The Flower of the Dark | k.th

.Ten.

(Gotta love Jin's kisses)
JIEUN'S POV
"Jin!" I whine, trying to break free from his strong, yet comfortable arms. "Let me go!"

"Just give it up, sweetie!" he singsongs, sending goosebumps on my arms with his smooth voice. It makes me feel like I don't want to ever be separated from him, but having that feeling makes me want to pull away.

I do give in, but as soon as I do, Jin sighs a "Fine" defeatedly and pushes me away. His soft hands still touch my shoulders, and the first thing I see are Jin's tender eyes. He smiles, and before I can react, Jin presses his full lips on the center of my forehead. My vision goes blurry instantly, and my head begins to pound like it's trying to burst open.

Jin lets go me and I stumble back, everything spinning around me instantly. My back slams against someone, and I fall forward as the person shoves me off them. My head is pounding too much to lift myself up, but a pair of hands lift me and allow me to lean against them.

"Oh, you chaotic girl," Jin says softly, somehow making everything stop. My head doesn't pound anymore, and I can clearly see the smirk on his face as I look up at him.

I can't think straight, "Wuh..?"

He chuckles and his eyes gaze past me. He's still smiling like the whole thing I went through was him just joking around.

"Please forgive this child," he says, and I look towards the person he is speaking to. My heart drops and I push into Jin automatically for safety.

Is he even real?

The man's eyes and features don't look realistic – not like the ones I saw near the flower shop before I went to see Taehyung. The sight causes my stomach to turn and forget all about being close to Jin. I'm closer than I should be.

I can't help but observe the man's pale face. His face is too sunken in, and I'm surprised I can see his black eyes clearly. Even his cheekbones are sticking out; he looks like a living skeleton.

"She's kinda new around here," Jin continues, making me feel slightly safer. "She didn't mean to do you harm."

The man doesn't respond. As if he instantly realized something suddenly, he bows and weakly apologizes. He scurries off, but that only leads me to noticing everyone around me.

Skeletons. Shadowless skeletons.

"Alright, all good," Jin is still smiling it scares me. He grabs my hand, "Let's get go eat, Jieun."

We begin walking, but Jin practically drags me since I can't feel my legs at all. I don't question where we're going, and I don't care with everyone looking dead around me. I feel abnormal with the strange features the people near me are showing. I question if Jin feels the same, but I doubt it since he looks comfortable like he's used to everyone looking strange.

Then the thought floods my mind; My eyes aren't covered.

I try yanking my hand out of Jin's grasp, but as if he already knew, his grip gets tighter and he turns when I try multiple times. Who knows what could happen if I don't have my eyes covered, but I don't want to find out.

He giggles at my attempts, "What are you doing?"

"I can't have my eyes exposed! You know that! Why aren't you letting me cover my eyes?!" I whisper-yell, not wanting to catch other's attention.

My pulling doesn't affect him and he just continues to smile in amusement.

"You're cute, Jieun."

I stop and look at him, my face flushing a bit. Jin grabs my other hand unexpectedly and looks into my eyes.

"I helped you. Your welcome."

I scrunch my face in confusion and try freeing from him for the thousandth time today.

I'm tired of hearing nonsense! I can't get a straight answer.

He flicks my forehand and I wince.

"You look alike to them now. Don't worry."

Still confused, and with my hand now on my forehead, I realize that when he kissed me he did something that'll fool others. My face continues to brighten with embarrassment and that he kissed my head.

We begin walking again, passing by many buildings which all seem abandoned. The whole street is silent but not empty. Nobody is walking in or out of any buildings, which strangely gives me an uneasy feeling of how peculiar it is. Jin lets go of my hand soon, but I get closer to him just in case something happens.

The longer we walk, and the more I observe the odd looking buildings, I question and hope I'm in some foreign country I haven't heard of.

Of course I'm somewhere foreign! No need to overreact, Jieun. Besides..there's no other place you could be.

I give an uneasy glance up to the sky that's exposing moons and planets, even if it is still bright out.

"Definitely not anywhere else..." I whisper to myself. "God, where even am I?.."

Soon though, Jin and I stop to eat at some place called Eat Jin. I feel unwelcome sitting in a small booth with Jin across from me, but he sends me smiles that calm some of my nerves.

"Jin, where are we?" I ask finally, hesitant since he could answer in an unclear way like he did earlier, but I have hope somewhere.

Jin opens his mouth to answer, and I smile as some stress flies off my chest.

I'm gonna know where I am!

My hope fails once Jin quickly gets up and excuses himself.

I should've known...

"I'll be right back. I'll answer whatever you need afterwards! Stay put, and don't talk to anyone!" he hurries off, leaving me surrounded by freaky looking creature-people.

I look around me and shrink into the side of the booth's wall, covering my face with the menu.

I release a deep sigh and mentally calm myself.

Everything is going to be fine, Jieun. Soon you'll be at home with mom, and be on good terms with Jimin! Once I find out where I am anyway...

"Psst, Hey!" I jump once I hear someone whisper loudly from above me. I expect to see some creature-person noticing that I look nothing like them, and that they'd probably single me out and everyone will attack me. My tenseness goes away once I realize who it is.

I smile when I see his serious face that manages to look goofy to me.

"You followed us?" I ask.