ALL IN BLOOM || VMINKOOK ✅

17

JIMIN POV

A long time seemed to pass, Lisa sleeping on and off and crying whenever she woke.

Poor thing was hungry, Jimin guessed. And he had nothing to feed her and nothing for her to drink.

The water dripping down the stone walls tasted of salt, and he was afraid to let her drink it.

He'd explored the confines of their cell three damp stone walls and one with a metal door with no handle.

He'd tried knocking on it, banging on it, yelling as loud as he could. But no one heard or, if they did, they didn't come.

Jimin was starting to think no one was coming when a hole appeared at the bottom of the door, light pouring through, and something was pushed inside.

"Hello," Jimin called.

"Who's there? Please. The princess, she's scared."

Whoever was out there, he could hear them breathing.

But they didn't speak, and the hatch shut firmly, throwing them back into darkness.

Once his eyes had readjusted to the gloom, he went to see what they'd pushed through.

He found two plastic cups of water and two pieces of some thing that looked like biscuit.

He sniffed it and bit off a small corner. It tasted familiar, like something he'd eaten as a child.

Rusk, that was it.

Lifting Lisa so she was sitting on his knee, he held it out to her.

"Here, Lisa, try some of this. It's yummy."

She seemed less than convinced, so he took another bite. "Yum, very tasty. Now you."

It took another bit of coaxing before she tried it, but once she did, she ate the whole thing.

He broke a piece off the second biscuit and offered it to her, smiling when she grabbed it in her hand and sucked on it.

"That's better, huh?" he said.

Once she'd eaten it, he helped her drink some of the water before having some himself.

He saved the rest of the food for her for later, not knowing when they'd get the chance to eat again.

He wrapped her in his jacket to keep her warm, and she cuddled into him.

"Dada?" she asked.

"They're coming," he promised her. He was sure they were, sure that it was just a matter of time before they were found. But he didn't understand any of this.

Not who would have taken them.

Not why they were there. Not where there was, except... he could hear the sea, the waves crashing against the shore.

It made him feel a little less panicked to know the ocean was close at hand. Maybe that meant help was close at hand too.

Lisa started to fuss again.

"Shh," Jimin said, rocking her.

Casting about for something to distract her, he settled for what used to work best with his youngest sister and started to sing.

His voice was a little rough, but the words and the melody came back to him quickly.

Lisa went very still in his arms, settling against him as she listened.

By the time he stumbled to a stop, his voice growing tired, she'd fallen asleep.

She didn't wake as the hours passed, not even when the hatch slid open and more food was pushed inside.