There are some things in life that are undeniable and unquestionable – some things you just know.

For Jimin, the need to see Aera smile again was as vital as breathing.

That much he knew.

That much he was sure of from the deepest part of his being.

How he wished that she would wake up and her light would glow across the room.

The image was the only thing that kept him centered through the darkness. It eclipsed all other things in his world.

Jimin kneeled at her side. His hand found hers without thinking. He recalled her vibrant smile and the passionate glint in her sparkling eyes when her mind was busy with something that excited her.

But...

This before him now, this wasn't her. It was just her body. Just an empty body.

What is a body without a soul, after all? Just a vacant shell of a human, simply a necessary vessel for life. Flesh and bones, nothing else.

"Aera," he croaked. "I need to know that you're listening. Tell me, can you hear me?"

Nothing, not even a twitch of a single muscle ensued.

"I'm not ready to let you go yet," Jimin whispered, teary eyes trailing down from her eyes to her pale lips. "Whenever you are right now, I don't- I don't care. I'll follow you anywhere." I'd die just to be with you.

Drowning in his anguish, he transformed it inadvertently into primal aggression, a desire to harm. He could think of only one person who was deserving of his wrath, and he was currently tied to a chair in the basement of the hotel.

"I think I heard someone knocking." Taehyung suddenly murmured, sitting upright on the couch, jet black hair poking in every direction. His nap had lasted around fifteen minutes, half of them spent in nervous tossing and turning. His puffy eyes glared at the door.

"Are you sure?" Jimin rasped. This was strange. He hadn't heard anything.

Before he could receive an answer, there was another cowardly knock, this time more audible. It seemed like the person on the other side wasn't entirely sure whether they wanted to come in or not.

The door eased open very slowly to reveal a dejected Jungkook, face white as chalk. His shoulders were slumped and his eyes cast down in a mournful gaze. He made eye contact with no one, closing the door after himself and resting his back against it with a desolate sigh.

It took Jimin a nanosecond to know that something had gone wrong. A dull feeling curled in the pit of his stomach.

"What's the matter?" he asked sharply, taking the distance to Jungkook in three brisk strides.

The younger boy took his head in his hands, shoulders shaking uncontrollably as despair poured from every fiber of his body. Something dampened one of his cheeks, leaving a wet trail across the skin.

"I never meant for any of this to happen, Jimin..." Jungkook's face creased in a pained grimace.

Visibly tense, Taehyung sprung up from the sofa as well, wide bulging eyes staring at the brown-haired security guard.

"What is this supposed to mean?" Jimin questioned, liquid amber hues quivering. Something sharp pierced through his heart. His vision blurred as his brain went on overdrive, going against his cold-blooded and composed nature. "What are you talking about?"

Jungkook hissed, making a sound unlike any other Jimin had ever heard to come from him. His heard sank into his shoes.

"Goddammit, what the fuck has happened, why are you being like this?" Taehyung spat out fiercely, his lips trembling before he bit on them, throwing his shoulders back.

Silently, Jungkook's head hung low as he stared down at his shoes. Drawing in a sharp breath, he picked up his watery gaze from the floor.

"Yoongi... he escaped."

It felt like the world had rolled off from its axis as the words echoed in Jimin's head. Something awakened deep within him with a roar, something dark and poisonous that he felt was not human. It burned so bad, as if fire was creeping up his spine. Scorching under his skin, coming down to only one desire – to hate.

"You let him escape?" Taehyung thundered, his hunched form exuding animosity like no other Jimin had ever seen before, his face wearing a murderous expression.

"I have no idea how it happened," Jungkook was disheartened, completely and utterly devastated, fingers weaving into his disheveled hair and pulling at it.

"Who was there with him?" Jimin grumbled, teeth gritted from effort to contain his rage.

"It was me," Jungkook admitted, tilting his head backwards and resting it against the door. "I left him alone for one second. One fucking second! He was gone."

"How did he escape?" Taehyung asked, deep husky voice laced with menace.

"That's the problem, I have no idea!" Jungkook said, looking haunted.

"What, do you mean to tell me that he dissolved into thin air?" Taehyung snapped, his glare burning through Jungkook.

"I- I'm sorry, alright?" the security guard whined helplessly, his lips buckling upwards. He seemed extremely apologetic, eyes glistening with genuine remorse. "It's all my fault. I take full responsibility-"

"Can't you see?" Jimin growled suddenly, drawing everyone's attention to himself. "He wanted us to capture him. He could have escaped all along."

"What the fuck are you talking about?" Taehyung frowned sternly.

"Did it ever occur to you how easy it was to catch him?" Jimin hollered, throwing away every ounce of self-control he had.

They had been played. The manipulator had tricked them. Everything had been pre-planned and done on purpose. Even the miserable look he had on his face these past days when they had kept him in the grey room was all fake. It had been a well thought-out act, a mastermind deception.

"I-" Jungkook stammered, inhaling sharply as he gave up on saying whatever he had to say. Thick silence lay upon them, hovering in the air with suspense.

Jimin's rage built like deep water currents. It should have been directed at Yoongi. He should have been there to take the hit. It was unbearable. The anger came, ready to be unleashed without thoughts for consequence. All of Jimin's feelings, the anguish, the guilt, the sadness – they were all reduced to raw, primitive fury.

He held still, eyes locked right on the remorseful Jungkook. Instinctively, his hands coiled into fists and he shot forward, grabbing the stunned bodyguard by the collar, and sent him slamming against the wall.

"What the fuck are you doing!" Taehyung flew forward only for his traumatized stare to be completely ignored.

"How could you!" Jimin shouted, refusing to relinquish his grip as Jungkook's fingers wrapped around his wrists. "How could you let him get away!"

"He already said he was sorry!" Taehyung cried out, reeling back in shock, torn between breaking up the deathly grip and staying away, knowing the consequences of his intervention.

"I know-" Jungkook choked up, hissing as Jimin's grip on his collar tightened. His guilt made him helpless, refusing to resist Jimin's attack. "I deserve this. I fucked up, Jimin, I'm so fucking sorry, you have no idea-"

"Shut up!" enraged, Jimin hollered as he pulled him forward by an inch only to send him slamming back into the wall. "I trusted you!" he yelped, waves of violent rage rolling off of him. "I trusted you to keep him there. Aera is unconscious. She may never wake up, and it's all because of him. And you let him go!"

"I want her to wake up, too," Jungkook whimpered, hissing as the back of his head hit the wall again. "She's my friend."

"Let him go," Taehyung begged from the side, close to desperate. "You're hurting him, and it's not him you're mad at, Jimin! Put him down!"

"No!" Jimin growled. The flame in his stomach coursed to his veins, overwhelming him and corrupting his judgement.

"He's your friend, for fuck's sake!" Taehyung gripped on his sleeve and jerked him backwards violently, trying to rip Jungkook from the tight hold.

Jimin stumbled backwards slightly, loosening his grip reluctantly as the choked up sobs finally erupted through him. He let Jungkook go, face creasing with regret about what he had just done. Chest rising and falling, hot tears threatening to shoot down his cheeks as his gaze dropped down to his hands.

"I'm not mad at you," Jungkook said quietly, offering him a sympathetic look. "I know that you're upset. We all are. And I admit I made a shitty mistake."

"I shouldn't have blamed you," Jimin admitted, breathing heavily and running a hand over his face in an attempt to chase away the tears. "It's not your fault. It could have been any one of us down there, and he'd still have played us. It had been his plan all along. I just wish, I-" his voice progressively became more and more shaky before distorting into unintelligible gasps.

"I know." Jungkook's brows dipped slightly as his hand shot forward abruptly and pulled his friend into a hug. It wasn't a warm, gentle hug. It was a brisk, tight and manly hug, saturated with the silent promise of a strong and unconditional friendship, filled with desire to help decrease the pain and misery. "I understand."

Feeling Jungkook's silent understanding envelop him was seemingly the thing that pushed Jimin over the edge.

"I love her." the words were muffled as he buried his face into Jungkook's shoulders, arms secured around his friend's back.

Jungkook gulped. "I know."

"I'm fucking scared." Jimin admitted breathlessly, tears pooling in the corners of his eyes.

"So am I."

The moment was so intense and full of raw emotion. For the first time in his life, Jimin spoke his feelings freely, breaking out of the pattern of hiding his brokenness inside. It came the day when he found himself unable to mask the hurt and just switch back to his cool, controlled demeanor. Something ached inside of him. Aera. She made him vulnerable.

Jungkook knew. He knew that anger was nothing but a shield for pain. Like a cornered wild animal, hissing and attacking whoever approached it, scared for its life.

I love her.

Jimin had given her his heart. He had been waiting to tell her those words for the longest time. Now she wasn't there to hear them.

I need you. I feel so abandoned. Please, please, just come back.

"All we can do is wait." Jungkook's voice was hoarse as he patted Jimin on the back, slowly breaking the hug before their embarrassment could flare. His grave expression did nothing to console his friend and instead only intensified his self-pity.

Jimin nodded, feeling more powerless than ever. There was still stinging in his eyes that he hid by lowering his gaze and avoiding any eye contact. Taehyung let out a desolate sniffle, chewing on his lower lip.

It would have been almost unbelievable if Jimin couldn't swear he heard sounds of movement come from Aera's bed. Instantaneously, he tensed up and froze in his place, too scared to glance back and end up feeling disappointed.

But the voice. The voice he'd never mistake in a million years.

A voice like angel feathers spilled across the room, sounding weak but still loud enough to be heard.

"Jimin?"

author's note:

to those of you who are reading this book: I purple you 💜 I'm super thankful for all the support!

if anyone is interested, this is the song I was listening to while writing this chapter: