[ PARK JIMIN ]
"Are you sure it's just empathy? Are you sure you're not feeling... attracted to me?" There was a shift in his voice as it became more silky, pleasing to listen to. I could feel my muscles relax in response to the soothing sound. "Don...
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⊰ T H I R T Y S I X ⊱
FATES INTERTWINED
"Jimin?"
"Hmm?" he hummed, chest rumbling against mine as we continued to hold each other.
"What are you planning to do once the deal is done and you're completely human?" I asked hesitantly.
"I have something I need to take care of," he responded. I could sense his discomfort and decided I shouldn't push him, especially after he had been so patient with me to open up to him about my past.
"When you get that done, will you come back?" the question came out as a whisper. I heard him sigh, his fingers weaving their way through my hair.
"I'll come back."
His answer should have comforted me, but it didn't. It felt off, and I feared that he was just telling me what I wanted to hear.
"Jimin—"
"Let's talk about something else, okay?" He slowly pulled away, grabbing my hand and bringing me with him to sit on the deck, resting our backs against the side of the ship.
"I know you don't want to talk about it," I captured his gaze, taking a deep breath. "But I just need you to know that I don't want you to leave. I know it might be selfish, but I just need you to hear that from me." We hadn't even known each other long, but already I couldn't imagine being without him.
His eyes held mine as he spoke. "I'll come back. I promise."
"Okay," I quietly said, doing my best to trust him and to ignore the nagging voice in my head that said he wasn't going to stay with me like I so hoped he would.
"So everything that happened was with your stepfather, right? Do you want to tell me about your biological dad?" Jimin asked, expertly steering my attention elsewhere like he had always managed to do. Luckily for him, talking about my father was something I wanted, even though it was painful.
"He was amazing. He did such a great job raising Anna and me. He taught us both how to stand up for ourselves and for others. He wanted to make sure we were tough," I smiled, thinking back on how he taught us things that normally weren't taught to daughters. "He hated that so many young girls were expected to just follow men's orders blindly, to never really speak up unless they were asked to do so. He refused to let his daughters be afraid to have their own opinions or individual strength."
Jimin let out a small laugh, "I think he succeeded."
I smiled briefly before continuing, "He went through a rough patch at some point though. I was still pretty young when it happened, but he started drinking a lot—too much—when the majority of his work was stolen. He made swords and different weapons for a living, and one night while he was in his shop, a bunch of men broke in and knocked him out so they could take as many weapons as they could carry.
