he ; yoonmin

037

037

It wasn't as if mr. park didn't trust his son—he did, it was the world he had his doubts about.

jimin knew this and figured it was the reason he didn't hate his father entirely, but warily blamed the man for faults in his personality.

he understood his father to a certain point now.

it'd been a week since jimin received the burner from his stalker. it'd been a week of good morning messages, radio silence, and then good night messages at twelve in the morning consistently. it ran jimin into a manic before simmering into a withering silence that ate away at him from the inside out.

he didn't eat much. but then again, he could never stomach down food with the nausea roaring waves in his gut. he talked a lot less as well, even avoided leaving his room for the sake of not having to make conversation.

yoongi messaged and called several times out of concern and worry, but somewhere in jimin's twisted mind, he chalked it all up to it being pretend; mocking. because no one actually knows how he feels—and whose fault is that?

nothing mattered anymore, not really. his skin felt fuzzy and there was a constant white noise ringing in his ears. with every message from the burner phone, jimin felt like a figment of someone else's imagination.

there were the occasional phantoms of happiness or calm that soaked through, only to last a few minutes, leaving jimin yearning and grasping for the sensation once again. it ached. and like the first morning he met min yoongi, jimin's mother ordered him outside to the sweltering sun that blistered through clear skies.

déjà-vu and dissociation sat atop the picnic blanket in his yard. he could seldom feel the burn puncturing his skin and searing through his loose shirt and shorts, instead staring at the pages of his sketchbook. his back was to his window, his body covering what he was looking at so intensely. his parents, if they were looking at all, couldn't see.

three phones laid sprawled out atop the blank page. his parents, himself, his stalker. they all had meanings, didn't they? his controller, his freedom, his demons.

and like that morning he met min yoongi, part of him expected for the older to appear before him like magic. he called out to him in his mind: baby, yoongi, i need you. the boy never came. jimin felt defeated.

in yoongi's place was the boy from busan.

there was a curiosity in jungkook's gaze as he tentatively stepped forward onto the lawn. he'd made sight of the three phones, jimin wasn't paying attention to the fact. in actuality, jimin may have been looking at the younger, but he definitely wasn't in the state of mind to properly register who he was. so he blanked at the soft looking male coming closer, who seemed not be melting under the cloth of his pants. "jimin, hey." jungkook sat.

bitterly, jimin wondered why the boy had no problem with intruding and a snappier side of him almost barked for jungkook to leave. the shred of rationality in him balked, however, quickly disregarding the notion of ever doing so. jungkook was sweet and quiet, much unlike he rest of the boys; jimin liked him.

"no mochi today?" it was meant as a joke, so why did jimin flinch? a list of all the text messages the stalker had sent with that nickname scrolled down his vision, blocking out jungkook's chuckling features and blinding him. "you seemed kind of...off i guess," this was stated as a question, "i was walking my dog and i thought i'd say hi. so hello, mochi jimin."

jimin was so out of it, so frenzied and scatterbrained, he hadn't even noticed the fluffy poodle playing with a garden weed to the side of jungkook.

clarity flashed behind jimin's gaze and his mood instantly lifted at seeing the small, white puppy. "her name is miri, she's actually my mom's." jungkook tugged the red leash attached the pale pink collar, calling miri over to the two of them.

she instantly stood and obediently padded over, sniffing jimin with caution as he pet her head and stroked her soft coat. "i want a puppy." he whined quietly, wanting a pet of his own. "you want miri? you can have her." jungkook joked effortlessly with giggly laugh, actually causing jimin to crack the first smile in his week of dreary.

"i love her, but i don't understand how such a tiny dog can eat and poop so much." this time, jimin did laughed. he ruffled the sides of miri's soft, furry head and cooed. "have you ever had a pet?" jungkook asked then, and jimin shrugged in response. "no, we move too much and most of the places were apartments that didn't allow anything other than fish." he spoke slowly, still not used to hearing his voice.

jungkook, who was normally soft-spoken and stuck to observing, was making an effort to actually talk, so jimin figured he'd do the same. he worried jungkook felt the need to, wondering if he was coming across as standoffish.

"well, yoongi has pets as well," jimin perked up at this, "both of his parents have dogs that he actually loves so much it's oddly heartwarming, and he's got a ball python somewhere in that house of his." jungkook jutted his thumb towards the direction yoongi lived in, too busy playing with miri to see the older's stunned expression.

"i didn't know he has a snake—" i don't remember seeing one last time i was there.

jungkook shrugged as if it weren't a big deal, which it probably wasn't. but jimin felt somewhat offended he wasn't aware of the pets yoongi had. "the weirdo named him guts, but tae and i just call him snakey."

jungkook looked up from miri, looking at jimin with hesitance. he then glanced back down, directly eyeing the phones still laid out as if on an alter. he didn't say anything about them. "are you busy later?" he was uncertain, choosing his words like he was preparing himself for jimin to decline. "namjoon and jin invited me over to play video games, because apparently that's what adults do, and i asked tae to come along but he's busy with whatever—"

"you don't have to ramble, jungkook, i'll go if you're really that desperate." jimin laughed and tugged his knees up to his chest. "it's great to know i was your last option." it was a tease, and luckily the younger caught on, smiling goofily.

"i'll text you later then busan buddy." jungkook mockingly saluted, standing back up with unreasonable grace and fluidity.

"bye bye miri," jimin ruffled the puppy's fur and couldn't keep the bright happiness from his face when she wagged her tail and licked at his palm. "i'll see you later." he bid a brief goodbye to jungkook and watched the two walk towards their home.

and as jimin was left alone to his thoughts, the shadows loomed once again. everything was gray.

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question:
which character do you like most/why? i'm curious, usually i just ask who you think the stalker is, but i feel this question is equally as important. plus i'm just curious (like i said)