? I had so much that I wanted to do Yoongi!"
The blonde haired male patted Jimin's back, remembering clearly when he was in this stage of realization.
He still wasn't fully out of it, dropping by his brother's house every so often to see how he was doing.
"I know Jimin, believe me." He mumbled, allowing Jimin to hug him. "They don't realize that what happens after death is what hurts the most."
"I told my mom I'd come over tomorrow." Jimin sobbed into Yoongi's chest, the other nodding and petting his hair. "And my brother! We were so close!"
Yoongi didn't bother telling Jimin not to cry or anything of the sort. Being a spirit wasn't exactly fun. You couldn't speak to any humans except for your killer; going to see loved ones was like watching them from behind a wall of glass.
No matter how loud you yelled or how many times you'd try to grab their arm; your hand would always slip through, and your voice would remain unheard.
Yoongi had gone through that for twenty years, he knew well how Jimin was feeling right now.
"I'd like to show you somewhere no living human can see alright? You can rest there." Yoongi suggested, the orange haired male nodding and wiping his eyes.
He took one last look at his lifeless form before looking back at Yoongi.
"Alright."
