In the Dead of Winter || •PJM• ✔️

Father and Son

A/N: I normally don't do A/n's, but there's an important one at the end, so I ask that you please read it since it impacts the story.

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Day 834

Jimin's eyes threaten to bulge out of his head, his hands shaking by his sides. The rage boiling his blood matches the relief of seeing a familiar face, let alone Ves's. Regardless, Ves runs to Jimin and hugs him, the man hugging his son back after a few beats of hesitation he hopes Ves doesn't notice.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Jimin asks, but he knows the answer won't be what he wants to hear.

"He came to us," Jihyun says, Jimin pulling away from the hug and refusing to look at his younger brother.

"My son is very capable of answering the questions I ask, thanks." Jimin places his hands on Ves's shoulders, staring right at him. "Why are you here, Ves? Where's Y/n?"

"She's safe, she's fine. All of them are. It's just me. I snuck out and ran here."

Jimin wishes he can drag Ves off to the side and make him explain every single detail. How Y/n is, if she's holding up okay, if she's still eating and drinking, how Jungkook is, if Taehyung's still with them, if Yoongi's any closer to finding a vaccine. There's a million questions racing through his mind, but one look into Ves's eyes tells Jimin that he needs to shut the fuck up and realize this isn't an accident. Ves didn't 'sneak out'. He was sent here, likely by Y/n. She has a reason behind everything, so Jimin chooses to trust it for now.

"You scared me half to death, kid," he says, kneeling and pulling Ves into a hug again. Ves and Jimin are similar in height, but for some reason, Jimin feels the need to lower himself when talking to Ves. Maybe to make Ves feel more like Jimin's biological son. Either way, Ves accepts the gesture, rubbing the back of Jimin's head.

They part not long after, Jimin standing and taking Ves's hand. "You two have a spot here," Jihyun says, the other patients in the tent pretending they aren't eavesdropping on their leader. "We'll gladly give you two time to catch up. For now, I'll explain what happened from my end. Ves came to us while one of our teams was coming back from patrol. We managed to save him before the horde got to us. There's been more and more hordes coming this way thanks to our increased activity. I'm sending out more patrols and scavenging teams now since we have the people, and that's slowly but surely dragging more zombies in. Sorry about that."

Jimin shrugs. "Not much you can do."

"Maybe. The point is, we barely managed to save the kid after he cried for help. From there, he explained that he came to us in hopes that we can make a vaccine out of his... immunity."

Jimin whips around to glare at Ves, the kid holding up his hands in defeat. "Sorry, I know we're not supposed to talk about it, but what else was I supposed to do? These guys have whole teams of scientists and researchers, we have a better chance finding a vaccine here than we ever will back at the school. It was the logical play."

"I agree. You raised him well, Jimin," Jihyun says.

As much as Jimin wants to throw a sassy remark Jihyun's way, he knows that'll solve nothing. In fact, it'll add to Jimin's problems if he antagonizes the one person who's seemingly his ally here. Well, Ves is a part of that now. But before that, it was only Jihyun.

"I didn't do anything. He's a clever kid. Isn't that right, bud?" Jimin asks, Ves smiling.

"Yeah, I got it from Y/n, not you."