"I can help you" she offered.
He raised his brows and let out a scary smirk. She now glared at him with complete bravery.
"I know the way to heal you trust me..." he grabbed her neck and slowly pulled her higher. She dangled in his grip mid air and coughed like she was never gonna complete a breath. Her vision began fading slowly and she started seeing things that were never there.
Her mom, her dad and now even hoseok were all seen in front of her. Just when her eyes rolled up in hypoxia he suddenly released his grip on her and stepped back.
She dropped down on the floor like a lifeless doll, coughed and coughed, breathing as deeply as she could to compensate for the lack of air.
Only then she noticed him behaving differently, he banged his own head multiple times and slapped the floor uncontrollably like he was trying to bear something. His eyes flashed blue and back to their original as he fought within himself.
"Jimin!?" she called worried and crawled to him to calm him down but it wasn't a match even.
His movements were huge and he held his head before crashing his knees on the ground.
"AAAAHHHHHH!! MAKE IT STOP!!!" he yelled.
She stood afar in fear and confusion. Her will to help was overtaken by the fear his sudden mood swings were causing. She stood helplessly.
Suddenly a hand grabbed him from behind and secured him tightly in his arms without letting him move.
"JIMIN-AH!! JIMIN!!!" Taehyung growled near his ear and spoke firmly to make him listen to him. Jaeji stood transfixed at how her brother handled him, as though he'd done it a million times before.
Jimin still struggled in his arms, he flinched and twitched for the pain that now pricked every inch of his body,
"AARRGHHH!" he let out a yelp.
"Jimin-ahh!! Think about them!! Think! Come back come back!! Wake up you brat!" he yelled and locked his hands tightly in front of Jimin's chest rendering him immobile.
Jaeji cried and trembled at the sight of how he struggled to fight this all by himself. She was shocked to see how Taehyung went near him without fear.
'How did he not get scared? Has he seen this happen before?' her clueless expression projected the questions that ran in her head.
Taehyung still held him low and suddenly turned at her,
"Get rijin and keep her outside until I say"
Jaeji froze unable to process what he meant.
"GO NOW!!!" he yelled startling her and then she ran out of the corridor down to the main door. She saw Rijin slowly get down the car with her bag, suddenly she sprinted to her after hastily wiping away her tears and adjusting her dress collar to cover up her mark.
"Jaeji! What happened?"
She took a moment to think of an answer and grinned abruptly,
"can you join me for a walk Rijin, I feel stuffed"
"Huh? Just like that? Okay but wait, let me keep my bag inside and come"
"NO! I mean it's okay let's just go" she grabbed her arm and pulled her away from their house, only if she knew where she was taking her to.
"Listen listen, you have to control yourself, breathe breathe" Taehyung breathed into Jimin's ears and his voice miraculously calmed him down. He grew silent and went floppy in his hold. His eyes were half shut and the blue tint vanished like smoke. His breathing turned normal and his consciousness lost. He was so exhausted that he had fainted yet again in his friend's arms.
Taehyung got down the stairs after putting an unconscious Jimin to sleep in his bed. He saw Jaeji waiting, anxiously paving up and down in the hall.
As soon as she saw him she came running,
"Oppa! What happened is he okay?"
Taehyung nodded.
"Oppa you knew this before? You knew about his condition?" she asked.
He sighed and pursed his lips like he never wanted her to know in the first place, "Yes. But I didn't know it would come back after being in control for so many years"
"What? Control?"
"Jimin was diagnosed with multiple personality since he was 10 years old"
"Why didn't you take him to the doctor then?"
"I did but they said medicines wouldn't work, because this was purely psychological" Taehyung sighed in despair "they said he has to deal with it himself"
She had almost teared out after listening to the struggle Jimin had to go through ever since his childhood, all by himself"
"And he did well. It had sealed itself within him when he learnt to control his emotions"
"Then why now? What has made him so weak after so many years" Jaeji asked and Taehyung could only shake his head in response.
"Wait a minute, where's Rijin. She shouldn't know about this. He loves her. He won't stand if she knows about his condition"
"She is in the room... I guess. I just served her hot tea so that it's a little warm before she sleeps"
Taehyung heaved and nodded. Jaeji pursed her lips in pity.
"You know the best part of all this, he never remembers what he does when his other side comes out" Taehyung said "he gets back to the cute mochi Jimin that we all see everyday"
Jaeji's eyes grew wet and tears flowed down her cheek subconsciously. Just then another voice echoed from behind them,
"aren't you guys going for the funeral?" he asked as he walked down carefully, looking out for each step holding his head.
"Jimin -ah why did you wake up" Taehyung blurted in the anxiety to cover up their discussion. Jaeji immediately wiped her tears off her cheek and kept a straight face.
"Wait, I'll come" Taehyung jogged to him and put one arm on his shoulder helping him walk down slowly.
"How are you feeling" he asked.
"My head is still aching" he held his head with both his hands "what happened?? Did I faint again??" he asked with huge puppy eyes.
"We went to the funeral and even came back. But you never woke up" Taehyung snapped before Jaeji could utter a word.
"Huh? You mean since yesterday?? God!"
Taehyung nodded, "its okay your just grown weak now"
"That's bad! I missed hyung's funeral?What will Rijin think of me if she sees me like this? Incapable man- her friend!! So humiliating" he slapped his forehead.
"Where's she?" He asked after sudden realisation hit him.
"Uh, she is in her room, sleeping" Taehyung interrupted again before Jaeji could say anything.
"Let her rest. She was very upset after Hoseok hyung's funeral"
Taehyung nodded, "hmm"
Jimin sat on the couch and stretched out his arms,
"I wish I could drink a tea. My tongue is all sore eating your porridge"
"Sure I'll make one for you" Jaeji said and realised the hot water kettle was in Rijin's room. She had left it there for her to make some tea herself so she went to fetch it.
On clicking her room door she noticed her bed was empty, just the way she saw it earlier. Doubtfully she knocked on her washroom but there was no response. She gave a try and opened the door revealing an empty washroom.
Panic surged her head,
'was she never in her room then? Where did she go? Oh no?'
She lunged out to the door, "Oppa! Rijin is not in her room"
Taehyung facepalmed and Jimin's ears perked up when he heard that. Taehyung immediately tried to cover up and changed his expression to a balanced one and smiled,
"try searching in the terrace Jaeji"
Jimin unusually kept mum this whole while.
"Taehyung - ah I need some air" he muttered gazing at the floor suspiciously.
Taehyung also stood up with him anxiously,
"Yeah I'll take you. Come. Let's stand out in garden for a while"
He stuck close to Jimin and tried not to let him out of sight even for a second.
"Haaah! It's so good. It felt like I was locked up in a prison all these days. It feels so good to breathe good air finally" Jimin remarked stretching his arms and touching his feet.
Taehyung could hardly enjoy the sight because the fear of him changing again was constantly keeping him in check. He worriedly eyed Jimin and tried to fake a smile every time he showed something.
"Oh look, the stars are so pretty" he pointed at the bare sky.
Taehyung looked up and nodded,
"hmm"
And the very next moment his eyes laid on an empty garden. He was all alone.
There was no sign of Jimin anywhere beside him.
.
.
.
"sh*t"