ethereal | park jimin | ✓

chapter 11 too much sugar

"Open wide," Jimin encourages, holding his spoon out to me. It's a perfect bite, including every part of his meal: kimchi, rice, and egg. My mouth waters at the sight of it and I can't resist such an amazing bite.

I lean across the small coffee table between us and open my mouth to welcome the bite. Jimin's eyes light up and he reaches out to feed me. The spoon hovers in front of my mouth, the delicious scent of food wafts into my nose. I try to take the bite but he pulls his hand away at the last second.

Jimin giggles when I glare at him and offers the spoon again. "Alright, alright, here you go."

I take his wrist to make sure he won't pull away and finally take my bite. I smile to myself, enjoying its taste, and sit back. I finish up the last of my cold noodles and take a long drink of my hot chocolate now that it's cooled off.

Jimin finishes up his plate and serves himself a third helping of rice. I had no idea he was so hungry, or that he could eat this much. Between the two of us, we might land ourselves into bankruptcy on account of our massive appetites.

My heart flutters at the thought of "us." It feels a little too soon to start talking about Jimin and I being one unit, but it will happen at some point. We are living together, after all.

"Aren't you full yet?" I ask with a playful smile. I gesture to his third serving with my mug in hand. "You'll explode if you continue on like that, sweetheart."

Jimin pauses mid-bite, his cheeks flushing light pink. He lowers his spoon and shrugs at me, "I'm a bottomless pit. I can eat forever."

I raise an eyebrow at him but decide not to ask why he's blushing. "Ah, true," I reply simply.

I set my mug down and drag myself to my feet. My stomach feels bloated but I don't regret having seconds. This meal was meant to remind me of what I missed during my two days in the hospital. I start gathering up the plastic dishes and takeout boxes and set them on my plate. I walk back into the kitchen and begin cleaning up.

It only takes a few moments for Jimin to join me. He offers to take the trash outside to be picked up when I give him an odd look. I point to the garbage chute that's covered with a sliding metal sheet. "Just put it in there."

Jimin's eyes widened with curiosity. "You don't have to take your trash out?"

I shake my head, "No, the apartment doesn't want us wandering around." I smile wryly, "Less people traffic, I guess."

Jimin nods slowly as he looks over the kitchen. "It's so nice here," he comments, "you must have a lot of money."

I bite my tongue as I am about to tell him that I'm practically broke. I found this apartment by luck and had extra scholarship money to pay for it. All apartments have trash chutes, most houses even have special trash slots to make pickup easier for sanitation workers. It started becoming popular when I was in middle school.

Was he kidnapped at a younger age than I thought?

He was kidnapped from his family, turned into a hybrid, and God knows what else those men did to him. I feel deeply ashamed that I continue to forget this. It feels too crazy to be real, too horrible to accept.

To his credit, Jimin seems well-adjusted and normal. Maybe that's why I continue to forget. It appears like Jimin has moved on, or is pretending to be okay.

I pray it isn't the latter.

"Mm. So... what do you want to do?" I ask him, changing the subject. "We can watch a movie, play a game..?"

Jimin opens a random cabinet out of curiosity and peeks inside. "Is this where you keep your medicine?"

I blink in confusion and look over his shoulder to confirm. "Yes, that's the medicine cabinet. Why do you ask?"