The Ritual + myg, pjm

Five

*Italicized words are flashbacks

When Jimin woke up this morning, his whole body was sore and the bed felt like a block of concrete. The memories of the night before were branded into his mind, just like the mark on his palm.

Jimin had two choices. One, he could let himself -- plus Yoongi -- die and there would be chaos, all the demons of Hell would be released and humanity's existence would be at stake. Two, he would kill Jin and bring his heart to Yoongi and would give the real Yoongi another chance to live.

The second option sounded so much better, but this was Jin. He's been present throughout Jimin's life and was his only source of comfort after Yoongi's death. If Jimin didn't fall in love with Yoongi, he was sure that he would have dated Jin.

"You don't have much time, Chim Chim."

Jimin faced the mirror above his dresser and saw a glimpse of pink hair and horns. He laughed. There was no other choice but to kill his best friend, and the situation was just hilarious to him. He knew that he was in the brink of insanity, so he wasn't sure if what he heard -- and saw -- were real or just a hallucination. As if he wanted to make use of his nearly broken mind, he finally made a decision.

He laughed as he put on a coat and locked his apartment. He laughed as he passed by the university's chapel and heard the priest's lecture. He laughed as he knocked on Jin's door, hoping that his best frind was home. He laughed as he was let in and laughed as he watched Jin cook seaweed soup.

"Jimin... can you stop laughing? It's really freaking me out," Jin glanced over his shoulder and looked at his friend worriedly.

"Sorry, Jin," Jimin tried his best to stiffle his laughter, although his laughs just came out naturally. He was wearing a long-sleeved hoodie and his right hand was bandaged, to cover the mark Yoongi branded on it. "I just remembered something funny."

Jin was still giving Jimin the same worrisome glare when he entered the living with two bowls of smoking hot soup. "So, how was your experiment?"

"It was great. Really great," Jimin said sarcastically as he gobbled up the soup as if it were alcohol. He saw the image of the Devil in his head and cackled loudly. He remembered the kiss with Yoongi and laughed even more.

"Jimin...," Jin was starting to feel uneasy as he watched Jimin laugh. He suddenly didn't feel safe and shifted in his seat. "...Is something wrong?"

"I'm fine," Jimin was laughing so much that his stomach started to hurt and he clapped like a seal. He remembered Yoongi's orders, an unexplainable feeling blooming in him.

Jin slowly scooted away from Jimin and reached for his phone, which was in his pocket. "Jimin, please stop. You've been crying and laughing at the same time ever since you came in. I'm really scared right now and I won't hesitate to kick you out if you do something even more freaky."

Jimin paused and realized that his cheeks were stained by his own hot tears. He quickly wiped them off, wondering why he didn't even feel himself crying. He saw Jin's terrified expression and immediately felt guilty. "I'm sorry, Jin. I really am. It's just... I've been having some thoughts lately."

Jin glanced at Jimin's bandaged hand, his expression changing to an angry one. "What kind of thoughts?"

Jimin followed Jin's gaze and immediately understood what he was thinking. He quickly came up with an alibi. Strangely, he no longer felt bad about lying. "Jin, it's not what you think. I accidentally burned my hand while doing the experiment."