VMIN / THE GUTTER

12

For once, there is a steady sort of relief that inundates Jimin as soon as he catches sight of that splotch of cerulean blue hair moving through the crowds of people. Being a busy, hot Friday, and having just completed his final maths exam, Jimin was evidently rather on edge — that is, of course, on top of the fact that he was seemingly being haunted by a ghost. He hadn't felt anything all day, but he had slept more uncomfortably than usual, and the day was spent constantly looking over his shoulder. It made his concentration in his tests a lot more difficult, and it makes his concentration in guarding the pool all the more hard.

That is, until Taehyung shows up.

He doesn't think he could've ever predicted the lambasting of warmth in his chest as he catches sight of his supposed rival, but, alas, it's there, burning against him, as if he'd pocketed the sunshine, and let it live in his rib cage. He feels a lot more sturdy, his bones slightly sharper, when he finally sees the boy.

It had been rather worrying when he hadn't seen him enter at all, but, upon getting changed and coming out to an empty pool, Jimin feels relief flood through him, when he sees the younger sat by the pool edge, as he usually is. His face is illuminated by blue, the colour reflecting from him, like a tainted mirror to his soul. Curled into a ball, as usual, his eyes trail over the quivering backscatter of their faces, as they circulate in pretty colourants of verve; the vivacity of them cowers beneath the thudding of Jimin's feet, and there's a distinct sense of vitality wrenching through them as they come to visualise one another, in the arcane fragments of water. The night is clamped together by the zest of life, and the chilling air makes them both feel wide awake.

Gently, Taehyung turns his head to the side and gives a faded sort of smile when Jimin pads over to him, immediately slumping down on the floor beside him. The atmosphere is that of heavy burden, with the warm pressure of the moon dipping down to greet them, like a spool of silver thread, all medallion yellow, like a cowardly-tinted thumb print, pushed into the fabric of the sky, prying it far away from the naked eye.

Consistent in his jitteriness, Jimin turns to the boy and, feeling the disquiet settle amongst them so wholeheartedly, he immediately says, "okay, go ahead and tell me everything."

"Uh," Taehyung coughs awkwardly, though he can't say he's particularly surprised by the other's urgency, as he must want to get out of here as quickly as possible. So, he rapidly responds, "where should I start?"

Jimin frowns, and, he's impatient from having to wait so long — it's been an entire day since he'd last spoken to Taehyung, and it's all his mind could focus on, even the numbers he'd sprawled down in his exam started to shift into ghostly images that were reminiscent of Taehyung. "Tell me how you can see ghosts." He commands.

Taehyung isn't overly fond of his tone — alas, he doesn't feel he has the grounds for fighting back, so, begrudgingly, he tells him, "I don't know why exactly it is, but, ever since I can remember I've seen them, and talked to them." He nods to himself, gulping down the memory of all those faces he'd seen — in his childhood, they always appeared to him like mere shapes, blurry images of once entire people, melted down into a moth-grey entity of half-life. They'd sometimes mope around, like slugs, lumping heavy weights on their backs, dancing in front of him, miserable and terrified. He couldn't make sense of it back then. "It's something my grandmother has too, though she cannot touch them, she can only see them, can grasp at the essence of what they try to tell her."

Jimin's face is stony, Taehyung watches it in the sloshing ultramarine water, and he's evidently listening very closely; Taehyung often sees this face on him, in school, in sports fixtures, wherein his features are pinched in concentration. So serious, so bold and unapologetic in the severity he attacks the task at hand with. Taehyung supposes, if it were anyone else, he may find the trait rather attractive.