WARNING! THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS VIVID DESCRIPTIONS OF VERBAL AND PHYSICAL ABUSE + OTHER DARK THEMES. READER DISCRETION IS HEAVILY ADVISED.

.

Two Hours Earlier

"Careful...careful...just like that. Ease him in c-carefully."

Jungkook's warbled voice rings out in the hotel room, his crossed legs on the bed bouncing in agitation. "Good, like that. Oh....oh God..."

Thea assists in getting Jimin's body comfortably in the younger's wheelchair, positioning his body in a semi-comfortable way. Junghyun and Eunmi watch from the side of the room as Jimin's unconscious body is handled with the utmost care. 

"It's okay, Jungkook. We'll take care of him, bring him to the closest hospital so they can make sure nothing is seriously wrong." Hoseok pats Jungkook's shoulder. The younger eyes never leave Jimin's pale, unmoving face lolled slightly to the side. Jimin's mouth is parted gently, his breathing coming slow and peaceful. 

"It's better we do this now." Thea asserts. "Head injuries are important to get checked right away even if they seem minor. But from the bump right here-" Thea's fingers ghost over the red and purple splotch on Jimin's temple. "-I can tell he didn't fall lightly. My best guess is that he concussed himself. Poor guy."

At the words, Jungkook reaches over towards Jimin from his spot on the bed, his face contorted in grief. A lock of purple-hair gets brushed off of a milky forehead, ever so gently. Junghyun closely watches his brother from across the room, frowning in vicarious melancholy.

"He'll be okay." Jungkook says weakly, more to himself than the others. "But bring him back right after he gets checked out. Video call me when he wakes up so that I can talk to him. Call me if anything goes wrong and I'll be there-"

"But you don't have your wheelchair, honey." Eunmi's normally strong voice is withdrawn, tempered by the events of the day. "If Hoseok and Thea--those are your names, right?"

The said couple nods.

"If they run into trouble, Junghyun and I will have to take care of it, Kook. You won't be able to come along...we'll help him out-"

Jungkook shakes his head, slamming his fists onto his bouncing thighs. "No, if they run into trouble, I have to be there. I don't care if I have to fucking crawl-"

"I can carry you." 

Junghyun suddenly speaks up, his voice strong and loud in the hotel room. A brief flash of surprise touches Jungkook's pouted lips, and he regards his brother with an air of gratefulness.

"Yes...or, or Junghyun can carry me." Jungkook's gaze never drops from his brother. Junghyun nods at him in brotherly loyalty and something passes between their eyes. Jungkook breaks the stare first, shifting his gaze back to Jimin.

After a few moments of silence, Thea speaks up. "So we have Jimin's phone, we put his emergency necklace on, we have candy bars packed in case he wakes up and gets hungry in the waiting room...wait, should we put some shoes on him?"

Hoseok shakes his head. "No, even after they check him out he shouldn't be walking around. He'll be too dizzy, and anyway, we have to get going. Leave the shoes."

Jungkook purses his lips as he takes in his injured boyfriend, clad in his clothes and loved by him dearly. It takes everything in Jungkook not to reach over and try to shake Jimin awake, to yell at him wake up, Melonsleepyhead! even though he knows the elder isn't sleeping. He's unconscious, a result of the terrifying reality of being targeted by a powerful organization set out to ruin lives. The same people who ruined Jungkook's life by paralyzing him and blaming him for the accident. The same bitch who harassed and abused Jimin for years, only to come back worse this time, like a pertinent rash.

"Can...can you wheel him closer for a second?"

The order is followed instantly. Thea scoots Jimin closer to Jungkook on the bed, who leans over to the elder's ear. 

"I love you, Melonboy..." He whispers against Jimin's skin, pausing to kiss the elder's cheek. He doesn't care that everyone in the room is watching him--his love for Park Jimin ascends all of that. "We'll make it out of this...I promise."

.

"Very gently...there. Perfect." 

Hoseok and Thea manage to get Jimin into the backseat of the Camry and buckle him up. They position his head so that it's leaned securely against the back head rest--they don't want his head to get all jostled during the ride to the hospital. By the time they get in the driver and passenger seats of the car, the sun is nearly at it's highest point in the sky. Hoseok starts the car, peeking once over his shoulder to ascertain his friend is okay. Jimin surely isn't okay, but he isn't dying either. Hoseok would have to settle with being content that his roommate hurt himself on his own...at least Gyuri didn't get to him.

Thea sighs as Hobi pulls out of the hotel parking lot. She reaches over, placing a light hand on Hoseok's jogger-covered knee. 

"Do you think...no, never mind..."

"What?" Hoseok is curious now, turning onto the main street a little too quickly. "What is it?"

"Do you think they'll be safe at the hotel?" Thea peers out the window, studying the building. She barely pays attention to the black car following behind them, too focused on the Jeon family's safety to notice how close the car tails their bumper. "I mean, they said Sperosity was protecting them, but-"

"They'll be fine." Hoseok assures her, slowing down for a red light. He peers in the rearview mirror to see a lady with dark shades and black hair mouthing something happily in the car behind them--probably singing along to the songs on the radio. The light turns green and Hoseok urges the Camry forward, his attention back to Thea. "From what Jimin told me, Junghyun isn't stupid. He knows how to stay vigilant--how not to get caught. I mean, he's stayed away from Mr. Yoon for all these months, even though he has knowledge that could decapitate that business."

"True." Thea drums her fingers against the arm rest, gazing back at Jimin. The purple-haired male is still out cold, on his face a serene, unresponsive expression. "I'm sure they'll be fine."

Nodding, Hoseok grips the wheel harder. "They'll have to be."

.

The hospital waiting room is like all others--scented with cleaners and pain, lighted with bulbs only slightly more homely than a warehouse--and full of wavering, confused faces. Hoseok rushes to the desk of the emergency department with Jimin in the wheelchair, zooming past plain folk sitting in squeaky blue chairs. Thea tags along, clutching at her neck every once in a while to make sure her necklace hasn't fallen off.

Checking into the front desk takes two minutes, and the lady does a quick symptom check of the unconscious admission. She tap tap taps on her keyboard, swiftly entering Jimin's information into the system. The larger woman assures them that the head physician will be ready to perform various tests on him in a few minutes, and that they should wait in the provided waiting area until then. Hoseok's nods once in appreciation, turning around to glimpse the other downturned faces in the waiting room.

"Okay...okay. Let's sit down over there." Thea points out two chairs on the farthest side of the room, next to a kiosk of barely touched magazines. They head over to the isolated area, both too wired to truly relax. Jimin still sits unconscious in his wheelchair, garnering more than a few stares from the people waiting for their loved ones to be examined. One woman even covers her mouth with a hand, her eyes swimming over Hoseok, Thea, and Jimin in turn.

"And now...we wait..." Hoseok grumbles, taking Thea's hand when she offers it. They lean into each other, saying nothing as they zone out on the floor. Anxiety isn't an accurate word for the demon in the room...fear might be better. 

Despite being in a relatively safe and public hospital, Hoseok still steals glances at the doorway. He searches for burly men in tattered clothes, bloody grins twisting their faces. The ones out to hurt Hoseok because they were told to, because their boss, Yoon Gyuri's corrupt father, ordered them to. Because of Hoseok's relationship to Jimin, to the entire investigation.

"Park Jimin." A loud voice catches Hoseok off guard, but he's happy that the nurse came so fast. At least in this waiting room, he doesn't feel like he's idling on the edge of insanity from how long they make him wait. The emergency service is startlingly fast--made to handle emergencies. As expected.

"Over here." Thea calls out to the woman wearing a white smock. Her dark hair is pulled back in a ponytail, locks of glossy hair framing large glasses. She holds a clipboard up rather high for examining as she walks over to them--probably because she has poor eyesight. Hoseok doesn't even consider that she might be trying to hide her face.

"I'll take him in right away for testing." 

After lowering the clipboard, the nurse is revealed to be wearing a surgical mask...not a suspicious item for hospital staff. Thea nods in appreciation as the woman grabs the back of the wheelchair and hurries Jimin away. Hoseok's eyes watch his friend as he's rushed away in an efficient manner down a side hallway. He hopes his friend is okay. He probably will be, by the way the nurse wanted to get Jimin away for testing so fast.

After a few minutes of bouncing their feet in boredom, Thea says that she has to go to the bathroom. As she rises from her squeaky chair, Hoseok catches her wrist.

"Let's go together. I can't leave you alone. Too risky." Hoseok's hand is tight on his girlfriend's forearm. Thea pauses, considers the state of danger they're in, and agrees quickly.

"Okay. Family bathroom it is."

The couple walks towards the sign with the bathrooms, which happens to be not too far off from the waiting room. The family bathroom is located a little farther down the hallway, right next to a side exit out of the building. Sunlight from the hot summer day spills into the hospital, lighting up the gloomy atmosphere of the place. Thea reaches for the door handle to the bathroom.

"Do you want me in there with you?" Hoseok asks, completely serious. "Or do you want me to wait outside the door?"

"Either way." Thea enters the restroom, leaving the choice up to Hoseok. They're both comfortable enough in their relationship that going to the bathroom in front of the other doesn't bother them. And they've already had to many times on their hiking trips in the middle of the woods. It's no big deal.

"I'll wait out here." Hoseok decides, crossing his arms and leaning outside of the door. "But don't lock the door, in case I need to save you."

Thea snorts, shaking her head. "I can handle myself fine, thank you Hobi."

The door closes, leaving Hoseok alone in the deserted hallway. His ruminating gaze falls outside to the clouds lazing by in the sky. To the cars entering and exiting the parking lot with whatever business they have to take care of at the hospital. A technician carrying a heavy tool bag enters the side door, nodding politely at Hoseok as he passes by. When the door opens, Hoseok can feel a wave of warm humidity float through towards him. He instantly thinks of Jimin, of his friend complaining about the sticky summer temperatures and how he always sweats them out uncomfortably.

Thinking about Jimin makes Hoseok sad, his heart strings twinging with the memory of Jimin in the wheelchair. Hoseok blames himself a little for causing the younger to faint...if he wouldn't have stressed the younger out, he wouldn't have fainted. 

"No...Gyuri gets the blame." Hoseok murmurs halfheartedly to his feet, changing his mind. "Not me...I-"

The sun catches against an object on the hallway floor, reflecting a beam of white off of it that temporarily blinds Hoseok. He winces, shifting his head away from the beam. Once the object comes into better view, he does a double take. Blinks. Frowns.

"What the...?"

Hoseok steps down the hall where the object lays sprawled in a corner next to the door. He bends down, heart racing as his fingertips lift the object to his face. He feels for the necklace at his neck, confused when his fingers touch the solid object. 

So this emergency necklace on the ground...isn't his?

"All done." Thea exits the restroom, head shifting to find her boyfriend squatted at the end of the hallway. She heads for the brown-haired boy, realizing as she approaches that he's severely panicking. His breaths come in shallow inhales, head shaking in short jolts. "Hoseok?! What is it...what are you holding?"

Hoseok turns slowly towards her, his eyes glassed over with horror. The object rises up until she can see it clearly. The dent in the metal locket and the cracked red button inside makes her entire body go cold. She reaches up for her neck, checking to see if maybe this necklace is hers?

She sucks in a breath of air as her fingers wrap around her own necklace. Hoseok's lips are pressed in a tight white line, his eyes carrying nothing but panicked swirls. Thea's legs give out and she squats next to her partner, reaching for the necklace with shaky hands.

"This...this is...n-no..." Thea shakes her head, panic seizing her ability to verbalize her fear.

"This is Jimin's." Hoseok fills in for her, his head whipping towards the door. "T-this is..."

"Excuse me!" 

A thick-set nurse carrying a clipboard waves to them from her spot at the end of the hall. Thea forces herself to stand, rushing on numb feet over to the woman. Perhaps Jimin is just fine...perhaps his necklace came off when that nurse was wheeling him into an examination room...and maybe a child kicked it around on his way out of the building, accidentally destroying the metal locket right before the exit...

"Were you two the ones who brought in..." She glances down at her clipboard. "Park Jimin? We're ready to see him now."

Hoseok must hear this from his spot by the exit because he stands up straighter than ever, running to the nurse. 

"H-he isn't...do you have a nurse working here with black hair in a ponytail and large glasses? Kinda like...like the one I saw...dri-driving behind..."

Something in Hoseok clicks, his face morphing into pure dread. Without saying anything more to the confused nurse, he reaches up to his neck and presses the alarm button. Then, he snatches Thea's wrist in his own, yanking her with him as they sprint towards the exit of the hospital.

The nurse cries out in confusion as they exit the building, but Hoseok's cry of exasperation drowns her out. They burst out into the humid summer day, numb with failure and terrified for their friend.

... ___ ...

... ___ ...

... ___ ...

Present

This Pluto Room is unlike any other Jimin has experienced before. 

It hardly measures up to Perilation. Hardly measures up to the fear he felt when messing up with Jinyoung and Jungkook, or when he used to fail to meet Gyuri's standards in high school. 

Those times barely even scratch the surface of fear Jimin feels now, entirely at the bidding of Yoon Gyuri, his arch nemesis. 

Jimin pants heavily up at the horrible girl looming over him, staring at him with souless eyes that seek nothing but power. They hold no mercy, no empathy. Only pure, unadulterated control over him that seems to expand within her whenever Jimin lets out another sob from his sore mouth. 

His entire throat is sore, mouth tingling from being shocked with such a high voltage. The remaining bolts of pain occasionally zap down his legs, making them twitch in agony against the marble floor. His eyes swim with stars, fear mingling into the mix to create a dark cloud that he struggles to see past. His head pain returns in full, pulsing through his skull agonizingly as Gyuri laughs...and laughs...and laughs...

"P-please..." He croaks out weakly. His stiff fingers find their way under whatever zap collar she placed on his throat. The cold metal is unforgiving, hardly budging at his weak pulls. Another sob escapes his lips from the sharp aches reverberating through his body, escalating every time she meets his gaze. Stop...looking...at...me...like...that.

Eventually, her dewy, screeching laughter comes to an abrupt halt. She bends down by him, carefully placing the remote in her back pocket. As she approaches, a long knife appears from her false nurse smock, and Jimin instantly recognizes it. His heart drops as she carelessly waves the pointy blade in and out of his field of vision. A breath catches in his sore throat as she presses the tip playfully under his chin, tilting his head towards hers.

Gyuri's controlled demeanor has now disgustingly morphed into psychotic reverie, and it's painfully evident in her features. Her once soft, forgiving lips are pulled back into an arrogant sneer...her gentle blonde hair is now as black as her soul, messy in its high, ratty ponytail. Her posture is slumped like a conniving, mad scientist before creating the most poisonous concoction in all of existence. Her usually long, elegant fingers appear knotty, tapping outrageously on the knife handle with bent, gnarled knuckles. Her perfume is stronger than ever, so pungent a smell of rotting flowers that Jimin is nauseated as the odor forces its way into his nostrils. 

But her eyes...her eyes are what scare Jimin the most.

Never before has he seen Gyuri's eyes so open as they are now. Before she could mask her disgust, her agitation--she could force up an invisible, optical wall to obscure her greed and deep craving of power from others who might glance at her.

Now all of those malevolent aspects of the girl are blatantly apparent, swimming in malicious laps around her irises. Every dark monster lurking inside of Gyuri is out to play, their spikey teeth bared and ready to bite. Jimin can't stand to stare for too long into those pits of hell--of Satan's quarters--without feeling like something is breaking inside of him.

"Oh, Jimin...you never did stand a chance...you never realized how much power I had over you the entire time..." The knife presses under his chin and he winces. The act brings another tear rolling down his cheek, landing on his borrowed black T-shirt from Jungkook. 

"Poor boy..."

Gyuri leans in, pressing a feather light kiss to his upturned lips before pulling away and smiling. His entire body shakes with fear, his mind too muddied and exhausted from the shocks to try and fight back. Not with a knife pressed to his throat and a shock collar on...it's too risky. He has to wait this out, do whatever Gyuri says...until his friends can rescue him. They will...Jimin tells himself over and over. They will come.

The knife lightens on his chin and he releases a breath of relief as she takes the knife away completely. But the dark flash in her eyes doesn't shift away as easily. She moves backwards, stands up, pointing the knife at him the entire time.

"Stand. Stand NOW."

Jimin blinks at the sudden harshness of the command. Gyuri's voice lashes out like a drill sergeant demanding her troops to move. Inhaling sharply, Jimin struggles to his feet, nearly toppling over again as dizziness settles into his skull. He stumbles around, heart racing as she watches him move. I c-can't run...she has the r-remote...I have to f-find a way to get that remote-

"Move. Up the STAIRS!"

Jumping in his skin, Jimin nods frantically, heading towards the stairwell. Now the plan to lock himself in the bathroom to avoid her is pointless. She's in possession of a weapon that can injure him no matter where he is. Gyuri follows close behind with the knife angled at his back, tip inches away from the sliver of Jimin's bare skin. He forces each bare foot up the cold stairs, blinking back tears as she urges him to speed up. He feels pathetic, feels at a total loss.

How could this happen? His mind attacks his memories, but he can't remember anything after fainting except for talk about taking him to the hospital because of his head. Did Gyuri kidnap me there? Is Hoseok okay? Is Jungkook okay? Are the rest of them okay?

Jimin dares to speak up as he thinks of his friends, desperate to know what kind of situation they're in. "H-how did I...get h-here?"

Gyuri chuckles in low, venomous drips. "I stole you." 

Her answer is vague, rude. It's pompously overconfident, a tone that Jimin never appreciated to hear from Gyuri. As they approach the top of the stairs, Jimin feels his blood boiling in anger that she put him in such a powerless position. Her pet. It makes me sick.

"Did y-you...h-hurt them?" Jimin ventures, afraid to hear the answer. Again, Gyuri snickers to herself, leading him down the hallway to a familiar room. The first room he was introduced to when filming Keeping Skin. The room for the racy photoshoot he needed to do for promotion. That felt like so l-long ago...

"Haha!! Would you believe me if I say I didn't hurt them!" Her voice shines brighter, louder, deadlier than all the chandeliers in that building combined. Jimin's feet go numb as he walks forward, cursing Gyuri. Of c-course I wouldn't believe her...which means...

"W-what d-did you...do to t-them?" He asks, but he honestly doesn't think he can hear the answer. He might faint again, might topple over if he finds out that one of them is hurt...that they aren't okay-

"None of your business!" Gyuri sings out teasingly, nudging the blade into Jimin's back. The weapon pierces through the first layer of skin, releasing a few droplets of blood down his back. He cries out in physical pain, but the emotional pain of not knowing how the rest of them are doing hurts more than any cut or slash she can give him.

"Actually, I'll let you know!! I sent some men after your boyfriend and his family in his hotel room-"

No...n-no, PLEASE NO-

"-and my men reported a success! All it took was a little brutal roughhousing-"

"FUCK YOU!!" 

Jimin spins around quickly, hand clamping around the handle of the knife forced to his back. As his torso turns, the blade cuts open his skin, but he can't feel it. He can only feel the purest rage rushing into his bones, tensing his stomach, urging him to grab the knife AND FUCKING KILL-

"AAGGH!!" 

Jimin gets as far as lifting the weapon halfway into the air before the sharp electricity kicks into his throat, rendering his body useless as he collapses onto the floor yet again. The knife clatters to the ground loudly, the metal object hitting the ground concurrently with his. 

The crackling agony of this round of electrocution is worse than the first time. His body arches up against his will as the pistons of lightning zap under his flesh, forcing his body into convulsion. His mouth is open in a scream, yet nothing can come out. His eyes roll back into his head, face contorted in misery as the sensation of being torn apart mounts every inch of his flesh. 

Jimin's mind is numb with pain as he endures Gyuri's wrath, body unavailable to function except for feeling the excruciation of every nerve in his system. As he lays there, writhing, his mind becoming fuzzy...Jimin starts to believe death might be a respite than this torture. Maybe Jungkook is already dead...maybe fighting against Gyuri is pointless...maybe instead of the remote I should just get the knife and kill-

"Hahah!!" Gyuri flicks off the power switch, repocketing the remote. By the time Jimin is able to comprehend his surroundings without convulsing from leftover shocks, Gyuri has the knife again. 

Jimin's exhausted body rises and falls as he watches her, sweat dripping down his face as plentiful as his tears. But he can't hear himself sobbing...his throat makes no noise except for strained sucks of air. The collar took that from him, has stolen his voice for the time being.

"Oh...my poor Jimin...my poor pet!" Gyuri squats down a second time, careful not to get the blood smeared across the ground on her shoes. Jimin's eyelids droop as she leans down, pressing kisses to his flushed and sweating face. He doesn't dare move with the knife at his throat, and he doesn't dare upset her again, unless he wants the shock collar to kill him. It already stole his voice, most of his energy...and my will to fight.

"Trying to hurt me? What a horrible decision on your part." Gyuri's finger traces his eyes, lips, nose, and Jimin lets out silent sobs as he thinks about what could've happened to Jungkook. 

Did gang members break into the hotel room...by force...? Did Junghyun warn his family as the thugs trampled inside, tearing apart the hotel with their thick, merciless hands? Did a thug smash Eunmi's head into the wall, stab Junghyun in the stomach as he tried to prevent the remaining thugs from getting into Jungkook's room? Did the boy in the wheelchair shake in fear on his bed after watching the men kill his beloved mother and brother right in front of him, only to be trapped and unable to run away? Did the thugs approach him last, gang up on Jungkook as he pleaded them to leave him be, only to get pummeled by their ruthless hands, smashing his skull in--NOOOO...PLEASENOOOOPLEASE I'D RATHER DIE THAN...NOOO...

"Aw...don't cry now, precious." Gyuri's hand cups his lazy, half-conscious chin. Her hand is freezing to the touch, a stark, inhuman contrast to Jimin's sweat-lined brow. "I'll make you into a star before you die, don't worry...with a face and body as perfect as yours..." 

Gyuri lowers her face to his, licking a stripe down the side of his temple, lapping up the sweat. Jimin shudders, crying in silence, thick tears falling down the sides of his head. He prays that his death is fast, that whatever way Gyuri wants to do to make him a 'star' is as painless as possible. I'm going to die. Jungkook might...be d-dead already.

"Now then, my beautiful Jimin." Gyuri kisses him once more on each eyelid, staring into his face with such predatory satisfaction that Jimin feels the bile rising in his throat. Before he can vomit, she pulls herself and her nauseating stench away from him. "Stand, love. We have yet to film the finale for Keeping Skin! The final climax of perfection, where your skin becomes mine!"

Jimin chokes on air, stuttering to his feet as she wiggles the remote playfully her palm. He sways drunkenly to the side, his entire body discombobulated and uncoordinated from being shocked so violently. Even his vision swims, the marble floors twisting under his bare feet. Sweat drips into his eyes, burning them like sour candy might burn his tongue. Gyuri urges him forward with the button of the remote directly under her thumb, smiling while Jimin hurries to the filming room.

When they enter, Jimin is instantly met with the same black curtain of the photoshoot, except this time a low lying mattress bathed in a rich purple quilt sits in the center of it. A massive camera rests on a tripod pointed at the bed, angled directly at the pillows, waiting for the two movie leads to get in position. Jimin's stumbles forward, heart racing painfully as he's herded across the room towards the purple object.

"LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION!!!" 

Gyuri screams in girlish delight, a piercing shriek in his ear. He winces, wanting to scream back, but nothing comes out of his open mouth. No sound but a hardly perceptible whine. 

Jimin is told to get on the bed, to sit still on it like a good pet while Gyuri skips to hit the record button on the camera. When she returns to his motionless form on the mattress, she orders him to undress. Jimin hesitates, but at the flicker of Gyuri's thumb near the shock collar button, he complies readily. As the makeshift crop top comes over his head, he catches a comforting whiff of his boyfriend--of soap, paint, and soup. It only serves to amplify his tears, whimpers falling from his parted lips. He tosses the crop top to the side, biting down on his tongue.

"Beautiful." Gyuri tilts her head at his bare chest, pointing to his pants to go next. His shaky fingers slip under the waistband of Jungkook's sweatpants as he pulls them down his thighs, over his knees, and finally off of his ankles. "A work of art...Park Jimin...just as I remember. Just as I've always loved."

Jimin's eyes widen at the girl. She slides over to the bed, nodding at his shocked expression. "That's right, pet. I've loved you ever since I laid my eyes on you. I knew I had to have you...had to make you mine..."

The knife rests on his hyperventilating chest, pricking into his skin. A rivulet of blood pours out, but Jimin is too focused on Gyuri's far off eyes to notice the pain.

"...those years apart from you strengthened my resolve...I loved you more with each passing day, couldn't stop thinking about you..." Gyuri traces the knife down lower, the tip scratching over his ribs and finally to the waistband of his boxers. The purple heart boxers...the ones that Jungkook had called cute just last night. 

The thought brings a fresh wave of despair to Jimin, who is fully convinced that his boyfriend and family have been beaten to death. "...you're my precious Jimin...my lovely pet...and you always have been."

Jimin would scream at her if he had a voice, would tell this manipulative psycho that she clearly doesn't love him if she would stoop to torture and blackmail to have him. He would tell her how much he hated her, how much her existence brought him only unending fear and agony. How she'd ruined his life. Even if he could talk, words wouldn't be able to contain all of the hatred he had built up for Yoon Gyuri. Devil incarnate.

"Time for The Final Act!" Gyuri drawls into his ear, the knife slipping into the waistband of his boxers. 

Jimin whimpers as the cold metal dips dangerously close to his crotch, just ghosting the top of his dignity. She climbs onto the bed next to him, the remote in her other hand. "Title: Pet pleases owner before owner decides pet has to go for good!"

Jimin gasps as the knife digs into the flesh below his navel, pleading Gyuri to stop with his eyes. Fear chokes him of trying to reach for the remote, since any small ministration of her knife-bearing wrist could have awful consequences.

Thunk. Thunk...BAM.

Gyuri freezes on the bed as the distant sound of a door being kicked in on the first floor resonates up towards them. Her eyes widen, knife unwittingly pressing deeper into his flesh. His mouth opens in a silent cry of pain before she removes the knife entirely, pointing it at his throat.

"If you move or make one noise you die, understand?" 

Gyuri whispers, forcing herself to stay still on the bed. Jimin nods his understanding, his heart experiencing a minute burst of hope at the noises coming from the lower floor. Clearly, the noises have taken Gyuri by surprise, which can only mean that she didn't expect them.

The police. It gives Jimin the tiny line of hope he needs to start thinking of a plan of escape. I have to fight back...to let the police know I'm in here. I have to try...or die trying.

If he moves, Gyuri will cut his throat. However, she likely won't use the electric remote, since that might involve Jimin's body thrashing around involuntarily and making noise...which might lead the cops to them. The door has to be locked...she wouldn't just sit here if the door wasn't locked. But how is she so sure they won't break it down?

Gyuri seems to sense his thinking, pressing the blade harder against his throat. His blood is warm against his hot skin, dripping down his collarbones to join the other blood on his torso from Gyuri's other stabs at him. She shakes her head at him menacingly, eyes wide in warning. 

But with hope on his side, why wouldn't he think of escape? If she's going to kill him anyway, what's the point of not trying to survive when the chance is there to take? 

Even if she kills Jimin right now, she won't get the pleasure of filming him do horrible things with her, and the cops will find his body fast--will know that it was Gyuri. 

The camera is filming. Jimin realizes. All the proof we need is right here. I just have to try and get away from Gyuri long enough to let the cops know I'm up here. 

Somewhere in his mind, Jungkook's voice is loud, strengthening his determination. He doesn't remember when the younger said it to him, but it resonates in his skull nonetheless. 'I love you, Melonboy...we'll make it out of this, I promise.'

The steps grow closer. Jimin's heart pounds, waiting for the right time. Gyuri stares at him carefully, her confident demeanor now shaken with the approach of uninvited guests. Her dilated pupils shake inside her eye sockets, the knife wavering by his throat. She's breaking...

Gyuri chances a look at the door, removing her gaze from Jimin. Pluto97 hops into his mind.'NOW Melonboy!'

Jimin whips his head back, torso falling backwards as his legs jerk up. The knife partially digs into his shoulder as his body cracks up and back like a whip, kicking Gyuri's knife-holding hand hard enough for the metal to briefly fall out of her grip and onto the bed. 

"Fuck!" She whispers, clawing for the knife. "Get back here!"

Jimin rolls off the opposite side of the bed and scrambles towards the door before she can try to stab him again. As he sprints, he dares her to use the electric remote, to force his body loudly onto the floor and to kill him in cold blood. To give them more proof with the camera on...to hear each stab and her angry screaming as she takes his life from him. She won't do it. Not if she still has a chance to make it out free.

Jimin's bare feet slap quietly on the marble he runs, whining as loudly as his throat will allow him. He makes it to the door, latching onto the handle desperately, frantically, but finds it's locked...just as he thought. His heart smashes violently in his chest as he hears Gyuri approaching behind him. The footsteps downstairs are receding, growing quieter and Jimin knows he must signal to someone that he's trapped up there with a psycho. 

With a solid fist of every pent up emotion in his body, Jimin punches the wooden door hard enough to dislocate his fingers, slamming out SOS in Morse Code in case the police force here are military trained. (... ___ ...)

PLEASE! Jimin does it again, bangs his fist harshly against the wood, but hears nothing from the outside. As he turns to face Gyuri, the girl is almost on him, and he ducks and rolls before she can stab him cleanly in the chest. He continues whining and whimpering the entire time, hoping that whoever is within this massive building might catch one of his noises before it's too late. PLEASE HEAR ME!

Gyuri races after him, her entire face flushed with fury. She must hear the lack of footsteps downstairs too, because she punches the button of the electric remote in her hand. Jimin makes a silent scream of agony as his legs buckle a third time. Falling onto the marble floor feels different this time, since he understands deep down that this is his last moment on the Earth.

Jungkook... Jimin's body writhes and convulses on the harsh marble, his ears filling with static as his eyes struggle to see where Gyuri is. I love you...I'm sorry I couldn't make it out of this.

Finally, Gyuri appears in his visual field, shaky and blurred as his body is taken prisoner by electricity. She lifts the knife up, smiling maniacally as it comes down, down, down...

Down to the side of his convulsing head. It misses him.

In his warped and shaking visual field, Jimin watches as Gyuri's body gets knocked harshly to the side by some force. Jimin struggles to keep his head still while his nerves are fried, but at some point in time the knife is picked up from next to his head from someone...someone with...red hair?

The electric collar shuts off right as Yeji stabs the knife into Gyuri's side.

Jimin stares in shock and residual agony, the buzzing in his ears retreating enough for him to hear Gyuri's gurgling scream and Yeji's war cry as the knife lethally penetrates her skin. It's the cry of a mother protecting a loved one--of a stuttering rape victim with a baby born from the unlawful act trying to protect someone else from suffering the same fate. Someone who's used to sexual abuse from the risk of her profession, who's trying to save Jimin from another round of abuse.

Jimin's mouth twitches open in this realization, tears falling down his face--an endless river of relief and agony. Yeji briefly glances at Jimin's pale, sweaty face before dragging Gyuri's motionless body as far away from him as she can. In this hazy vision of death, blood--blood is everywhere, my blood, her blood, the world is bleeding under me--and shock, Jimin barely registers another set of footprints racing up to his sprawled body.

In slow motion, a blurry male pops into his tunnel vision, holding something together...No...not together...what is that thing on him...who is this...these guys? One being drops to the floor, dragging himself on his stomach, his face bruised. The man screams out something, bawling unrestrained in entirely consuming sadness, but Jimin can hardly make out any details of these people. The lights whine in his dizzied vision, and only momentarily can he feel someone cupping his face, crying--only vaguely can he sense the wetness of their tears on his face and their words spoken shakily and frantic.

"...please...don't...go! Stay...with.....scared......love.......you....Jimin.......STAY........PLEASE MELONBOY!"

Jung--Jungk...ook? Jimin's heart lurches, even in his dazed state between consciousness and darkness. 

He tries to picture Jungkook in front of him but finds he can't. His eyes are spinning in his head, frazzled from all the electricity pumped into him, and he finds the darkness a much more comfortable option than remaining in the present, in his bloodied skin and zapped nerves.

Whether this Jungkook is real or not, whether he's actually here or somewhere far away, possibly even dead...Jimin still mouths the words I love you before his body finally gives out.

... ___ ...

... ___ ...

... ___ ...

A/N 

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