(A/N: Let me start out by saying this...I AM SO SORRY! I COMPLETELY forgot about uploading Sunday. I was so caught up in Father's Day festivities. I know I know, I'm a horrible person, but it's here now! Only like a day-ish late sooooo...I hope you enjoy (and pls forgive me☺️) WC - 2600

P.O.V Jimin

It was dark, like so many nights that slinked by. It seemed to be just another dreamless night, nothing but a light buzz and silken darkness that encompassed Jimin.

He was content with the nothingness, at least it wasn't another nightmare or night terrors that seem to haunt him every time he lets his mind wander, burning the images to the backs of his eyelids. Even with just a mere blink of an eye, his mind took the opportunity to flash him a fleeting image of his past. He couldn't even blink, without begging his brain for mercy. And it only seemed to get worse, everyday his mind became more unrelenting in this slow, torturous, dance.

Jimin finally thought he was getting some peace, he really did...

How juvenile.

The darkness slowly gave way for a blurred figure, off in the distance. The dull buzz being replaced with the sound of quiet sobs.

Everything was still blackened void, no way to tell where one thing started and another ended. Just one long stretch of fuzzy abyss.

All except for the porcelain figure a certain ways away, emitting soft sobs into his shaking hands. The man was kneeling on the floor, seemingly staring at nothing, his eyes devoid of any and all emotion. He looked so lost as his shoulders shook with the sheer force of his despair, crystal tears glistening as they slid down his blotchy skin. Skin that would glow in any other situation, was rather grey, lifeless.

Jimin started to walk towards the man, trying to analyze his features, for he couldn't shake the familiar impression that the man emitted. Even through the unfamiliar sense of agony that oozed from the kneeling man.

Upon closer inspection, Jimin saw the sprawling ink that ran along the rather muscular plain of his back. Bold ebony lines curved an outline of wings, as a glassy black and red filled in the finer details. The rune alone radiated power, as the colors shifted with the light, an unseen light. It was as if an invisible spotlight was shining on the sobbing man, drawing Jimin closer and closer. He felt like a moth drawn to the light of a flame, an undeniable urge to go closer.

Jimin was within a yard of the man, when the said man stopped his sobs. Silenced as the only indicator of life was the uneven rise and fall of his broad chest.

"Are you...alright?"

Jimin watched closely for a reaction, cautious as he paused his progression towards the living mystery in front of him.

The man remained still, his breaths far from uniform as he remained gazing at the ground.

"Why are you so upset?"

Jimin didn't understand why his mind was supplying him with this man, or why his mind made this illusion over halfway through his mind numbing nothingness of a dream. He just wanted answers so he could awaken soon, to escape the eerie atmosphere that draped over the duo.

Yet the man said nothing.

So, Jimin too a different approach.

"Are you a witch? That rune is quite powerful, no common magic seeker can create such an enchantment,"

More stillness stretched on, and Jimin was about to just give up, maybe even close the distance between them. Until the man shook his head, it was a jerky motion, but was an answer all the same.

"They did it...then left...they all leave soon..."

Jimin tilted his head in confusion at the mumbled statement, more astonished by the fact that the man seemed to have gotten the rune unwillingly. Based on the continuous shaking of the mans head as he swayed forward, then back. A broken record of oscillation, his gaze still locked on the floor.

Jimin opened his mouth to ask another question, when more words tumbled out of the mans mouth, rushed as if was scared to utter said words.

"I didn't want it, but I was going to die, I was going to die...dead...I would be dead right now..."

The man shuttered, whether it was the lack of a shirt, or the resurfacing of buried memories. Jimin would never know.

"My back still aches, with the pains of death...but the voices are far worse...they are so loud, but no one else can hear them...me...just...me,"

The man slumped forward, his arm having to reach out to stop him from tumbling to the floor. He shakily pushed himself back up, a thin sheen of sweat glistening in that unseeing light.

"What voices?"

Jimin took a small step back, eyes narrowing warily at the steadily shaking man. Trying to decide whether he was just crazy, or if this was the work of magic.

The man mumbled something to himself, before he pushed himself all the way up. Stumbling a bit forward, he shook he head as a chuckle left his chapped lips.

He rolled his head, stretching out his sore muscles as he straightened. His previous weakness fading, replaced with a new-found strength. The breathless chuckles that tumbled from his lips were far from friendly, hostile even as he threw his head back. A cackle echoing within the walls of the dark abyss that surrounded the two, Jimin recoiled at the horrid sound. The voice that was previously familiar, now sounded like nails on a chalkboard. Something foreign took a hold of the mans silken voice, turning it into a hostile - petrifying - whip. His words slicing through the air in harsh lashes.

"You should already know, you are - after all - the one who gave me them,"

The man turned fully, muscles tense from pent up ire. Chest heaving from the effort to withhold his shaking hands, eyes flashing with murderous intent.

He stood taller than Jimin, raven hair slightly longer and matted with sweat. He was very well built and looked like he could very well end Jimin with just a mere step. Not to mention, the fact that the lack of shirt did nothing to even try and cover up the mans well-defined and bulging muscles. Jimin felt very intimidated, at...well...everything?

He is going to crush me. I'm as good as dead.

Jimin was ready to accept his fate, but then his eyes finally found the mans gaze. Gone was the lost mien, but the agony was till there. The hazel eyes were swimming with pain, a beautiful mix of green and brown with just the smallest hint of amber.

He was looking for revenge, but Jimin didn't know what he did wrong. The voice was familiar, but it was still off, like he knew the voice, just not the tone. Jimin tried, he really did, but he couldn't recall meeting this man or doing any wrong-doings to any humans.

Then he looked at his face.

And it all clicked.

A wrecking ball of a memory slammed into the side of his head, and suddenly he was back at the market. Back standing in the cool swirls of the autumn wind, surrounded by unenthusiastic vendors and wooden kiosks.

He turned full circle, taking in the familiar scent of freshly baked pastries that wafted from the open doors of the bakery. The oddly slim number of townsfolk that glided from stall to stall, even basking in the warmth of the afternoon sun.

Suddenly, a hand grasped his wrist, warm and vise-like. A mantra of apologizes followed for bumping into him, gripping onto his wrist as if the man was scared that Jimin still might fall.

He looked up through his forest green hood and raven fringe, to see a youthful, and practically flawless, face. His eyebrows furrowed as he spoke to Jimin, words falling upon deaf ears as all Jimin could focus on was his profile. It was almost unnaturally porcelain, glowing in the afternoon light. A small scar marring the mans left cheek, though if anything, it only increased his beauty. Albeit to Jimin, the 'man' was more like a boy in his eyes.

From the wrinkle free skin, to the way he tilted his head in confusion at Jimins silence. Everything about him screaming youth, adolescence, and vigor. Jimin didn't know why so many thoughts were slamming into his head, but one out-screamed them all.

"What's your name?" He blurted it out, staring at the shocked younger.

The tallers mouth was agape, surprised by the sudden outburst. He continued to open and close his mouth like a fish, tilting his head to the side at overly complicated yet simplistic question.

Jimin leaned forward as he awaited his answer, until he was yanked backwards. Away from the kind and warm man from the marketplace, his hands being ripped from the firm grip of the man with the silvery voice. A voice of a singer, his mind supplied quite uselessly.

Away from the crowd, the answers, the warmth of the autumn air. Right back into the cold, dark abyss of his increasingly terrifying dream. Gone was the secure grip of a kind man, but replaced by the newer, more sinister version.

He had the same raven hair, but he was missing that carefree youthful aura. The lines that chiseled his brow made him look years older. His warm coffee brown eyes were gone, instead invaded by a harsh colored green. The brown slowly fading into the background to make way for emerald.

For once in a very long time, Jimin felt scared. Even if it was just a dream, every thing felt so real. The anger in the mans gaze, to the hatred in his expression as he gazed upon the witch in complete and utter disdain. His eyes raking across Jimins slowing shrinking frame, as the occult shuddered in fear.

"You know," The man purred out, hand tightening around the others wrists. A smirk growing across his face as he menacingly stared down at Jimin, like a predator gazing upon his newest meal.

He wasn't helpless as he withered away on his bed, no, he was the no longer the one at the witch's mercy, the witch was now at his mercy. And it felt great.

"You are no better than those malevolent, sinful, turpitude bokors you try oh so hard to be above. But lets just face it, you are just, like, them,"

He snarled out those venomous words, removing his grip from the occult's wrist. Instead, opting for seizing the witch's throat.

He pressed his palm against the base of Jimins throat, wrapping his long digits as far around his neck as possible. Non-to-gently enclosing his grip, compressing the others airway, cutting off any and all oxygen to his body.

Panic seeped into the witch as he clawed at the vice grip at his throat. Eyes doubling in size at the ever growing pit of fire in his lungs, and the crushing pain in his neck.

The other just threw back his head and laughed, shoving the occult against some sort of wall. Using the advantage of the wall behind Jimin to press his palm harder against the occult's throat. The crushing grasp sending jolts of pain into the witch's short-circuiting brain, all while the man lifted Jimin off his feet, pushing him further up the wall.

The demonic laughs were drowned out by Jimins own heartbeat, which grew quicker and more deafening with each and every failed attempt to breath in precious oxygen.

Tears were falling, each passing second the searing pain grew ten fold, everything stared to fog up. The burning in his lungs spreading throughout his whole body, pain overriding his fried brain. Thoughts flying past him in blurs, as the grip got impossibly tighter. The mans nails dug into the skin at Jimins neck in an attempt to squeeze tighter, pressing him harder and harder against the wall, his strength on full display.

Even through all of Jimins panic, from the gurgled pleas, and to desperate dragging of nubbish nails against sickly white skin, one thought wouldn't go away. The thought preventing him from using his magic as it out voiced his need for air, so loud he could no longer hear the man yelling at him that 'Look at what you did to me' and 'This is all your fault you monster' among other things. One question haunting him, burning hotter than his neck and lungs combined.

What's his name?

Jimin cursed at his mind for betraying him, for the stupid question that pried at his curiosity. He didn't care for the kids name, he just wanted to live! Yet his mind kept asking him the same question, addressing other unimportant questions as well. Like 'What did you do?' and 'When and how can I see him again?'

The last one in Jimins opinion was completely absurd, he never wanted to see this psycho again. He didn't care if his curiosity would suffer, he valued his life more than anything else.

As more irreverent and random questions popped into his mind, black dots started to dance across his vision. Everything burned, tears continued to streak down his cheeks. But as the fire grew, the fight died off. The vigorous thumping of his fist against the mans arms grew weaker, his kicks losing their previous strength. Jimin all but slumped into the mans grip, slowly giving into the conflagration. His body shutting down as the black dots filled his vision till all he saw was black.

Jimin didn't even realize that the other had been shaking him, slamming the witch into the wall repeatedly, till every thing stilled.

The man stared at the unconscious witch, returning his feet to the ground. As he released the smaller he watched the witch tumble to the ground, only offering a lopsided grin.

He crouched down, grabbing the occult's chin and yanking it to face him. Pushing his head up till he saw the giant blotchy bruise that encompassed Jimins neck. His smiled widened, his revenge mildly satisfied.

He took in the unconscious witch, face oddly peaceful. Completely clashing with the fading purple of the face, and the drying tear tracks that cascaded down his face.

Everything around the pair was fading, the illusion coming to a close as the witch began to awaken. But that didn't stop the younger from leaning in, pressing his lips against the others ear as he tightened his grip on the occult's chin. Breath coming out hot as he made every word count.

"To find the answers you seek, you must first look north. Where the sun rises you must peek, and that's when you will unearth the key, but you must do it by midweek, lest you want your window of opportunity to close,"

Lets just say he was tired of rhyming and gave up at the end.

And with that final declaration, everything faded to black.

(A/N: I know it might be a bit confusing now, but I SWEAR it will all make sense. And I KNOW that there isn't much Jikook atm...but don't fret! I put in a slow burn tag for a reason, and I love plot so there will be a lot of it. Again sorry for the lack of 'proper' Jikook and late upload, hopefully you can find it in your hearts to forgive me❤️💜)