❝𝗣𝗘𝗥𝗙𝗘𝗖𝗧 𝗜𝗠𝗔𝗚𝗘. ── 𝗣.𝗝𝗠✔️

𝒆𝒑𝒊𝒍𝒐𝒈𝒖𝒆

❝「𝒆𝒑𝒊𝒍𝒐𝒈𝒖𝒆」¡

"I ATE ALL THREE MEALS YESTERDAY." Kadence sat in the large, cushy chair directly across from her therapist. Her legs sat crossed over one another with her hands sitting idly in her lap. "And breakfast this morning before I came here."

Dr. Greene smiled softly, twirling the pen between her fingers as she gazed upon the young woman. "And what did you eat this morning, Kadence?" Her voice was soothing to Kadence. That's why she chose Dr. Greene to be her therapist in the first place. 3 years she's been coming to see her, after working up the courage to tell her mom about her eating disorder. Just as expected, she blamed herself, wailing about how "she did this to her baby".

So she got Kadence a therapist to help get her through this horrid disorder that had taken up so much of her life.

"I had eggs, bacon, and some buttered toast." Kadence was especially proud of this breakfast. For the longest time she tried to avoid eating fats and oil, so the fact she was able to eat bacon and butter filled her with pride. It was a testament to her hard work over the years.

Just as Jimin said, Rome wasn't built in the day. Now, she was standing in the middle of the Roman Forum, in the middle of a thriving society.

Jimin.

Kadence missed Jimin. After graduating, they had plans to go to college, find jobs, do things with their lives. Little by little, they slowly became more distant, caught up with their lives that had somehow grown even more complicated over the years.

They haven't talked in nearly a whole year.

Kadence considered trying to text him again, reading the last conversation they had over and over again, almost going to say hi but she could never press the send button. She wanted to tell him about how she was doing. To show him that she did it. That she was getting better and it was all because of him.

"I keep wanting to text him," Kadence told Dr. Greene about Jimin long ago and regularly talked about wanting to talk to him again. "Why don't you?" She questions the woman. "You were friends, right? Why not text him, say hi?"

Kadence asked herself that every day. They were friends. They know each other. Why not just say hi, get the ball rolling so that maybe she can have her friend back? She shrugged carelessly. "I don't know. I think I'm afraid that maybe...we have nothing in common anymore."

"Well, you'll never know if you don't find out."

-

Hi. Two letters. Such a tiny word that was a gateway to a whole conversation that could go literally anywhere. Yet, Kadence was so afraid to reach out for whatever reason. So much worrying, so much contemplating.

And finally, finally, after nearly 20 minutes of hovering over the send button, she finally had the courage to press it. It loaded for only a sending before being marked sent.

And so she waits, but not all that long as the message gets marked read. Kadence nearly threw her phone across the room when she saw that he was typing. But she only sat there, staring at the screen of her phone until a new message popped up on her screen.

Jimin:
Hey, how are you doing? It's so good to hear from you.

Jimin. Her only best friend. She was glad that he was still there, even if it was through the screen of a phone. Kadence smiled softly, beginning to type away on her phone to respond. It was as if they hadn't even stopped talking in the first place.

Jimin:
We should meet this weekend, catch up in person

They hadn't been able to meet for a while, only very few times during certain months. With assignments due and living in different cities for college, it had driven a wedge between them. Now they had a chance to reconnect.

Me:
Or course, I'd love to.

She eats lunch now, normally things like salads but it was still eating. The days of starving herself were no more and her cycle of binging and purging was being out behind her. It's been months since she last did it. Kadence truly believed that it was behind her. Yes, her recovery wasn't complete, but she had come a very long way.

Jimin:
great, I can't wait.

Kadence couldn't either.

-

The two of them agreed to meet back at the very park they had found comfort in when they were teenagers. It only seemed right to meet there, in the place the brought them comfort in the moments they needed it most.

Kadence saw him almost immediately through the windshield, sitting on the swings alone waiting patiently for her. The park was just as empty and corroded as ever, but it was their park. Everything felt so small now. Childish even. They're older now, more mature. It seemed like so long ago.

"Jimin," Kadence called to him from across the way with a smile. He perked up, eyes looking in the direction of her voice. His eyes grew wide and his plump lips curled into his infamous smile. He stood up from the swing, adjusting his sweater meticulously before looking back to her.

He still looked just the same only slightly older, more mature. His hair was much longer, black with a few silver streaks placed throughout them. He still had that charming crooked tooth that greeted her through his smile. "Hey." Immediately, he opened his arms and without hesitation, Kadence went in for the hug.

"It's good to see you again." She whispered, her chin nestled in the crook of his neck. "I'd good to see you too, Kade. I'm sorry we haven't been in contact." He was truly apologetic. So much time they had missed out on from being separated for so long. They had so much to tell each other, so much to catch up on.

"We're here now, right?" Kadence was rather optimistic, Jimin noticed. Her smile seemed a lot more genuine and her eyes were far brighter than he had ever seen them before. He wanted to know everything about her progress in recovering and she wanted to know how his life has been since moving out of his parent's place.

They talked all about their lives. Kadence caught him up on how she was doing, that she was getting a lot better at managing her disorder. All throughout her journey, even when he wasn't there, Kadence knew who she was getting better for because she knew that in the end, she would be able to see this, the smile he had displayed across his lips. A smile of fondness, of pride.

Jimin told her that his parents had gotten divorced, that it was much better for the two of them and him in the long run. He found that both of them were happier separated and because of that he was happier.

They both were happier.

*.✧ Kᴀʏs Eɴᴅɪɴɢ Nᴏᴛᴇs

And that concludes Perfect Image. I'm not used to this format of writing out an entire book and then publishing it whole, so tell me how you felt about it. Also, I'm not sure if I executed this book correctly. This was all basically just a practice text for any future books I may come out with.

Thank you all so much for coming to read. This is my first ever Jimin book (that I'm at least semi-proud of) and I hope I didn't let anyone down.

Thank you all for reading. I hope you guys enjoyed and I wish you all a wonderful day/night.

사랑해

~Kay (｡•̀ᴗ-)✧