"life is a hell of a thing to happen to someone." - david rossi (played by joe mantegna on criminal minds)
_____
jimin was exhausted. he had unearthed memories he had completely forgotten about. it was amazing what a few deep breaths could do, he assumes.
"okay jimin. it's about to get a little bit darker from here," jin warns, his voice becoming louder than before.
"okay," jimin says with a sigh, dreading the recollection of that night. but he knows it's something he has to do.
"you said you were visiting your mom that night. what happened when you visited?" jin asked.
haneul stood on the other side of the two way glass, monitoring jimin and his behavior. it's not that she was suspicious of jimin, but more so worried for his well being. he spent so long in therapy trying to recover from that night only to have to be thrown back into that night.
haneul watched as jimin inhaled deeply, throwing himself back into that night.
it was cold, jimin thought. he tried to warm his hands by cupping them against his mouth and exhaling the heat from his mouth. he rubbed his hands together as he rang the doorbell to his mothers house. he waited patiently for her to open the door, unnerved about the time it took. it was normal for her to be deep in her cleaning mode that it was hard for her to stop.
the door swung open, his mother surprised to see him. that should have been the first warning. but it wasn't.
"hey mom," jimin smiles, leaning in to hug her. she hugs him back and smiles.
"hi darling. what are you doing here?" his mom asks, slightly anxious with the situation at hand.
"i always visit sunday nights. for dinner?" jimin says, a smile still on his lips as he reminded his mom of their unbroken tradition. one they've had since he left home for college.
"right. sorry hun, it's been a busy week that it completely slipped my mind and i made plans for tonight," his mother chuckles. but it was forced, it seemed. at least to jimin. that definitely caught his attention.
"you forgot the one day of the week that we see each other?" jimin teases, trying to mask the hurt in his heart. sure, he was getting older and living his own life but he valued the bond he had with his mom.
"it happens honey, you know i'm getting older," she jokes, trying to make light of the situation.
"so what are your plans tonight?" jimin asks, trying to make small talk with his own mom. he couldn't believe this was happening.
to most it wouldn't seem like a big deal, but to jimin it meant a lot. he had always and only ever had his mom. sure he had taehyung, someone he hadn't seen in quite sometime due to his busy job, but his mom was always his first and biggest priority. he watched her go through the most terrible moments in life and come out of it stronger. that's why he worked so hard in high school to get the full ride to college to help relieve some of the stress of money.
"i met someone," she admits. this caught jimin off guard. she never mentioned anyone. but he had to remind himself, she was a grown woman and capable of doing whatever she wanted. but he worried.
"who?" he asks, trying to make casual conversation with his own mother. he had never had to do that before. it was weird to him.
"a friend of mind introduced me to him," she dismisses. jimin didn't like the fact that his own mother was trying to get him away from his childhood home, as if she was hiding him from her own son.
"that's all you're gonna give me?' jimin chuckles. he could see the irritation growing on his mom's face and it continued to confuse him.
"jimin, not tonight, okay? maybe another day we can talk about this," his mother dismisses. jimin was kind of hurt by the actions of his mother. he didn't understand why she was being this way. why was this man so important that she felt the need to hide him from her own son.
"mom, why are you hiding him from me like this?" jimin asks incredulously.
"jimin. not. now," she says before slamming the door in his face. he was upset. he was truly hurt. why was his mom hiding the man she was dating from him? sure, jimin didn't bring everyone he dated back home to meet his mom, but she was informed if he was dating.
maybe he was being too clingy? his mother did deserve a night to herself with someone who treated her right. and just because he allowed her to know everything about him and his life doesn't mean that he had to know everything about her life.
disheartened, jimin wandered around town, stumbling into a bar.
"okay, what bar?" jin asks, taking notes.
"singularity," jimin mumbled, the neon lights in the shape of the bars name flashing across his mind.
"what happened next?" jin says, urging jimin to continue.
jimin had been sat at the bar for three hours, drunk out of his mind. but he wasn't alone. there was a woman there. that he for sure was talking with.
"who was she, jimin?" jin asked, trying to urge jimin to dig deeper inside the depths of his memory.
sunny, his old school mate. she had been chatting him up, catching up on life and the things they have missed about life.
"have you spoken to taehyung?" jimin asks tentatively, trying not to drudge up any unwanted memories. jimin knew that taehyung and sunny were now on a break, due to the stress of their jobs interfering with the nature of their relationship. both parties ended on good terms, but jimin wasn't sure if sunny was just saying that to be dismissive.
"uh, yeah. last week actually. he's pretty swamped up with things at work," she smiles, swirling her drink around in her cup. jimin nods, understanding where she was coming from. he hadn't seen taehyung in two years due to his dedication to the job. but it didn't mean they never spoke on occasion.
"sounds like life," jimin chuckles, smiling down at the cup on the bar table.
"sounds like an excuse," she responds, less enthusiastic than he was.
"you may be right, but you know how taehyung is. dedicated," jimin defends, trying to stick by his friend despite their bond not being as strong as it once was. jimin still loved taehyung, that was his best friend. always will be.
"enough about him. what about you? single?" sunny asks, smiling over at him. jimin scoffs shaking his head. jimin wasn't as confident as he appeared, which resulted in him remaining celibate.
"then come home with me," sunny said. jimin choked on his drink, his body seizing as he coughed, trying to gasp for air.
"what?!" jimin asked, his eyes wide with disbelief.
"i said come home with me," sunny said again, confidence inking off her tongue like poison. jimin was dumbfounded, unsure of why she was being this forward with him. it didn't make sense.
"i don't think that's a good idea," jimin murmured. he couldn't betray his friend like that. there was no way.
"jimin, be honest. did. you. go. home. with. her?" jin enunciated. he could sense his discomfort and haneul felt her heart in her throat.
"yes. but nothing happened. honest," jimin said, eyes opened, the whites of his eyes red. there was a steady stream of tears coming down his face. he was guilty and he knew it. and now, so did seokjin and haneul.
"what happened after you left her house?" jin asked, choosing to move on for the sake of the energy in the room. he swore he could choke from the tension alone.
jimin rushed down the stairs of sunny's apartment, rushing to get somewhere safe. luckily, she lived a few blocks from his mom's home. he only hoped that his mom's friend had been long gone. and that his mom was asleep. there was still plenty amount of alcohol swimming in his system, despite whatever may have happened back at sunny's. he waltzed up to the driveway to his mom's front door, pulling out the key from within inside the pot next to the front door. he shoved the key inside the lock, unlocking it. he pushed the door open, trying his best to shut the door as quietly as possible. he noticed that the kitchen light was still on, which was weird for her because of the fact that his mom was an early rise, so she was in bed by 10am at the lightest and she made sure to always switch off the lights because of the light bill. jimin waltzed into the kitchen, stumbling to stand still. but that's when his landed on it. the body of his mother.
"did you notice anyone around? before you walked in?" jin asked, his pen gliding across the notepad.
"no, it was desolate. that's what made the whole thing weird," jimin responded, his eyes fluttering open.
"okay, jimin that was great, you're good to go," jin smiled, nodding at him before standing up and walking out of the room. his isolation was short lived before hanuel stormed into the room, tears coming down her cheeks.
"you slept with her?"
___
AUTHORS NOTE:
ahhhhhhh i'm trying so hard to finish this but i've got two jobs and am exhausted constantly. i'll try to update sometime this week or the next at the latest! as always, thanks for reading my beautiful tacos!!!
[unedited and not proofread]