"𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚢 𝚒𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚌𝚘𝚛𝚗𝚎𝚛 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙵𝚘𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞. 𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚐𝚘 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎𝚜."

― 𝙰. 𝙼𝚒𝚕𝚗𝚎, 𝚆𝚒𝚗𝚗𝚒𝚎-𝚝𝚑𝚎-𝙿𝚘𝚘𝚑

Jimin

It was a strange thing to be back here. It had felt like only yesterday when he and Yoongi had been stood here with growing uncertainty and fear, in front of these soaring iron-gates and towering red-bricked buildings. That is of course, he had been drowning in his own dread and anxiety before, whereas now...well...

He still was, but in a different way.

Jimin wouldn't say that he was afraid of what was inside of these walls. Taking in a hurried breath he set foot past the front gates and briskly made his way down the paved pathway towards the main building. 'Bionics' surprisingly hadn't undergone any renovations within the past two years. This Jimin thought as he drove his body past each bionic complex, because the company had to be the most financially wealthy corporation in the world. Still, in regards to each building it seemed as if the walls were no more than the same rock and dirt they stood on. Jimin wasn't implying that the grounds were unkept or worn, but he figured the person in charge would have maybe directed their interminable funds towards an attainable, state-of-the-art superstructure to house the hundreds of bionics.

As he passed person after person...'bionic after bionic' even, Jimin did his best to keep his head down. The absolute likelihood of him running into a certain individual was below ten percent, and yet he wasn't sure that he'd be able to keep it together if he did. And, the profound bore of their deadened pupils was just as unsettling as it had been before. Again, it was strange. No one gathered together in clusters, but were instead scattered eerily and dragging around the courtyard like lost hoards of the undead. Perhaps the word 'undead' wasn't the best term to use.

He was notably holding himself together without too much endeavours. It was okay. He could do this.

Tugging out the square of paper once again, Jimin inhaled and briefly closed his eyes. Then he turned on his heels and made a sharp left, averting the main entrance and heading around the building instead. This is what the note read...'Make your way around the left side of the main building and keep walking until you come across a set of basement doors. Wait there and avoid any security cameras.' That was easier said than done. Nearly, practically, every corner of a wall embodied a surveillance CCTV camera. Maybe at the most he could just keep his head down.

Again, that was easier said than done. At the very least, his hair wasn't the once bright-blond that it had been once and his clothes certainly were less than vivid.

He stuck his body closer to the insides of the side buildings, occasionally ducking behind loose and low-hanging foliage to stay out of sight as humanely possible. Granted every bionic was aware of his 'subtle' presence, but he doubted they'd question his definite, dubious behaviour. And it was surprisingly working. He'd just kept leaping, and ducking, and sliding his way around the main building and as far as he'd been aware, he had kept his face hidden behind his hood and scarf without much effort. Of all places...why this building to meet up?

Stepping out from between two bare bushes, Jimin hurried towards the black-painted basement door residing amidst a corner crevice. He wasn't sure if he should knock, maybe? Or just wait? He was a little early.

Buzz buzz-

A phone call? Taking a quick look to either side of him, Jimin fumbled for the straight-edged outline of his phone from his back pocket before checking the caller ID. Yoongi-hyung?

"...Hello?"

"Jimin, what the...you've got to be fucking kidding right now."

"I...huh? What's wrong?"

"What's wrong? Why the hell is my phone telling me, that your fucking location is behind the mother fucking Bionic's factory?!"

"What? Why're you-?!" Jimin paused, eyeing the sides of the building and the shrubs in front of him before lowering his voice to a whisper. "...why were you checking out my location?!"

"Uh, you me and Tae were supposed to go see that movie? Remember? We've been out here waiting to pick you up, so like the great friend that I am I go ahead and search up your location on Joogle-"

Oh shit. Jimin had most certainly forgotten about that.

"-and low and behold, there you are on Bionic grounds, Jimin why...why the hell are you there?!"

"Hyung, listen, it's not what you're thinking-"

"You know what, I don't care, Tae and I are driving over to pick you up right now."

"Hyung, just hold on a minute-!"

Beep.

Well great. He had had one job: to sneak into the Bionic factory without anyone but the mysterious man knowing including his own friends, and he had left his freaking location on. Gripping his phone he lifted it above his head and inhaled, biting down onto his lip to hold back his muffled, straggled noises of frustration. Note to self Jimin: turn off your fucking location-!

"Am I interrupting?"

"AHA! What?!" Jimin yelped out, his arms instinctively dropping down to hug his upper body when a familiar, smooth voice piped up from his right. Pink hair...thank goodness. Jimin hadn't caught the sound of the basement door opening in his own tantrum. "No, no I'm...it's nothing...!"

"Mm." Mystery man only folded his arms against his chest before pushing those broad shoulders back a little as if sizing him up. He was wearing a lab coat. A researcher for the Bionics company? Jimin had figured that maybe he'd have been a clerk or a secretary maybe, because someone with such high clearance would be under intense watch. But...a scientist? "Follow me."

"Uh...sure," he mumbled after the taller man, before stumbling after him down the basement stairs into the semi-shrouded darkness. "Um, listen. I have so many questions-"

"Uh huh."

Jimin inhaled the stuffy air before his throat closed up, and he coughed beneath the clouds of dust while he tried to get his words out. "Can I just...your name?"

"Kim Seokjin."

"Well, Seokjin-"

"Just Jin."

"Jin...hyung?"

"Yep."

Adjusting his scarf to cover both his nose and mouth Jimin continued to follow Jin through dark hallways and corridors, still a little weary of the taller, presumably older man who never took a second to cover his own mouth, or to glance behind him. Of course, it was only natural to presume that this man had access to information beyond the regular citizen's reach because he was aware of Jimin's relationship with Jungkook. Which meant that, he was aware of the experiment. Experiment 97. So undoubtedly, Jim probably knew the very depths of Jimin's life as well as his secrets.

That being said, it wasn't too difficult to search Jimin up on Fatebook just to have access to his age. He had so many things that he had wanted to ask Seokjin. 'Who are you?', 'What role are you playing amidst all of this?' But Jin wasn't exactly making it easy, with his short and shrewd answers and almost irate brow.

"In here, quickly," Jin ushered before swinging open another door at the end of the corridor, and holding it open. Bobbing down under his arm Jimin took a step into the dark room before Jin followed, the door closing behind them with a thud.

"Where are we? What is this place?" The silence that followed Jimin's queries also held the heavy thumps of Jin's footsteps across the room, before the sizzle and jolt of electricity brought the darkness back to life. One by one the lights above the younger popped alight with a sort of dreary brightness, and Jimin found Jin's silhouette stood besides a light switch and lab tables. A laboratory? Or at least, what used to be laboratory. "Is this place..."

"A part of the factory that shut down," Jin interrupted whilst rifling through a filing cabinet residing in one of the corners of the room.

"Why is it shut down?"

"Why do you think?"

Jimin chewed onto the inside of his cheek as he kept his eyes to the taller man, who paced around the room in a somewhat frenzy. Since the last time that Jimin had had the pleasure of meeting this strange man, he could tell that something had maybe happened in between now and then, only by the franticness and overwrought behaviour of which Jin seemed to be displaying. He wasn't sure whether he should feel as disquieted as Jim, because his own seemingly nonchalant demeanour felt a little out of place in contrast. Perhaps the reality of his decision hadn't quite settled in yet.

After a few minutes of Jimin trailing after the pink-haired man, Jin's distress seemed to finally dissolve once he wrenched a set of papers from a draw in one of the connecting back rooms. Then, wordlessly, Jin turned on his heels and strut past Jimin towards the exit. "Come on. We're done here."

"What?" Jimin unfolded his arms before following on from the brief flap of Jin's white-coat. "Where are we going?"

"Where do you think?"

"Huh? What do you-" Jimin stumbled, as they found their way through the empty, dusty corridors. "Why did you ask me to meet you here? I could've just met you at wherever we're going now."

"Well," Jin started, as he pushed open the basement door with one hand and ushered Jimin out by the shoulders with the other. "I figured you'd want a look around. Like visiting your old elementary school after a few years gone."

"It wasn't exactly an accustomed place," Jimin mumbled. He expected Jin to take the route around the building through the foliage like Jimin had, but instead he strode through the central crowds of bionics without turning back. Keeping his head down Jimin stuck close, throwing his hood up and pinching his jacket closer around his upper body. "Aren't you worried that I'll get spotted?"

"Nah. The tech recognized you the moment you stepped past the gates. No point in hiding now."

"So why'd you leave such extravagant instructions to sneak by the cams if I was going to get caught out either way?"

"Was worth a shot."

Before Jimin could retaliate, Jin stepped aside as they came up towards a rather sleek looking, cerulean-blue car with black rims and tinted windows. He froze momentarily, his jaw most likely slack, before staring Jin in the eye who didn't question his façade. "This, this is your car?"

Jimin could have sworn that the scientist almost smirked. "I work for Bionics."

"Yeah, I know! But this is...is this a Lamborghini?"

"Mhm."

"What the hell do you do for a living?!"

Jin swiftly took a step around the younger, who's grasp on the edges of his hood tightened until Jin unlocked the car and opened the driver's door. "I bring people back to life."

The door slammed shut, and Jimin remained stood outside for a few more seconds, before he reluctantly reached his hand out towards the passenger door's handle. His chest rose and fell, each exhalation heavier than the last, until he flexed his fingers and tugged open the door, and fell into the passenger seat. Now wasn't the time to reconsider his decision. He'd come to his solidifying terms, finally, and he wasn't going to let this mysterious man ruin his clarity.

Tugging his hood back, Jimin turned to the scientist with his lips squeezed together. "So, where are we going."

"...Car Repair Garage."

yo.

don't hate me for updating so late. i'm actually making a game atm. another hobby, another story to motivate myself into. im not sure when the next chapter will come out, just hold out for me you sweet persons.

see you around.