THE DEVIL WITHIN

2

His doppelganger has a fine layer of dirt and grime on him. His nightshirt is thin and tattered, as filthy as, if not dirtier than, his skin. Tattoos, some new, some old, have blemished that same skin. His hair is greasy and completely covers one of his eyes, but Jungkook notices a large amount of blood under his fringe and wonders grimly what injury is lurking there. The boy's other eye, however, is visible to Jungkook. He notices that his own doe eyes are no longer reflected in this ostensibly mirror image; his doppelganger's eye is sunken and dulled. The radiance of Jungkook's own eyes does not shine through here; the boy's eye appears to have lost its radiance long ago.

When Jungkook looks, all he sees is deep sorrow and cold determination. The boy's lips are set in a firm line, and he wonders how long it has been since the Other has smiled.

"You're... me," Jungkook says, putting all of his many tutors to shame with such a simple statement, but it's all he's currently capable of.

“No. Not any longer," the doppelganger responds vehemently, wince-inducingly. "I'm a better version of you. I'm the only one who made it. You don't know anything."

Jungkook is taken aback by the tone but quickly recovers, trying to muster the courage he lacks at the moment. "I know a lot!"

"You don't understand pain," the Other hisses. "You don't know agony, you don't know humiliation. You have no idea what it's like to watch people around you die and wish it was you."

His eyes widen with each word until everything becomes too much for him, and he claps his hands over his ears and closes his eyes. "Stop! "I'm not going to hear anymore!"

“Stop! Please!”

The Other laughs a little, hollow and cruel. "At first, you sound eerily similar to me. But I quickly realised that begging was pointless. And that no one will subject me to it again." Jungkook feels a chill run up his spine as The Other lets out a small chuckle. "Besides, standing on the other side is infinitely more enjoyable. And until you've experienced it, you won't understand—"

Jungkook gasps as hands grab his and wrench them down, his eyes widening in surprise. The Other's face is only inches away as he spits venomously, "You. Are. Weak."