The Hanes Enigma

Chapter Nineteen - Poison and Cure

Park Jimin

The corridor is quiet. Too quiet. There isn't the usual bustle in Vinder anymore. Outside of the building the school continues as normal but inside it is as if the war has already been confirmed. Everybody knows about the trial now. Everybody.

I stare at the door. It's been exactly nineteen minutes and twenty-three seconds since I first started watching it; I've been counting. In those nineteen minutes and twenty-three.. twenty-four.. twenty-five seconds. Nothing has changed. I gulp. Maybe I should just go back to my room. I turn on the spot and begin walking away.

The door creaks open.

"You didn't even make it to twenty minutes?" Yoongi's voice is jagged and weak and I want to cry and hug him and run all at once.

He chuckles slightly and I take a deep breath but then let it out again, unsure of what to say.

"Jimin... Come inside."

I can't refuse. I owe my life.

The room is dark, blinds tightly closed and curtains pulled shut as best they can be over the top. The only reason anything is remotely visible is a salt stone lamp on the bedside table. I sit on what I presume is Namjoon's bed, neatly made with pyjamas folded on top of the pillow and books stacked into a pile on the shelf that he probably bumps his head on every morning as he sits up. I smile slightly and look over at Yoongi, now sitting cross-legged in a nest of wrinkled sheets, a blanket draped over his shoulders and phone chucked haphazardly next to the lamp, earphones plugged in and dangling onto the floor.

"I'm feeling okay.. ish..." He smiles at me, trying to make me feel better. It doesn't work. I think he realises. "I'm glad you came..."

My lips purse as my eyes begin to sting. But I shouldn't be the one to cry. Yoongi's the one in pain; I should be comforting him and not the other way around. But that makes me want to cry more. The demon smiles sadly and holds his arm out towards me. I frown, confused, and he just groans.

"I just walked all the way to the door and back. Don't make me get up again."

Still perplexed, I walk towards his outstretched hand and to my surprise feel myself immediately falling. For a moment, I'm sure he pushed me and that I'm going to pay for everything I did to him. But I quickly feel arms surround me and warmth embrace me as his scent takes over my mind.

He chuckles slightly. "Your nose is cold.."

"Sorry.." I mumble out, lips brushing the soft skin of his neck and I could whine just at that feeling. But I don't. I hold myself back. "I'm sorry for everything."

He doesn't say anything, arms tightening their hold as he leans back in the bed until he's lying down and I'm resting on top of him.

My heart can't even remember it's usual pace, seemingly attempting to leap out of my chest and bounce around the room with joy. He's so close. We're so close.

I feel sick.

***

Min Yoongi

"You blame yourself, don't you?.." I hum gently after an eternity's silence.

He nods gently, nose still pressed against the skin underneath my jaw.

"It was my decision, Chim Chim. I'd do the same thing in a heartbeat."

"But why?? You're so much more than me, Yoongi!" He tries to push away from me but even in my frail state, I hold him close. I can't let him get away again. Not right now, at least. I need him right now.