Head over heels for a woman who deceives him, Park Jimin drowns himself in sorrow only to wake in an alternate reality. Though he may not have actually drowned, he'll surely feel like a fish out of water.
|This is a BTS AU story. This story is an or...
"I'm not a betting man, but if I was, I'd put my money on Shaggy."
"Huh?"
Taehyung was standing at the window with his back to Jimin who sat cross legged on the couch. Henley was sitting beside Jimin while Jin stood a few feet away from Taehyung at a different section of the window.
"I said I'm not a betting man, but my money is on Shaggy," repeated Taehyung. "I mean, you pit the shaggy beast against the human leach, there is only one true victor that emerges!"
Jin turned his gaze away from looking out at what was visible of the back field to look over at Taehyung.
"You need to kindly shut up."
Taehyung faked a pout as he looked over at Jin.
"You're no fun, princess."
"Well, you're annoying, banshee," snapped back Jin.
Henley chuckled softly at the exchange going back and forth between Taehyung and Jin. They seemed to mix as well as oil and water. In the same thought though, they acted like siblings picking at one another. Jimin was starting to zone out beside Henley. As she looked over at him, she noticed that he was absentmindedly staring at the wall. Reaching out a hand, she grabbed one of his.
"Come with me for a minute," she said, jerking Jimin out of his thoughts.
Keeping a hold of Jimin's hand, she tugged him up from the couch and back into the kitchen where Hobi was busy sorting through what food Jin had in his fridge so he could start helping to cook. Henley navigated Jimin down the hall and to the den out back that was more like a personal library, shutting the door behind them.
"Are you okay?" asked Henley. "You look lost in your thoughts a lot."
"Yeah...yeah...I'm fine..."
"You're not fine," said Henley, immediately correcting Jimin. "So spill it."
"I just keep thinking over everything," said Jimin. "I somehow feel like this is my fault for some reason."
"Why is any of this your fault?"
"It all started with you spotting me," said Jimin. "Then the hunters were after me and now we're here. I always seem to end up ruining every one else's story."
Henley frowned when she heard Jimin say that, moving to grab his hand and tug him down to sit beside her on the couch in the room.
"I want to hear your story," she said softly as she held his hand. "The one that has you heartbroken on the inside and doubting yourself."
"You really don't."
"But I really do."
"You aren't going to back down, are you?"
"You're absolutely right," said Henley. "I won't so you better start telling me so I can help you feel better."
Jimin took a moment to collect himself, taking a deep breath before beginning.
"Well, you know I tried to drown myself. I'm really...I...I'm not from around here. I'm not a merman. I come from another world similar to this in which I have no one. It's the reason I drowned myself. My Mom died, and my longstanding girlfriend - the person that I thought I would end up marrying - cheated on me."
Jimin bent his head after having condensed his tragic story, waiting for Henley to say anything.
"I heard Hobi say that merpeople were lost souls. Maybe that's why - when I tried to drown - I became one," added Jimin softly.
"I want you to stop that."
Jimin looked up to see that Henley was staring at him with a narrowed gaze.
"You are not a lost soul," said Henley, "And it's not your fault that any of this is happening. Yes, we may be connected, but Jimin...I want to get to know you. I want you to know that this is a safe place for you. I'm sorry that this woman hurt you, and I'm sorry that you felt the need to have to do that to yourself, but please don't think of yourself in that light. This is your family now. Your home. You were only a lost soul until you found your way home to us."
"Where did you learn that cheesy line?" asked Jimin with a smirk.
Henley moved to grab both of Jimin's hands in hers firmly.
"I just have a lot of life experience. Let's say that."
Jimin cracked a grin then, and Henley swore she had never seen anything so beautiful in all her life. She smiled back at him.
"You're home now, Jimin," she emphasized. "Don't get drowned in your past anymore. Swim towards the light."
A light knocking at the door had them both turning their attention that way.
"Um...sorry to interrupt," said Hobi as he poked his head around the door, obviously able to see that Henley and Jimin were in the middle of some sort of personal conversation. "I just felt the need to break in because I'm pretty sure that Jin and Taehyung might kill each other over grilled cheese."
"Over grilled cheese?" asked Henley with a chuckle; both of her hands still holding Jimin's.
Hobi nodded.
"It started really interesting with a debate on who could cook one better, and now it has ended up with a 'how to cut it' debate and Taehyung is waving a knife about like a magic wand."
"We'd better go," said Henley as she turned to look at Jimin, "Because we are a we, and I'm not just saying that because I feel obligated to."
Jimin cracked a smile, nodding as he squeezed Henley's hands and rose to his feet with her.
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