Waiting Game | pjm ✓

054. Shattered Trust

"Are you alright?" as if on cue, Aera felt a strong hand rest on her slumped shoulders and she turned to see a rather concerned looking Jimin.

"No," she aspirated. "I mean, yes. But not entirely." she wavered, biting on her lower lip so hard that a metallic taste filled her mind.

He scowled, confusion written on his face. "What is it? You can tell me."

"There's something I've been keeping from you," she uttered stiffly. "And I think... I think it might be important. Or not. I have no idea. At the time, I didn't think it would be, but in the light of recent events, I'm fairly certain that-"

"Slow down," Jimin interrupted her rambling and took a seat next to her. "Whatever this issue you want to tell me about is, I'm sure it's not worth you stressing over it so much. And I suppose you have your reasons for not telling me."

Brittle hopefulness bloomed in Aera's heart, witnessing how understanding Jimin was. "Do you promise not to get mad?" she chewed on her lower lip nervously.

He scoffed a small laugh, eyebrows raising slightly as his hand traveled to play with a strand of her hair. "Yeah, alright, I promise."

"The crystal skull, I didn't find it in my room like I told you guys," Aera confessed. "Yoongi gave it to me."

Just like that, the kindness from Jimin's eyes evaporated. He withdrew his hand back abruptly and Aera jerked forward to grab onto it. He pulled away.

"Yoongi gave it to you?" he arched a brow incredulously.

Aera's pulse pounded in her temples. Her heartbeat skyrocketed, evoking a strong sensation of uneasiness inside of her.

"It's not how it sounds," she couldn't conceal the desperation lingering in her voice. "Some days ago, just after I had woken up, he came by the penthouse, totally out of the blue. And he just handed it over to me." she confided, sparing Jimin the details of Yoongi trying to convince her to run away with him.

"Did he say why?" the frown on Jimin's forehead was becoming deeper and tighter. He wasn't yelling at her, which Aera thought would be the better option now, considering how his hostile stare felt like a thousand needles notching in her skin.

"No, no," she said very softly, shaking her head. "He simply gave it to me and before I knew it, he was gone." Still, this wasn't the entire truth, but at least it was enough for her to feel a little bit less guilty. "And now with everything that Jungkook told us today, I was thinking that-"

"Wow," Jimin cut her off, his gaze shifting blindly to the floor. "I just can't believe you'd keep something like this away from me."

Her heart sank, devastated at the sudden accusation.

"I did it to protect your feelings," she said, her voice barely above a whisper. "I never thought it was a big deal-"

"But you did," his gaze snapped back at her, sending a piercing sting through her heart. "You did think it was a big deal, otherwise you wouldn't have lied about it."

"I didn't lie," she whimpered. "That was never my intention. Yoongi was finally out of my life for good and I didn't want to bring him in our relationship by mentioning him. Upsetting you was the last thing I wanted to do, Jimin, I'm so sorry for not telling you."

Thunder suddenly flashed in his eyes. "I thought we could trust each other. Turns out I was wrong." He uttered, jaw clenching and releasing. The cold edge to his voice was physically painful for Aera. She could almost see the distance between them growing bigger and bigger.

"That's not true," she objected, wrestling with the urge to start crying. "Of course you can trust me. I made a mistake by not telling you, and this is why I'm coming clean now. I regret this terribly and I want to own up to it. Jimin, I never intended to hurt you. I love you so much." Unsteadily, her hand gravitated to rest on top of his, but he shoved it in his pocket.

"You tell me that the man we had finally captured, your brother's accomplice and probably the mastermind behind all of this mess, was just standing there in the middle of your bedroom and you let him walk away? Just like that?" he gritted, fingers clutching into fists. "And expect me to just... accept it? That's naïve, Aera." He offered her a condescending sneer.

Light-headed, she felt unbelievably misunderstood. Jimin's cruel reaction was starting to feel bothersome, despite her genuine apology. Was this coming from a place of jealousy? Was that what this was about?

"We're stronger than that, let's not argue over this." She pleaded, wanting to put an end to this dreadful conversation.

"Yeah, let's just go and spend time with our exes instead." Jimin said sardonically, his rigid glare drilling holes through her.

"Excuse me?" Aera gasped in disbelief. Her eyebrows shot sky high, almost touching her hairline. The softness in her voice dissipated and instead, she became defensive. "What did you just say to me?"

For a second, his cold façade seemingly melted away and he looked almost remorseful, before it came back. "You heard me."

"You can't possibly mean this." she whispered, truly believing the words that escaped her. In actuality, every cell of her body believed that Jimin didn't mean to speak so harshly to her right now. But there was a tiny, even miniature part of her that had grown offended by his demeanor.

"I did," he deadpanned. "I meant everything I said. I'm an honest person, unlike some other people."

Shaken, Aera stood up. "I think it would be best if I leave." She uttered, in a state of half-shock, astonished that this was happening. She was desperate to get away. Maybe if they give each other some space, some time to think things over...

"I agree." Jimin's face slightly softened before it contorted in a grimace.

Tears stung Aera's eyes to the point where everything in front of her became a blurry mess. Spinning on her heel, she stormed off toward the exit.

The hurt crawled up in her wounded heart. What an idiot she was.

Wiping the tears away roughly, she scurried to her car. Eager to get to the only place she knew she'd find solace and comfort.