Author's Note:

OMG!

Thank you so much for the 4.42k reads and the 324 votes!

What a great way to come back!

Enjoy!

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Jimin carefully helped his mother from her wheelchair back onto her bed once they had arrived into her room. She had become faint right after meeting Chaeyoung and he was extremely concerned since his mother had been getting weaker than usual lately and he still had no answer regarding her condition. He sighed, mind currently whirling with thoughts of what his mother had said to him but he didn't have the courage to ask her for more information. "Jimin-ah, don't worry about me. I'm feeling better now but you are worrying over that girl, aren't you?" Jihyo questioned, finally having enough with all the silence. Jimin, who stood awkwardly at the side of his mother's bed, nudged closer, his face showing frustration and confusion. The older woman, who was now feeling much calmer, chuckled weakly at her son as she shook her head in disbelief. "I'm fully being punished for what I did, aren't I? To think I sacrificed so much to keep you safe from the other side. I cursed my lineage and lost my spirituality to hide yours an-" she came to an utter stop when she realized the words she had spoken, turning her head away from her son immediately.

Jimin blanked out for a second as he took in her words, "eomma...what are you talking about? What do you mean you are being punished? What's the other side?" The questions wouldn't stop forming in his head, but he managed to stop himself from bombarding his poor mother. She sighed, signaling for him to sit down at the chair beside her bed. Jimin did as he was signaled and sat down, holding onto his mother's hand who had reached out for his as if asking for support. He gently rubbed her hand with both of his as he awaited her response. He could tell that his mother was trying her best to find the right words but with every second of silence his heartbeat increased tenfold and the tension he felt was getting to him. Her face became expressionless as if she was fine, but her body betrayed her by shaking and he could feel it through her tiny hand enveloped by both of his.

After a couple of minutes, Jihyo exhaled a shaky breath, biting her bottom lip before turning to face her son. Jimin gulped at her change of expression, feeling his nerves overtake his whole body. He hadn't seen her look that shaken up since the year he would be turning seven years old and his father had suddenly passed away. "Jimin-ah...you know how much I love and care for you, right?" she quietly started and Jimin nodded his head silently as he controlled his expression to reassure her that he was listening with all his might; he wanted to ease her nerves despite being a mess himself on the inside. She swallowed the lump in her throat before continuing, "you know that I would do anything to protect you, right? As your eomma, it is my duty to do anything to keep you safe." Jimin felt his palms sweat from the jitters of not knowing what his mother was getting at.

"I-I have lived with this for so long and I hope you forgive me when I tell you this. I knew I would have to tell you this one day for my peace of mind when everything finally ended." Jimin scooted closer to the bed, expression serious as he awaited his mother's next words. "Y-you know how hard it was when we were living with that man, right? He was a horrible man and I didn't want you to be exposed to that any longer, but I couldn't escape no matter how much I tried. It was a stressful time and my mind was not in the right place, especially when you kept getting into dangerous accidents that kept getting worse every time. I was scared for your life and despite my beliefs I summoned something for an easy fix to all my problems. I wish I had thought things through and done things differently, but I needed something to be done immediately and I'm going to fully pay for that now..." she trailed off, her throat burning with each strain it went through every time she spoke. She was worried about her son's opinion of her after she told him what she was about to say next.

Jimin was confused to say the least, he didn't know why his mother was suddenly mentioning his father who had died in a car crash. She had never mentioned him after that had happened, acting the next day as if he had never existed. Jimin had never questioned her about it before though but hearing her bring up his father so suddenly after years had already passed gave him a bad feeling. He didn't understand how this tied up with what she had previously mentioned, and it made his head want to explode. His mother took notice of his stress and continued once she gathered more strength. "J-Jimin, my son...I know that you are very confused right now. I-" Everything was getting more serious and Jimin couldn't handle it anymore. He felt like he didn't want to hear anything that was causing his mother so much pain, but he didn't have the heart to tell her to stop since she seemed to be pouring her heart out. He was so focused on his mother and her words that he let out a yelp when loud knocking came from the door, interrupting their conversation and causing the already tense atmosphere of the room to become more suffocating.

Both had their eyes locked on the door, wondering who could be suddenly visiting when they expected no guests and the doctors or nurses could just walk in. Jimin's mother began to feel faint once again and an intense pressure started building up in her chest. She felt a pain so unbearable that she wanted to cry out but held it in so her son wouldn't worry. Another loud knock followed after a minute, "p-please enter!" Jihyo stuttered out, now fully aware of the person behind the door. Jihyo released an inaudible gasp of pain as Chaeyoung made herself visible when the door fully slid open. The older woman tried but couldn't bear to look at Chaeyoung for too long; not out of dislike but more out of sorrow for her.

Chaeyoung was breathing heavily, staring into the room as she tried to catch her breath. She could feel the tension in the room and it made her very uncomfortable, but she was determined to get answers, so she tried to ignore it. Jimin was surprised to see Chaeyoung at first but his face instantly softened when he saw how determined she appeared despite her legs shaking while they tried to support her. Why is she here on her own? He knew better than to question her actions since Park Chaeyoung was unpredictable and confusing to him. He got up in an instant and walked besides Chaeyoung, wrapping an arm around her waist and placing her arm around his shoulders for more support. 

Chaeyoung was the next one to be surprised when she felt his warmth, that was warmer than usual, and turned her head to the side to look at him. She noticed small beads of sweat that had formed on his forehead and could hear the beating of his heart that was alarmingly loud. She wanted to ask him if he was okay but he began to move her before she even opened her mouth. He wasn't looking at her as he helped her walk towards his mother's bed but a soft smile played on his plump lips that made Chaeyoung feel much calmer about being in the room. Jimin in return felt just as calm now that Chaeyoung was there with him as it distracted him from his mother.

Chaeyoung turned her attention to the woman on the bed who was still looking away from her. She greeted her with a deep bow and soft-spoken words, causing Jihyo to turn to look at her with a sad smile forming on her lips. "N-no need to be so formal, Chaeyoung, was it? Would you mind if I call you Chaeyoung?" Chaeyoung straightened herself out and smiled at the older woman. "Of course I wouldn't mind, Jimin's eomeoni." Jihyo smiled more genuinely as she stared at the girl. "Just call me eomeoni." Jihyo informed and Chaeyoung nodded. "Please forgive me for coming to your door with no prior notice, eomeoni. Also, I apologize for leaving the terrace so abruptly after having just met you. That was very disrespectful of me." Chaeyoung was about to get on her knees in apology but Jimin stopped her and she looked up at him in confusion. He just shook his head, giving her a small smile before turning back to his mother. Chaeyoung turned to her as well, noticing the smile the woman once had gone and a pained expression taking its place. "No need to apologize, Chaeyoung. What I said must have really shocked you and I should apologize if I caused you discomfort." She gave Chaeyoung an apologetic smile, making her feel better and causing her to smile back.

"Eomeoni, your words are the reason why I came here. I asked the medical staff as well as Jin oppa if I could come alone to speak with you. Your words startled me but I am curious as to what you meant exactly. I was wondering if we could speak...privately." she finished, turning to look at Jimin once again with eyes expressing an apology. The only reason why she wanted him to leave would be because he still hadn't been told her story. She didn't want him to be confused and she wanted to tell him everything he wanted to know in a setting where it was just the two of them. "Of course, I also wanted to speak with you privately." Jimin's mother replied, staring at the two youngsters that seemed to be communicating through eye contact. 

Jimin removed his arm from Chaeyoung and started to slowly turn away only to be stopped when Chaeyoung reached out and grabbed his thumb with her hand. "I promise to tell you everything. I owe it to you so don't feel like I'm blocking you out, okay? I just need to hear this and find a way to paste everything together in my mind. For your better understanding and my inner peace..." Chaeyoung whispered and he nodded, giving her a supportive smile before releasing her hand from his thumb and holding onto it for a few seconds as he spoke, "don't worry, I'll be waiting outside." He glanced at his mother before his eyes returned to Chaeyoung once again. "I-I still have a conversation to finish off privately with her as well but till then she's all yours." He excused himself, staring at his mother one last time before walking out of the room and leaving the two women to converse in private.

Once the door was closed Chaeyoung gave her immediate attention to the woman on the bed. "I just have one thing to say before we start talking, Chaeyoung. I don't know if you'll believe what I will tell you but I promise that what I say is very serious and could affect you. Are you prepared for what I have to say?" Jihyo began, talking to Chaeyoung in a tone that made her breath hitch in fear. Chaeyoung knew she wasn't ready to hear the woman's words but she had run away from Jin and Jungkook to come see her so she wasn't going to leave until she at least heard why Jimin's mother had said those words to her. They made her extremely curious even though she felt sick when she heard the words at first; the majority of her wanted to know more. Chaeyoung raised her left hand to her beating heart in order to calm herself down before she spoke, "I will be very honest, I am not ready to hear your words but I came despite knowing that I will be affected by what you have to say and I'm okay with that."

She gave the woman a sincere smile and the older woman's heart clenched in pain. "I used to think that I had to go through everything by myself because that is how I grew up. I finally understood that I can't face things on my own and that I have a support system that will always be there even when I didn't earnestly believe in them. I'll admit it, I'm a sensitive individual and I know your words will affect me but they will have my back and I'll be fine; I always am. You don't have to hold back. Please, tell me everything you want to tell me." Chaeyoung sighed in relief that she had managed to say everything in her mind without holding back despite her heartbeat ringing in her ears. 

Jihyo felt a heavy burden for having to tell the poor girl something that could possibly break her heart and seeing how determined she looked shattered her. Just by looking at Chaeyoung and feeling her energy, she could tell that she had suffered most of her life. The feeling was overwhelming and she didn't want to add onto her suffering but it was a matter of life or death and she didn't want such an innocent and pure soul to die out of someone's selfishness. Jihyo closed her eyes, looking down as she breathed in slow breaths. She finally faced Chaeyoung again and signaled to the chair beside her bed. "Please, have a seat." Chaeyoung did as she was told and sat down with her hands on her legs, playing with her hospital gown out of anxiousness.

"I will get straight to the point then..." Chaeyoung nodded at her words, leaning her body in as she intently listened. Jihyo gulped, "I-I'm not sure who exactly but someone of blood relation has used you as an offering for an exchange deal with a demon." The older woman glanced at Chaeyoung who was currently giving her a blank stare as she took in what she had just said. Offering? Exchange deal with a demon? Wait a minute...blood relation? I only had my paren- Chaeyoung didn't even finish her thoughts when her eyes widened, her face contorting to one of pure disbelief. "W-what do you mean by that exactly? Why would you think that? Does that make any sense?" Chaeyoung was firing questions at the poor woman that couldn't help but give her a look of pity. Chaeyoung was a mess that hadn't yet been released outwardly yet. She stood up from her chair and clutched her chest that was aching. There was an immense pressure in her head that was getting worse with each thought. "Ha ha, you have to be kidding...please tell me you are joking, eomeoni."

Chaeyoung couldn't help but laugh at her statement. She wanted to learn more about what the woman had to say but her statement was too insane for her to believe. The only blood relatives she had were her parents who abandoned her. She didn't have any aunts or uncles and her grandparents were dead so in her family it was just the people that turned their backs on her. She couldn't remember what exactly happened the night her parents left but she remembered bits and pieces of her childhood and it wasn't too bad. She didn't believe that parents would ever use their child in a pact–but then again if she was going to be left alone anyways then why not use her for something. After thinking it over and over, her statement was making more sense and it was making her head want to burst open.

"I know my words are hard to take in but please believe me. Demons will take advantage of any negativity so you must remain as positive in every aspect as you can." Jihyo said desperately, "I-I have experience when it comes to these things and I can see that you have suffered greatly. Your life is in serious danger, whatever deal was made I can clearly see the mark of death on you and feel the immense dark energy that you are being surrounded by. While I wish to assist you, I am no longer capable of doing anything for I have made a similar mistake..." Jimin's mother paused her words when she saw Chaeyoung's body swaying as if she would pass out any second. "Please sit down, Chaeyoung. You will hurt yourself if you remain standing." The older woman pleaded and Chaeyoung shook her head, supporting herself with a wall. "P-please continue." she stated monotonously, Jihyo nodded with a sigh.

"Demons are extremely vengeful spirits that are summoned by people who are at their weakest state of mind and are desperately in need of something. They idiotically make a deal in order to achieve their desires and the price they pay differs depending on the demon and the demand. A demon can hurt anyone it wishes even if they are not involved with the deal but it garners more strength if they get souls through official sacrifices once the deal has been finalized." Chaeyoung was trying her best to take everything the woman was saying in. Her blood had run cold and she felt like her heart had stopped beating entirely. "Chaeyoung? Chaeyoung, can you hear me?" Jimin's mother tried to call her attention but Chaeyoung couldn't hear anything anymore. "Jimin! Park Jimin, get in here!" The older woman yelled, trying to get her son to come in to help the young girl that was about to collapse in front of her.

Rushed footsteps could be heard on the other side of the door. Chaeyoung was breaking out in cold sweat, skin feeling clammy and going completely pale. She turned back to the woman who was desperately calling her name but Chaeyoung could only see her mouth moving with a panicked expression as everything had gone mute. The room was spinning as she removed herself from the wall. She tried to sit on her chair again but ended up crashing onto the floor with a loud thud. The door suddenly slid open with Jin, Jimin, and Jungkook all rushing in. They all panicked when they saw Chaeyoung laying on the ground in a state of shock and Jin quickly ran out to call a nurse once Jimin had thrown himself on the ground next to her.

"Chaeyoung, wake up. Please wake up." Jimin whispered, lightly patting her drenched face after he had placed her on his thighs. Jungkook was about to say something but turned his head when he felt a strong stare in his direction. He looked at the woman on the bed that was staring right at him. Jihyo kept her eyes on the boy and Jungkook didn't know what to do with himself as he had never been stared at like that by anyone before. Jihyo frowned as she stared at the young boy, "poor soul. You were taken early. You have the same dark energy following you as Chaeyoung, you poor boy. Protect yourself." she whispered but Jungkook could hear it all and her words made him shiver in fear. 

He finally averted his eyes and brought them back to Chaeyoung who was being lifted by Jimin. The door slid open once again, showing Jin accompanied by two nurses that were hauling in a stretcher. They quickly brought the stretcher towards Jimin and he gently placed Chaeyoung onto it with the help of another nurse. "Will she be okay? What's wrong with her?" he questioned. The nurses didn't answer Jimin and instead rushed out of the room in panic, making him feel worse about the situation. "I'll go, Jimin. You should stay here with your eomeoni." Jin ran after the nurses with Jungkook following after as fast as he could.

Jimin immediately turned to his mother who was sitting there, gasping for air as if she had just realized she hadn't been breathing. "Eomma!" He ran to her, rubbing her back soothingly. Jihyo calmed down immensely, smiling at her caring son. She had gotten accustomed to the heavy dark pressure Chaeyoung carried that when she left the room it felt like air was finally coming into her lungs after being sucked out previously. She was now upset with the outcome of the discussion. She felt guilty for making the poor girl pass out from the overwhelming shock but she knew Chaeyoung would be fine as she believed in her words that she would be okay. 

"Are you okay, eomma?" Jimin asked, once again sitting on the chair beside her bed. "I-I'm fine but...you probably want to know what happened, don't you?" Jimin wanted to know what was going on with every fiber of his being because of how the situation had ended up. However, he didn't want to stress his mother with having her explain things that were clearly difficult for her and instead bit his bottom lip and shook his head.

His mother rolled her eyes and reached out a hand to pinch her son's cheek. "You can't lie to your eomma, Park Jimin. You came out of me so I can read you like the back of my hand." Jimin groaned in pain, rubbing at his cheek when she pulled away. "We still have our discussion to finish up and once I finish what I have to say to you then you can decide if you want to hear how that correlates to Chaeyoung's situation. If you don't go into shock too when I'm done, that is." He felt like his mind was being overwhelmed with thoughts of wanting to know what she had to say to him and how that had to do with Chaeyoung but also how Chaeyoung was doing. He wanted to see her as soon as possible as the worry was eating him alive but he knew this was also an important topic that his mother was struggling with so he gave her his full attention.

Jihyo cleared her throat as she faced her son. "The first thing I want to start off with is–Park Jimin, you come from a lineage of pure spiritualists that specialize in spiritualism, which means that you can have contact with any being from the realm of the spirit world or more commonly known as the other side." Jimin's mouth dropped at the absurdity that his mother had just told him. "Ghosts? You are saying that I can contact ghosts? You are saying that you can contact ghosts? Eomma, are you being funny?" He just chuckled but quickly shut up when his mother frowned at him. 

"This is serious, Jimin-ah. I am not playing a game with you. You started since you were very young. You would have contact with many spirits and you could do something that many others were incapable of doing at such a young age. You could astral project, meaning that you were able to detach your soul from your body and travel within the realms of the spirit world without anyone ever having taught you. Those imaginary friends you had as a kid were not imaginary, Jimin. Those long dreams where you could see your body lying on the bed and would travel with your imaginary friends were not dreams, Jimin. You are very special, but I was afraid for you."

Jimin scratched his head in utter confusion at his mother's words. Although his childhood was something he wished to forget he did remember the fun times he shared with his imaginary friends and the anger his mother would express when she caught him with them. His mother was the only one to ever see them like him, but she pretended like she couldn't. He remembered that the man he called a father would get so angered every time Jimin would mention his friends or his dreams and in fear his mother begged him to forget about them. He had refused until they disappeared on their own the same day his so-called father had passed away.

He looked up at his mother who was waiting for him to catch up mentally on what she had said. Jimin's eyes widened, "s-so they weren't imaginary? I remember that some of the imaginary people I would meet would be terrifying and would cause all sorts of accidents. Those were ghosts? Evil ones?" He couldn't believe his own words at the moment but seeing his mom's serious face and her nod to his questions left him feeling utterly in shock. "W-why did I stop seeing them so suddenly then? You said I was amazing at contacting them...why did it stop then?" This was where Jihyo looked away from her son and bit her lip, finally going to the sensitive topic of what she wanted to discuss with her son. "I-I made it stop, Jimin. I made all the bad stop–for you. I did what I had to do, on a day, it all went away and you were free."

Jimin furrowed his eyebrows as he had recalled that day that marked his life. It was one of the worst days where his father was angry for no apparent reason and would take it out on his mother. Jimin had just broken his arm due to an imaginary friend pushing him from a tall tree and his mother had been stressed because they couldn't pay the hospital bill so she tried to fix it herself. His mother had been crying so much and he had been crying too, feeling an immense pain over seeing his mother suffer. He felt powerless as a child, just watching his father take his anger out on his mother and him being unable to do a single thing. It boiled him to pieces till this day and that was why he had vowed to take care of his mother as from that day further his mother's health had depleted.

Three major things happened on that single time-span of one day. The first thing was his imaginary friends had disappeared and his accidents had severely decreased in severity. The second thing was that his father had passed away from a car accident after heading to work. The third thing was that his mother collapsed, and her health started to decrease every year after that. He thought the three things over and got up from his chair, shaking his head as he connected the three things together. "What did you do, eomma?" His voice raising a little without him realizing. "I'm so sorry, Jimin. On that day, I was so desperate to get rid of all the bad in our lives that despite my beliefs, I ended up contacting something horrible from the other side." Jimin grabbed his hair roughly as he glared at his mother, anger boiling up inside him.

"I contacted a demon and made a deal with it. I sacrificed my life, my spirituality, and..." she made a brief pause, eyes watering as she looked at her son's angered expression. "your father's life as well. I did all that in exchange for your protection; to get rid of your spirituality and to place a barrier of protection from the evil things out there. Unfortunately, by doing that the pureness in you increased and you ended up attracting more evil spirits in return, though they were never strong enough to actually hurt you severely. You were a sheep that was waiting to be gobbled up by the closest wolf next to you. Once I die, the barrier of protection will break and your spirituality will return. I am only an observer now. I can no longer go into the spirit world like I once could. I wish I had done things differently. I have kept this from you for so long and I hope you can forgive me, my son. Please understand that I did this for you. I don't care about me, but I care about you and I did what I had to."

Jimin turned his body away from his mother, facing a wall instead with his fists clenched at his sides. He didn't know what to do as tears of both anger and sadness rushed down his cheeks. His whole body trembling in a mixture of anger and sorrow. "I-I hated my father but he was still my father and he died due to your pact. I hated the accidents and bad imaginary friends but they were still the only friends I had and you took them away due to your pact. You are the only thing I have left in the world to call family and now I am going to lose you too because of the stupid pact." His voice was low and his mother couldn't help but cry endlessly at the mixture of emotions coming out of her son. Jimin turned back to her again, glaring at his mother with such intense eyes that his mother choked out in sobs.

"J-Jimin-ah...I'm so sorry. I did it all for you. I wanted you to be safe. Please, don't hate me." she begged and Jimin felt a pang of guilt in his chest but he had a right to be angry at the moment. He had never been angry at his mother before even when she treated him unfairly. He took all the punishments and he never spoke back because he had watched how much she had suffered to raise him on her own. However, he had finally snapped and he felt like he had all the right to throw a bit of a fit right about now. He stepped back slowly, heading towards the door without looking back. "JIMIN!" Jihyo yelled, making him halt at the door. "I-I just need some time, eomma. I need to think...I-I need some fresh air." With that he walked out, leaving a sobbing mother to cry on her own and himself with a heavy heart full of new and locked down emotions that were bursting out uncontrollably.

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Author's Note:

Hello everyone!

I hoped y'all enjoyed this chapter.

I had a lot of fun writing this after having scrapped the previous version.

What do you think about what Jihyo (Jimin's mom) did for Jimin?

Also, you finally know a little bit more about Jimin!

It's not like we are in chapter 16 and I just gave you backstory...oops.

Comment if you'd like!

See you next time!