Jimin's Pet | Park Jimin (a hybrid story)

~~Twenty-two^.^

Jimin~
"Poppy? She's just my pet."

I died on the inside, having to say those words. I knew that would hurt her more than anything else I could ever do. I would have done anything not to have to say them. For her sake though, I needed her to pull away from me, and I didn't know another way of ensuring that would happen.

My stomach turned, seeing her struggle to keep a straight face, trying not to react. I wanted to run to her and scoop her up in my arms, telling her I didn't mean a single word I said, but instead I hardened my expression and held my ground.

She didn't say a word; she just turned and walked out of the room, head held high and bristling tail flicking dangerously back and forth. I pitied the next member to walk into her path. Secretly, I hoped it would be Hoseok.

I turned around to finish getting ready and came face to face with a fuming Jungkook.

"What are you angry about?"

"Just your pet?" he advanced on me, coldly. "I've been hearing about you and her for weeks now. She didn't seem to be just your pet then."

"Yeah?" I thought quickly, "Well, then you probably also heard about her and Hobi!"

He stopped coming closer. "I did hear about that," he said, frowning. "But even Hobi admits that was all him. She didn't betray you; he did."

"She participated," I had to keep the charade going now. They all had to believe I was finished with her. I couldn't even think about the consequences if anyone believed that I was still in love with her.

"That's not fair."

I was done with this conversation though. I looked at my watch and said, "What do you care? You just met her. I don't have time to talk about this anymore. I have somewhere to be."

Jungkook opened his mouth to argue, but I turned and walked out of the apartment without another word. 

~~~

Hoseok~
It was hard to watch, day in, day out, as Poppy slowly became less human, more catlike. She didn't talk to anyone. She didn't smile anymore. All she did was sit in whatever patch of sun she could find and stare into space.

I stood in the doorway of the dining room, watching her gaze out the window, the sun shining in her face. She hadn't moved in hours.

My heart hurt for her. Yes, I had feelings for her, but I would rather have her be happy with someone else than this. She was withering away, both physically and mentally.

Namjoon walked up behind me and looked over my shoulder.

"Has she eaten anything yet today?" he whispered.

I shook my head. "Not today. Not yesterday either."

He pulled me away from the door, murmuring, "We need to get everyone together and talk about this. We have to come up with a plan to snap her out of this funk she's in."

"Even Jimin?"

Namjoon shook his head, "Not Jimin. He's made it clear he doesn't care anymore. But there's no reason everyone else couldn't step up and be there for her. She belongs to Bangtan now and we have to take care of her."

As I rounded up the others, I thought about how much things had changed in the past couple of weeks. ARMY's reaction to Poppy was swift and harsh, but it only came from a few of the most crazy fans. Most of ARMY defended Jimin's right to be with whomever he wanted to be with. Since Poppy was never on the Internet, she didn't really feel any effects from the hate. Jimin had taken the brunt of it. At least he had done that much for her.

Jimin was out three or four nights a week with Alora. When he was at the apartment, he walked past Poppy as if she was invisible. He didn't even take her dancing in the mornings anymore. He completely cut himself off from her. 

He didn't spend a lot of free time with the members anymore either. Jimin was so wrapped up in his girlfriend that he didn't have time for anything else. He was either with her, or on the phone with her.

When we were at work, he spent more time than was necessary talking to Mi-cha. She would often pull him out of dance or vocal practice to talk to him. I understood she was related to Alora, but who talks that much to their girlfriend's mother?

The funny thing was, even though his every move was about Alora now, he didn't have that I'm-in-love happy look like he'd had with Poppy. His steps were heavier, and it was easy to see that he wasn't sleeping very well. His smile looked rehearsed, not the natural one he'd always worn before.

Something about this entire thing didn't sit well with me, but I couldn't figure out why just yet.

The other members met, scattering around Namjoon's room and sitting wherever they found space. There was a soft hum of conversation going in between them as they discussed the situation.

Everyone looked toward our leader, Namjoon, sitting in his lounge chair in the corner as he quieted everyone and said, "Guys, we need to do something about Poppy. We have to bring her back to reality somehow. Anyone have any ideas?"

Yoongi immediately spoke up, "I've actually already been thinking about this. I think we should each take a responsibility. Maybe Jin can just focus on getting her to eat. Taehyung can help her get ready for each day, make sure she showers and dresses properly. Jungkook can keep her mind busy, playing games and such. And she can sleep in my room with me from now on, instead of on the couch. That sort of thing."

"What about me?" I asked.

"Well, you need to get her back on the dance floor. She seemed to like that. And Namjoon can... um, what can Joon do?" Yoongi furrowed his brow as he thought.

"I'll take her on outings," Namjoon spoke up. "Now that ARMY has seen Jimin out with his girlfriend, they've backed off of Poppy. It should be safe to take her out of the house now, especially since Jimin made the formal announcement that she's just a companion for Bangtan."

"Sounds good to me," Jungkook said, nodding his head in agreement with the plan. "Is there anything else we should do?"

"We need to call Hae," I said. "We need to have her come here. Poppy hasn't been answering her calls, but I think she needs to talk to Hae. They're pretty close."

Namjoon nodded at me and said, "Okay, that's your job too then, Hobi. Everyone understand what you have to do? Jin, I'm sorry, but you need to get to work straight away. She hasn't eaten enough to keep a bird alive lately."

We all left to go our separate ways and to do our separate jobs. Jin and Namjoon had their heads together; Jin writing down a list of foods they hoped would tempt Poppy to eat again. They were worried about her starving to death, but in reality we all knew she was mortally more in danger from her broken heart.

The others headed toward their bedrooms, but I needed to retrieve my phone from the kitchen so I could call Hae. Turning the corner at the end of the hall, I stopped short; Jimin stood just outside the dining room, silently watching Poppy, misery written all over his face.

"Jimin?" I said softly, so as not to startle him.

He turned away so that I couldn't see his face, but it looked suspiciously like he was wiping tears away.

"She needs someone to protect her, someone better than me. There's evil out there that would destroy an innocent soul like hers," he said, his voice cracking.

Shivers ran down my back at his words. Was he trying to tell me something? Was that a warning of some kind?

"But Jimin..."

He didn't let me finish. He lowered his head as he said, "Take good care of her, Hobi." And then he walked away.