Jungkook looked at Jimin and felt his own heart grow heavy. He kept his stare at the man and couldn't help but to feel let down. He expected Jimin to allow him since he knew how much trust the man had towards him, but suddenly, his doubts had a reason to believe Jimin wouldn't let him go at all.
"I... I don't get it... don't you trust me, Jimin? Why is this so confusing?" Jungkook questioned and continued to look Jimin in his eyes. "Why does this have to be so complicated? Please, let me patch things up with my family, Jimin! I promise I'll come back.. I'm nothing like them... I'm nothing like everyone who left you out to suffer! Please..." Jungkook begged and begged, but Jimin didn't seem to budge. The man stood in place and turned his face the other way.
"Jungkook, I trust you, I told you that I did but to let you go... I can't bring myself to allow you. I know you... I trust you... but how could I let you leave me if that's the biggest thing I fear?" Jimin asked and faced Jungkook once more, looking with pain burning through his crimson stare.
Yes, this was what the many years of being left alone did to him. Even after so long, Jimin couldn't move on when it happened every moment he found love. The cracks to his broken heart kept growing and it showed in his painful stare that told many tales. If there was a way to prevent the pain from happening again, Jimin swore to follow along with it. Which meant he had to deny Jungkook from leaving even for a moment.
"Why... why don't we go together? Please.... please I need to I-"
"Go... together? Jungkook, I don't think you're putting what I am into consideration... Jungkook, I'm a monster; I will kill anyone in my sight if I can't handle that side of me... my actions spin out of control at times like a broken switch that has never been repaired. That's why I never leave this hotel, not ever... what I am... the world won't love me as you do... no one will love me the way you do. I can't control myself around people outside of this place... the things I could do to others are so unclear to the point where it scares me to stay in here until I take my own life," Jimin confessed.
The conversation went silent afterwards. Jungkook listened to the man and clung onto him to give him a hug after the words Jimin spoke as if it meant nothing. Jimin suffered all his life for who he was and had no control over it whatsoever. To him, his instincts switched on and off at times when he least expected it. So when those moments kicked in, he would leave Jungkook alone in the room for the whole day until he knew he was better to return.
"Stop saying that... you're not a monster..." Jungkook reminded the man until he felt his gentle hands slide up his frame carefully. Jimin pulled away from the hug and looked at Jungkook once more before thinking of something else to say.
"That won't change everything that I am..." Jimin concluded and walked away to pick up his mask and top hat right after. "Your meal is in the fridge... I'll see you soon, I have to eat as well..." Jimin concluded and walked out of the room. Leaving Jungkook alone to ponder in silence.
"I can't stay here for the rest of my life and leave things the way that they are with everyone. I just... I just want to face them after the many things I've done to them and gain clarity. Jimin was the one who guided me into these thoughts, but now he doesn't want me to fulfill them..." Jungkook thought and ran his hand through his own hair. "I can't let Jimin think that I will never return to him. I need him to trust me completely... I need to go and as promised I'll come back right after and he will know that I'm different," Jungkook said before he let out a smile to himself. "Only then, he won't compare me to him... Hyunwon... that's the last thing I want to be compared to; someone who never cared about Jimin and left him."
Jungkook had a fixed mindset when it came to doing things his way. After all the things he's been through with Jimin, he wanted the man to trust him to return at any time. Jungkook figured that if he was going to leave, he had to do it as soon as possible just so Jimin wouldn't find him and drag him back into the hotel like he did the first time. But of course, Jimin wouldn't do that to him now, would he?
The boy knew he had to be smart when coming to the thought of escaping. Many people tried to escape many times before and Jimin managed to catch most of them since some died on their own for trying. Jungkook acknowledged the camera surveillance Seokjin told him about before. But how difficult could this be? Jungkook had no idea but he didn't expect this to be too easy. Jimin displayed true strength and has shown to be a completely different man when it came to things that made him upset, so Jungkook knew he wouldn't be let down so easily since he still had yet to see Jimin at his worst. Of course, what was Jimin's worst to be exact? Jungkook was afraid to find more hidden behind his mask.
As Jungkook wandered around in the hotel once more after eating a meal Jimin kept for him in the fridge, he noticed that as the hours passed by, this was going to be one of those days that Jimin wasn't going to come back. Could it be that his actions switched on and off to the point where he wouldn't be able to sustain himself around the one he admired? Jungkook wanted to talk to Jimin and try once more, but he didn't want to risk seeing the man become furious with him. This was something Jungkook would have to do without letting Jimin know anything else.
"Is he going to be gone for the whole day again? He doesn't come back around the early morning of the next day... so today could be it!" Jungkook thought and looked down at the clothes he wore. "If I'm going to do this today, I'll dress into my normal clothes and leave on my own... I'll have to be quick," Jungkook thought and looked around for his backpack until he opened the wardrobe that kept many things he wore, tucked away.
Jungkook searched through the wardrobe and found other old vintage clothings until he found his backpack at the bottom. Jungkook didn't think much of why his normal clothes were hidden away from him, but he figured they would be here since Jimin tended to store all of his things within this wardrobe. Jungkook pulled the bag out by the strap and almost instantly, an old picture of Jimin with a man seemed to catch his eye.
The curious boy observed the old picture as the edges seemed to be beaten up and ripped, but the center of the photo was what mattered. Jungkook looked at the old photograph and noticed the man that stood by Jimin and hugged him tightly, looked just like him! The boy gawked and tilted his head at the sight of the man who buried the side of his face against Jimin's chest with an innocent look in his face pointed towards the lenses at the time.
Such a romantic picture sent a shiver down Jungkook's spine. He could tell that this man in the arms of Jimin was none other than Hyunwon himself. But never did the boy think that he looked exactly like him in so many ways; from the way he had his hair thrown back, to the way his vintage clothes hugged his perfectly toned body. Jungkook continued to look at the picture and let out a sigh.
"Now I know why he begged me to remember... I look just like him! He must have thought I was him the moment I showed up to this hotel..." Jungkook whispered to himself and caressed the side where Jimin stood in the photograph. "Cruel... everyone is so cruel to you and only sees you as a monster without the ability to feel. This world won't treat you better, but I will always treat you the same... you are no different..." Jungkook mentioned and set the photo back into the wardrobe before taking his bag to the bed and removing the clean clothes he had packed in since Jimin offered to wash them.
Jungkook spent his time changing into his old clothes, wearing an oversized beige sweater with matching ripped denim jeans and white sneakers as well. As soon as Jungkook looked at himself in the mirror, he began to feel like his old self again and as he messed his hair up in the front, he began to realize that he looked nothing like Hyunwon in that picture now. Jungkook had his own style in his looks, all the way to his fashion sense. The way Jimin had him dressed as before, would resemble Hyunwon in so many ways that left Jungkook raising a brow as he thought about it.
"Was he... trying to make me dress like Hyunwon?" Jungkook thought before letting out a scoff and shook his head. "Of course not... Jimin knows I'm different! And after I do this, he will no longer see me as anyone closer to Hyunwon," Jungkook assured himself and smiled.
The boy finally walked over to his bag and retrieved his phone to slip it into his pocket. It's been quite a while he held onto his own phone, so the cold screen touched his hands and instantly reminded him of Jimin. At the thought of his partner, Jungkook looked for a loose sheet of paper and a pen to leave Jimin a note before he left. Just so Jimin would know that he will come back soon.
As Jungkook wrote quickly against the paper, he filled the page with words until he was ready to make his first escape. Jungkook had doubts that Jimin would find him and take him back, but did he fear that? No, not anymore. Jungkook knew Jimin wouldn't harm him over this. But he was afraid of where Jimin's anger would take him.
Eventually, Jungkook stepped out of the room. He had enough confidence to do this, so he had no fears weighing him down. Jungkook was quick as he only carried his phone in his pocket. Surprisingly, he no longer felt the pain of what he did with Jimin last night; stinging him and slowing him down, so the boy was able to be quick on his own. With the care Jimin had over Jungkook, the boy was able to be swift as he reached the elevator and quickly pressed the button to the lobby.
At this point, Jungkook was beginning to feel anxious as the elevator travelled down and played its usual distorted melody. Would this finally be the day Jungkook gets to face his fears in confronting those he ran away from? The boy didn't want to jinx himself any further and paced around in the elevator; fidgeting his own hands anxiously. However, once the elevator reached the lobby, his heart dropped and his breathing began to race. There was no turning back now.
The boy who yearned for the outdoors finally stepped into the lobby. He didn't waste another second as he looked over to the front desk to see that Seokjin wasn't there. Instantly, Jungkook bolted towards the double doors to the entrance and finally, pushed the doors to freedom. Somehow, his escape seemed easy for a hotel that was hard to check out from... almost too easy.