Cover by: nearmazi
TW: MENTIONS OF SUICIDE
Jimin hadn't always been able to see ghosts. The first time he'd ever been able to see one was when he was around seven. At the time, he had still been an immature kid who hadn't been aware he was seeing things others couldn't see. The first ghost he'd ever encountered was during a family vacation to a secluded resort. His parents had rented a furnished house in the woods that was right next to a large lake and surrounded by trees. There rented house was next to a few other houses that could be rented as well. That summer, only two others had been in use, and neither of those families had any children. One family consisted of a newly married couple who had gone there for their honeymoon. The other family consisted of a grandma, grandpa and their three grown-up children who were there to enjoy a small family get together before the youngest got married and the eldest had a child. So, Jimin and Jihyun were the only children there. Since they were young, they loved being outdoors and being in the middle of the woods meant lots of places to explore.
The two siblings would often run around playing near the lake. Their parents would keep watch from the balcony of their rented house. And the two other couples who'd rented houses nearby would also keep an eye on the children whenever they saw them outside, not wanting anything bad to happen to them. However one day during their vacation Jimin and Jihyun fought over something rather trivial, and Jihyun refused to play with Jimin anymore for the time being.
Jimin was angry with his little brother and was just fine not playing with the younger. But his parents didn't like when they fought, so they were restricted from going outside until they made up. But neither of the siblings wanted to make up, so they remained inside. However, while Jihyun was watching TV and their parents were taking a nap, Jimin snuck out without informing anyone. He went to a section of the lake the two had found earlier on in the trip, it was a spot that was sort of hidden from view, which would make it harder for their parents to see what they were up to when they were being mischievous.
While Jimin just walked around he found a long stick and picked up. Being the creative little child he was he began to imagine the stick was a sword and the trees were the demons threatening the kingdom he was the knight of.
"Be gone you demons!" He yelled waking at the surrounding trees with the stick and pretending to dodge blows thrown by the invisible enemies. As he was playing by himself he suddenly heard someone behind him laughing. Turning to look around he found a tall man, with silver hair, blue eyes, and a warm smile, leaning against one of the trees. Jimin stared at the man somewhat afraid, despite the serene expression the other had, as his parents had always warned him to stay away from strangers.
"You look like you're having fun." The man said smiling at Jimin kindly trying to show he meant no harm.
"Mommy said I shouldn't talk to strangers," Jimin whispered backing away. The stranger laughed and nodded.
"And your mommy is right. Listen to her about that, not everyone in this world is kind." The man warned in a light tone as the smile remained on his face.
"Then I shouldn't talk to you," Jimin stated confused.
"Hmm if you think I'll hurt you then you shouldn't. But I really don't mean any harm. I was wondering if maybe you'd like to play with me? Isn't it lonely playing all by yourself?" The man asked. Jimin nodded a little at that.
"Yea...but Jihyunie is being a meanie! We fought and now he refused to play with me and called me a baby, but he's the real baby! He's five and I'm seven!" Jimin stated pouting and recalling their argument earlier.
"Ah..I see. What did you two fight over?" The man asked smiling fondly at Jimin as he came closer. Jimin didn't even notice the other was coming closer as he began to rant about Jihyun and their petty argument, exaggerating all the details. The man chuckled as he offered Jimin a solution to the problem and Jimin stared at him in awe realizing the solution could work.
"Thank you, mister!" Jimin said cheerfully. The man just nodded and ruffled his hair before picking up a stick from the ground.
"So want to have a sword fight little one?" The man asked and Jimin nodded eyes shining and forgetting all about his mom's advice not to interact with strangers. He began playing with the man who entertained Jimin for most of the afternoon. It wasn't until he heard his mom calling his name in a panicked voice that he even realized that a lot of time had gone by.
"Oh no! I'm going to be in so much trouble!" Jimin said as he heard his mom call him. He was now worried about being punished as he shouldn't have left without permission.
"You should go." The man said to Jimin.
"But mom is going to be so mad at me. I wasn't supposed to leave without telling her or daddy." Jimin said in a guilty voice.
"Oh is that so? That's not good little one. Your mom must be so worried about you now. Hurry go to her, she won't punish you, trust me. Just run to her now and apologize. But don't mention meeting me ok?" The man said pushing Jimin's shoulder lightly to get him going. Jimin pouted turning to look at the man one last time before running to where he heard his mom calling.
The man had been right, Jimin's mom didn't punish him when he ran to her and apologized for going out without telling them. Instead, she made him promise never to run off like that again and looked relieved more than anything else to see him safe. Jimin wanted to tell her about the man he'd met in the woods but he'd asked Jimin not to, so Jimin kept it secret. The only one who spoke to about the meeting was his little brother once they'd made up.
The next day the man was nowhere to be seen and Jimin wondered where he'd went but forgot about it quickly as he played with his little brother in the lake. Sadly, Jihyun caught a cold that day and so the next day Jimin was on his own yet again. Jimin was by the lake again playing in the little bits of sand that was there while his father talked on the phone and watched him from the balcony. As he played in the sand, he heard someone approach him. He looked up and saw the man again. The man smiled at him and Jimin smiled back waving happily at him. There was something different about him this time though, but Jimin couldn't tell what was different.
"Hey, there little one." The man said coming closer and crouching down next to Jimin.
"Why do you call me little one?" Jimin asked the other looking up at him.
"Well, I don't know your name now do I?" The man asked chuckling and Jimin giggled realizing he hadn't told the other his name.
"Jimin. My name is Jimin!" Jimin said happily.
"Well then, nice to meet you Jimin." The man said ruffling his hair.
"What's your name mister?" Jimin asked curiously.
"Hmm, you can just call me grandpa." The man said.
"But you're not my grandpa?...and you don't look so old," Jimin said innocently, causing the man to laugh yet again and nod.
"Ah yes I forgot. Well, just pretend I'm your grandpa for now?" The man asked and Jimin just shrugged going along with it.
"Ok," Jimin replied and went back to building his sandcastle.
"What are you building?" The man asked watching Jimin intently.
"Castle!" Jimin answered brightly as he continued to build. The man merely nodded and continued to talk with Jimin. Jimin answered as he continued working on his sandcastle.
"Jimin! Who are you talking to?" Jimin heard his dad ask him a few minutes later after he'd hung up the phone. Jimin looked back at his dad confused and then looked at the man next to him who smiled mysteriously and held a finger to his lips shaking his head.
"Uh...no one?" Jimin answered back uncertainly.
"Ok...well come inside, it's time for lunch." His dad said as he headed inside.
"Daddy can't see you?" Jimin asked confused.
"He can. He's just playing a game with you ok? All adults will play this game with you, they all pretend they can't see me"
"A game? What kind of game?"
"It's an adult game. Don't worry about it Jimin, you'll get it when you grow up too. Now off you go!" The man said motioning for Jimin to go inside. Jimin nodded and went back inside to have lunch all the time wondering what kind of game this was, and why adults would play it. It seemed kind of mean, to pretend you couldn't see someone.
Over the course of the rest of the week, Jimin saw very little of the man, and only ever when he was alone. Maybe he should have been suspicious of that, but he never was. Instead, he thought it was all because others were pretending not to see the man. That was until Jimin saw the man by the lake one day and ran up to him, his little brother in tow.
"Grandpa, what are you doing so close to the water?" Jimin asked the man not noticing Jihyun's confused look. The man didn't respond, he didn't even look at Jimin, he continued to look out over the water before suddenly walking into the water ever so slowly. Jimin just watched in confusion and asked the man again what he was doing.
"Hyung...who talking to?" Jihyun asked in his small voice causing Jimin to turn to him.
"What do you mean? I'm talking to that man who's in the water." Jimin replied.
"What man? No one there?" Jihyun said confused.
"Don't you see him? Or are you pretending like all the grown-ups do?" Jimin asked growing irritated. Even Jihyunie was playing the game? How did his younger brother even know the game?
"Hyung...no yell," Jihyun said not understanding why his older brother was yelling at him, they weren't fighting right now.
"Sorry," Jimin said to the younger feeling guilty then he looked back at the lake to see the man was now up to his neck in water and still going. Jimin yelled at him to stop and began to panic thinking the man was going to drown.
He let go of his younger brother and went into the water to get closer and yell at the man to stop, thinking maybe the man hadn't been able to hear him from the shore. Jimin ignored his younger brother who is yelling at him to come back because neither of them had learned how to swim very well yet. He only planned to go a little ways in but before he knew it he was up the water was up to his chest and when he took another step forward his feet were suddenly no longer on the sandy bottom of the lake. Suddenly he plunging down into deep waters. Jimin screamed and tried to use the techniques his father had been teaching him this summer but the current here was strong and he couldn't fight it. He was beginning to drown and as he did he blacked out.
When Jimin came to, he was back in bed with his parents sitting beside him. His dad was standing by the window glaring at the lake while his mom sat in a chair with her hands covering her face. Jimin groaned as he moved slightly. HIs body hurt and he was finding it difficult to move around. When his mother heard him groan her head shot up and she shot up and looked at Jimin.
"You're awake!" She said loudly, tears coming into her eyes as she leaned down and hugged him tightly. Jimin groaned again as his body ached from the sudden hug.
"Don't hold on so tightly honey, we don't know if he's got any other injuries yet." Jimin's dad said looking at Jimin worriedly.
"What happened?" Jimin asked when his mom pulled back after kissing his cheek.
"That's what I'd like to know Jimin. We told you to never go into the water without us, so why did you?" Jimin's dad asked looking quite upset.
"He was going to drown," Jimin said frowning as if the answer was obvious.
"Who was going to drown?" Jimin's mom asked looking shocked and panicked.
"He told me to call him grandpa," Jimin answered.
"Grandpa?" Mr. Park asked confused.
"Yea, the man you both pretend not to see and keep asking me who I'm talking to. He said you do that cause of a game, but daddy I don't get it, what kind of game is that?" Jimin asked.
Jimin's mother and father looked at one another, worry clearly written on their faces. Jimin's mom looked back to Jimin and tried to explain something, "Jimin, honey, there's never been any man by you. You were always talking to yourself."
"No, I wasn't. He was there! Why do you all keep ignoring him like that? It's mean!" Jimin said growing upset.
"Jimin!" His dad said in a warning tone, "Don't yell....we're not ignoring anyone. No one was there Jimin."
"But he was! Jihyun was pretending to! But he must have seen him! The man said it was only an adult game!" Jimin insisted.
"We already spoke with Jihyun, he told us you were seeing things." Jimin's mom said frowning.
"I'm not!" Jimin yelled as tears of frustration made their way to his eyes.
"Ok honey...ok, can you describe the man? And what you've been talking to him about?" His mom asked.
"He was tall...had silver hair and blue eyes...and...he always wore the same clothes. He also talked a lot about his wife...he said he didn't want to leave her. He talked a lot about his family... He said his daughter was going to have a baby soon.and that it was going to be a boy...and other things." Jimin answered trying to remember the things the man had told him.
"Wait...did he ever say what his daughter's name?" his dad asked.
"Uh..." Jimin thought and then nodded, "He called her Mina."
"Jimin...that's the name of the young woman from two houses over who's pregnant. She's here with her parents, and her father just recently was hospitalized this week. He has silver hair and blue eyes...Are you trying to say you saw his ghost or something?" his mom asked.
"What? No, her dad was old." Jimin said but as he thought about it he realized that the man had looked a lot like the lady's father. And as the week had progressed the man had been looking more and more older.
"...Jimin how long have you been seeing this man?" Jimin's dad asked.
"I don't know...just this week?" Jimin said very confusedly.
"Alright...I think you should rest son. Go to sleep." His dad continued pushing him down onto the bed softly and covering him with the bed sheets. Both his parents kissed his forehead and then closed the lights before leaving the room.
Jimin stayed up thinking. He didn't get it. The man had looked like the lady's father now that he thought about it but he was a younger version of the lady's father. But no one could see him, and they seemed serious about not seeing him. His mom and dad weren't playing a game. But why did the man lie? Was he really a ghost? Ghosts were supposed to be scary though, weren't they? The man was never scary, just mysterious. Jimin didn't know what to think anymore.
They ended their vacation early and returned home a couple days later. And when they got home, Jimin noticed there was a lot of people in their city that everyone would ignore. It confused Jimin, and when he talked to those people who everyone would ignore, his parents would frown.
After observing their child for a couple of weeks, Jimin's parent's decided to send him to see a psychologist. And with that, things took a turn for the worst. In the psychologist's office Jimin had claimed to see a young woman who looked much like the psychologist and when the psychologist asked him to ask the woman for a name, Jimin had ended up saying the psychologist's sister's name. Horrified the psychologist had suggested Jimin be sent to a mental asylum. It didn't take much to convince Jimin's parents to send him there and so a week later Jimin found himself someplace new with no way of leaving. He was scared being all alone and he still didn't understand why things had become like this.
However, he learned. He learned that the people he was seeing weren't alive. That they were in fact ghosts, and only he could see them. And he learned that seeing them was not a good thing, especially because no one believed he was seeing them. So he stopped. He began to pretend he couldn't see ghosts, he'd become resigned and wouldn't talk to anyone just in case they were a ghost. Unless he was certain others could see the person, he never engaged in conversation. And this worked, after a couple of months, he was able to return home. His doctors claimed they'd "cured" him of his affliction.
When he came home, his parents noticed the change in him immediately, how he'd drawn into himself and refused to socialize unless he had to. It worried them, but they figured maybe this was the price they had to pay for making sure their son was normal and not claiming to see things that weren't there. And so they lived with the choice and while they regretted it to an extent, they tried to provide Jimin with a comfortable home life and help him make at least a couple of friends.
Years passed and Jimin had gotten better and better at pretending he couldn't see ghosts. His daily life was filled with them, but neither the ghosts nor normal people realized he could see them. Jimin remained reserved and kept to himself. He'd studied hard and found his passion in dancing. Now he was attending Seoul Arts with a major in dancing. He'd met many talented individuals and had managed to make a small group of friends. He managed to be 'normal' around everyone. But one could only pretend for so long.
It was a chilly December night when it happened. He was walking home to his small apartment, bags of groceries by his side, earphones in and music turned up. Jimin kept his eyes towards the ground to avoid eye contact with anyone. As he was walking he heard his phone ring and so he moved all the bags to his left hand and pulled out his phone. He answered it when he saw it was his dad who was calling. As he talked and walked he didn't really pay attention to his surroundings, he began crossing the street when someone yelled at him.
"Watch out for that car!" A voice rang through the air. Jimin immediately looked up to see that there was a car coming towards him, he jumped back onto the safety of the sidewalk. The car honked at him it drove by. Startled Jimin ended up dropping his phone and it shattered on the concrete. But he was too surprised by the fact he'd almost been run over to care.
"Woah that was a close one!" The voice that had yelled at him said from beside him. Jimin turned his head to see a rather young man with light brown locks, hazel eyes, lean frame, tall build and dressed all in Gucci looking at him.
"Wait...you heard me...and you're looking right at me...oh my god, can you see me!" The male yelled as his eyes became ridiculously large. Jimin immediately realized this young man was a ghost and so he looked away and picked up his broken phone along with the grocery bags he'd dropped.
"Hey...don't ignore me please," The ghost said in a sad tone, but Jimin continued to ignore him.
"Must have been my imagination," Jimin mumbled aloud to himself just so the ghost would think he was mistaken, it had worked with others. But apparently, this ghost was smart and persistent.
"No way. You're just saying that you definitely heard me!" The boy insisted as he followed Jimin who had begun walking again. Jimin continued to ignore the male, eventually, the ghost would get tired of following him and believe he was wrong, or at least that's what Jimin thought would happen.
However, that's not exactly what happened as the ghost followed him all the way home talking his ear off the whole way though Jimin made no indication that he was listening or could hear him. If Jimin was only allowed to use one word to describe this ghost, he'd say that the ghost was random. Seriously, one moment the male was insisting Jimin could see him, the next he was talking about the stars in the sky, and then he'd see some cat or dog and go on a long rant about how cute the animal was.
When they reached Jimin's apartment the ghost paused outside the door and then slipped in at the last moment. Jimin hadn't expected that and had paused in closing the door until the ghost was actually inside, only then realizing his mistake.
"Hah! You do see me or else you wouldn't have stopped from closing that door! You must already know you couldn't possibly hurt me." The ghost said, but Jimin ignored it and closed the door completely. He took his bags into the kitchen and began putting away his purchases. The ghost followed him and observed Jimin.
"Hmm...you sure buy a lot of healthy things. Are you a health nut or something?" The ghost asked. Jimin didn't know why that question irked him but it did, still, he ignored the other. He pulled out the last box of cereal and opened a cupboard. He got on his tippy toes to put the box away and managed to after a bit of struggle.
"Aww you're really short and this is so cute! I wish I could help though." The ghost said and Jimin nearly lost his balance as he tried to keep himself from turning around and saying something. He calmed himself down after closing the cupboard and then left the kitchen without glancing at the other.
Yet again the ghost followed. Jimin went into his bedroom and shut the door in the ghost's face. And when he didn't see the ghost just walk through the door he gave out a sigh of relief, maybe it would leave now. He went over to his closet while pulling off his shirt when he heard someone whistle.
"Damn, those abs are to die for. How long did you have to work out to get those baby?" The ghost asked. Startled, Jimin quickly pulled the shirt back down and turned around, face completely flushed. He was about to say something rude when the other smirked.
"Gonna admit you can see me now?" The ghost asked with a raised eyebrow. Jimin glared at the ghost knowing he'd definitely given himself away. The ghost knew for certain Jimin could see him. But Jimin was stubborn if nothing else so he turned back around and grabbed his pajamas before stomping off towards the bathroom and slamming the door behind him. Surely the other wouldn't be so perverted as to come in here while Jimin was there. And after waiting a full minute, he was relieved to see he was right. Jimin quickly changed out of his clothing not wanting to take any chances.
After changing and doing his business he went back out and straight towards his bed. The ghost was already sprawled out on one side of it, so Jimin went to the other side and slipped in under the covers.
"Oh, so you're not going to talk to me?" The ghost asked and Jimin made no attempt at a reply.
"Hmm...well at least you're kind enough to share your bed with me~," the ghost said cheerfully. Jimin kind of wanted to punch him but restrained himself.
"Aw, I thought that would work....do you really don't mind?" the ghost asked again but was ignored unsurprisingly. With a sigh, the ghost got up and walked away. Jimine wondered if maybe the ghost had finally given up and was leaving, but doubted it for some reason. With a long sigh, Jimin sunk into the covers and drifted off, tired from the long day.
The next morning Jimin woke up when his alarm went off. Groggily he made his way to the bathroom and got ready for his day. After taking a quick shower and changing, Jimin went to the kitchen to prepare breakfast for himself. On his way to the kitchen, he saw the ghost sleeping on the couch. Jimin wasn't surprised by it but he did feel a little bad for him as the ghost was tall, and Jimin's couch was rather small. But Jimin decided not to dwell on it and headed into the kitchen and began making himself eggs with toast.
"That smells good. Wish I could eat some" he heard someone say from behind him and he jumped in surprise, burning himself slightly on the pan.
"Shit! Sorry, are you ok!" The ghost asked looking at Jimin worriedly. Jimin sighed yet again and turned off the stove. He headed towards the fridge to grab some ice but stopped when he saw the ghost reaching for his hand which was burned.
"Don't touch me!" He exclaimed but he was too late, the other had already touched his finger slightly before pulling away startled. The ghost looked at Jimin with wide eyes trying to understand why Jimin had yelled at him like that.
Jimin groaned knowing the other now had the power to interact with objects. That was the thing about ghosts, they could touch things but couldn't affect it in any way. For example, they could touch a vase or human but had no ability to push or move the object/person. Basically, they couldn't interact with anything until they touched Jimin. Except for that to work, Jimin had to acknowledge the ghost, and he'd acknowledged this particular ghost last night. Jimin glared at the male and frowned before turning away and going to the fridge to get an ice pack like he'd originally intended to do.
"Why'd you yell at me?" the ghost questioned having gotten over his original shock apparently. Jimin didn't answer as he let his burned finger cool against the ice pack for a bit. After a minute he put back the ice pack and went to the cupboard to grab a plate. He got on his tippy toes again to grab one.
"Why do you put stuff on the top shelf if you have such a hard time grabbing them?" The ghost asked. Jimin would have replied that he didn't, that his stupid friend, Jungkook, had come over yesterday and done this to tease Jimin, but Jimin was still not talking to the ghost, so yeah.
As he pulled it down it slipped out of his hand and was about to crash onto the ground but the ghost grabbed it just in time. The ghost stared at the plate in surprise before standing up and placing the plate on the table.
"How...how was I able to hold that? Wait can I.." The ghost trailed off and grabbed a hold of one of the chairs and pulled, easily pulling it away from the table.
"Oh my god I can! I can move things again! But how? I couldn't do that like five minutes ago!" The ghost exclaimed staring at Jimin in awe. Jimin merely rolled his eyes, annoyed by the ghost, and grabbed the food he'd made placing it on the table. The ghost-eyed the food looking rather hungry. Jimin wondered how long it had been since the other had eaten, and feeling something akin to pity because now the ghost could actually eat if he wanted, Jimin got up and grabbed another plate. He placed it in front of the confused ghost and sat back down. He divided the food evenly into the two plates because he had actually made enough food for two days as that was what he always did since he didn't like cooking every day.
The ghost looked up at Jimin in surprise and didn't touch the food at first but then tentatively reached out and grabbed the fork Jimin had provided him. Jimin began eating his own food as well, going back to ignoring the other. The ghost hesitated a little longer and then tried the food.
"Wow...this is really good!" The ghost said giving Jimin a boxy smile. Jimin didn't acknowledge him. After eating, Jimin left the plates in the sink and grabbed his bag. He'd do the dishes later, right now he had to run if he wanted to make it to class on time.
"You going to class?" The ghost asked but received no answer.
"Well have fun, study hard!" The ghost encouraged and Jimin just gave him a weird look before heading out the door. Jimin was thankful that the ghost didn't follow him, but at the same time, he was a little disappointed. Not dwelling on the feeling of disappointment, he ran to his campus and made it just in time.
Jimin's day went on as usual and he returned home after dance practice. When he got home he was met with the smell of food. Confused Jimin rushed into the kitchen to find the ghost setting the table. The ghost looked up at Jimin and smiled.
"Ah, you're home! Good thing I just finished then! But if you come home this late why didn't you take lunch with you? It's not good to skip meals you know?" The ghost blabbered on.
Jimin stared at the table full of food in silent thought. Why had the ghost gone through the trouble of cooking? Did the ghost even know how to cook? Judging from what was on the table, there were only simple dishes, but bits of it were clearly burnt. Speaking of which, what had the ghost been doing all day? Did he go through his things?
"Jimin?" The ghost called out his name and Jimin's head shot up.
"How do you know my name?" Jimin immediately asked breaking his vow of silence. The ghost chuckled.
"Found a journal with your name on it. I'm Taehyung by the way." The ghost, Taehyung, said.
"..." Jimin remained speechless, well that answered if the ghost had gone through his things.
"Aww, going back to not talking with me again?" Taehyung pouted and Jimin shrugged, putting down his backpack and taking a seat at the table. Taehyung sat down as well. Jimin began taking a bit of each dish Taehyung had prepared and looked at the food judgingly.
"Ok I'll be the first to admit I'm not as good a cook as you but I tried really hard...so I hope you'll like it," Taehyung said. Jimin hummed and then finally took a bite of the food and made a face. It was edible...but kinda bland and burnt as he'd expected it would be.
"Ah...it's horrible, isn't it? I'm so sorry." Taehyung said sounding dejected. Jimin sighed deciding to just give up on ignoring the other, it was obvious Taehyung wasn't going to leave and Jimin couldn't just pretend forever, not when the other was cooking him dinner.
"It's not that horrible," Jimin said taking another bite. Taehyung perked up at that looking at Jimin in disbelief.
"It isn't?" Taehyung asked after a minute.
"No. Now eat. I can't possibly finish this on my own." Jimin stated and pointed to the food. Taehyung nodded and began eating making a face similar to the one Jimin had made.
"You're a liar," Taehyung muttered but was smiling.
"Hmm." Jimin hummed in agreement but continued eating. After that, the two began talking to one another more, or at least Jimin did, Taehyung had always been talkative already.
As the days went on, Jimin slowly grew accustomed to having Taehyung stay with him. He let the other invade his space and even sleep next to him on the bed at night after a few nights on the sofa. They had formed a comfortable rhythm of sorts. Taehyung was still annoying with how much he talked, but Jimin was learning to enjoy it rather than hate it. He was beginning to want Taehyung around and he knew that wasn't good.
"...When will you disappear?" Jimin asked out of the blue one weekend. The two had known each other for two weeks at this point, and despite Jimin's initial reluctance, they'd grown rather close. They still hardly knew each other, but Jimin was beginning to form an emotional attachment and he didn't know how to deal with it.
"Disappear?" Taehyung asked.
"...like the others. All ghosts disappear eventually." Jimin said, voice quiet.
"Ah I see...I'm honestly not sure...I guess when I finally decide to give up on life." Taehyung answered with a sigh.
"Tae...how did you die?" Jimin finally asked. He had been avoiding asking for so long but now he felt like he needed to know.
"I'm...I'm not dead yet Jimin," Taehyung replied.
"What do you mean by that? You're a ghost?" Jimin said perplexed.
"True but there are two different types of ghosts Jimin. But I guess you wouldn't know since you ignore all of us. Anyway, there are those that are close to death and ones who've actually died. I happen to fall into the former category."
"But...then why are you close to dying? What happened?"
"...I'm currently in a coma at the hospital nearby here. Seoul General? Yea...I... well, I tried to kill myself. Overdosed on sleeping pills but my sister found me...so now I'm in a coma instead of dead." Taehyung explained sounding bitter.
"Why would you try to kill yourself?! That's stupid!" Jimin said alarmed.
"Why does anyone? Because I was tired of living...you don't know me Jimin. You don't know the life I'm leading. If you did, you wouldn't be so quick to judge." Taehyung responded not looking at Jimin. Jimin remained silent realizing he was right. He didn't know anything about Taehyung's life despite how much the other talked, he'd never once mentioned anything about his life.
"How long till you wake up from the coma?" Jimin asked instead.
"I'm not going to," Taehyung answered.
"Why?" Jimin asked.
"Like I said, I don't want to live. My body is slowly wasting away, I should be dead by the end of this month. After that, I should disappear." Taehyung replied nonchalantly, his voice and features devoid of emotion. Hearing the other talk like that brought tears to Jimin's eyes. He didn't like it. Sure Taehyung was annoying but Jimin didn't want him to disappear. Not anymore anyway. If Taehyung was still alive he shouldn't be like this, he shouldn't be craving death. Thinking about Taehyung dying made Jimin begin to cry. When Taehyung noticed the tears streaming down Jimin's face his face immediately morphed into one of worry.
"What's wrong Jiminie? Did I say something wrong? Oh, please don't cry!" Taehyung said pulling Jimin close to him and hugging him.
"You... You're cruel." Jimin whispered.
"Cruel?" Taehyung asked confused.
"You...you want to die...you want to leave me alone after making me acknowledge you...you're not the only one with problems yet you're talking about dying so casually!" Jimin screamed at him as more tears streamed down his face. Taehyung remained silent totally unprepared for this sudden change in Jimin, who normally was a man of few words and usually quiet ones at that.
"Do...do you know why I'm not an outgoing person? Why do I keep to myself? Why I avoid others?" Jimin asked all of a sudden.
"Um...I always assumed it's because you've got social anxiety." Taehyung replied.
"Wrong. I was actually quite social as a kid and I probably would have stayed that way if not for the fact I can see ghosts...do you ever wonder why I pretended I couldn't see you at first?"
"I have..."
"It's because it's not normal! I shouldn't be seeing the dead! Yet I can! I see them everywhere! Why? Why do I have to see them! As a child, I didn't understand what I was seeing or why it was a bad thing...and because I couldn't just pretend at the time, my parents sent me to a mental asylum...do you know what it was like in there? The ghosts out here aren't scary or anything, but the ones in there...they terrified me to no end. They might never have physically harmed me but the mental toll...that was enough." Jimin said in a low voice as he remembered being in that place and how it had left a lot of mental scars. Taehyung was about to say something but Jimin stopped him by speaking up again.
"I wanted to die in there...I wanted to die so bad because I didn't know how else to leave. All I know is that I had to get out. I couldn't stand it in there so I tried taking my own life. The ghosts in there edged me on so it was easy to listen...but there was one doctor there who stopped me...she told me to ignore the ghosts I claimed to see. She told me to pretend I couldn't see them. And so I tried it... I pretended I couldn't see them anymore. I pretended and pretended until they finally let me out of that wretched place. And I've been pretending since then! I've been lonely since then too! But I guess that's the price I pay?" JImin said bitterly, pausing to collect his thoughts.
"Sure I might have some friends, but they don't know me...they'd probably run if I ever talked about this ability I have. So I don't really have anyone. I can't talk to anyone about it, cause the moment I do I'll end up back in that horrible place! And it was so much easier to be alone and pretend than to condemn myself and go back...but at the same time, it isn't. Not anymore...because you came into my life... You didn't leave me alone...you stayed around me." Jimin said in a soft voice, looking at Taehyung seriously.
"You invaded my space and my life and showed me what it's like to have someone around. What it's like to have a real friend! And I thought it was nice and I'd miss it when you were gone...but then you go and tell me you're still alive?! And that you're purposely killing yourself! How is that fair?! How can you give me hope that you'll stay for a sliver of a second and then crush it the next...that's cruel....I might not know what you're going through but you just talk about dying without explaining what it is that is going on... You don't even consider that I might be able to help, or that I might not want you to leave...You're cruel to want to leave me after making me experience the joys of having someone know the real me...You're so cruel to make me feel like this" Jimin finished his long rant and wiped at his eyes. He quickly got up from the couch and ran into his room. He heard Taehyung knock on the door but Jimin didn't answer it. He didn't have to worry about Taehyung getting in now since the other couldn't walk through things anymore, ever since he'd touched Jimin's finger all those weeks ago.
Jimin ended up crying himself to sleep, and when he awoke the next morning, his eyes were puffy and red. With a long sigh, Jimin went to the bathroom and cleaned himself up. He'd thought about everything he'd said to Taehyung last night and realized he was in the wrong. Just because he had grown attached to Taehyung didn't mean that it was the same for Taehyung. The other had a right to feel whatever he felt and want to end his life. Who was Jimin to call him stupid for that? Jimin stepped out of his room and went to the couch to apologize, but when he got there, no one was there. Taehyung was gone.
A whole day went by and Jimin continued to hope Taehyung would be back. That he hadn't said too much and chased Taehyung away completely. Even if the other wanted to die, Jimin had a month to convince him not to, and he wanted to use that time...he prayed Taehyung would come back. He hoped he hadn't lost the other forever already.
"Tae...come back...don't leave me," Jimin whispered to himself that night as he hoped that he'd be able to see the other tomorrow.
A week passed with no sight of Taehyung. Jimin lost hope and regretted everything. He wished he hadn't blown up on Taehyung the way he had. It was all because he'd been insensitive that he'd lost his only real friend and was now suffering.
One morning, Jimin awoke to someone knocking on his door. Jimin got up and sleepily made his way to the door, glancing at the couch as he passed. Disappointed to find it still empty, he paused at the door. He took in a deep breath to keep himself composed and then opened the door. As soon as he did he was engulfed into a hug by whoever was at the door. Before he could say anything to protest, the person spoke up and Jimin froze hearing Taehyung's voice.
"I'm sorry Jimin. Sorry for leaving like that, for not saying anything sooner, for not being able to come back sooner. I realized you were right, I shouldn't be giving up on life so easily. I'm not the only out there who's suffering, you're right. I'm so sorry." Taehyung blabbered apologies spilling from his lips continuously. But Jimin was no longer listening. He pulled his head back and looked up at the other, tears in his eyes.
"You...You're alive?" Jimin asked moving his hands to cup Taehyung's cheeks. Taehyung nodded placing his own hand on Jimin's over his cheek.
"I'm alive...I'm not a ghost anymore and I don't plan to try to be one again...if you'll help me get better that is," Taehyung said looking at Jimin sincerely. Jimin nodded unable to speak for a few seconds.
"Don't leave me," Jimin whispered.
"Never. You've given me a reason to stay." Taehyung replied.