Garnet | KTH

10. Trust

I groaned as a sharp pain penetrated my stomach, while my legs felt numb like jelly. It reminded me of when my legs fell asleep, and I had no control of my limbs from the extreme tingling sensation. Yet this was much worse, as if my legs weren't even there at all.

"That's a pretty common after-effect," Ryujin explained, leaning over to help me up. "It's like when you get up too fast, except much worse."

I nodded my head, my vision blurring into blackness for a moment along with my hearing; fading out into nothing but a big fuzz. I blinked and shook my head to stop it.

"I'm sorry I didn't clean the Opal room yesterday---Ms. Jung got to me before I could," I said, my words slurring and mixing together, as I struggled to stand.

Ryujin chuckled, "it's fine. I'll just have to bust my ass today that's all."

As the two girls helped me out of the bed, the after-effects from the Ashling I experienced eventually wore off. Not only did it leave behind horrific mental trauma, but it opened many scarred wounds that I hadn't addressed in years, along with fears that I didn't know I had. I've always tried to have a hard exterior throughout my life, but this was humbling and I felt vulnerable...weak even.

After I got dressed, and had breakfast---with Ryujin and Lisa closely watching me so that I was okay---I headed to the hallway of the seven boys, the familiar dark floors meeting my eyes along with the luxurious walls.

As I went to the closet to grab my supplies for the day, I saw a lavender head on the other end of the hall, who's face beamed upon recognizing me.

"Juliana!" He called, walking down the hallway toward me.

I sighed and stopped, "hi, Mr. Park," I replied flatly.

"Please, call me Jimin," he said with a genuine smile, and I raised my eyebrow.

How can he be so joyful right now?

"I'm sorry, I'm supposed to address you as Mr. Park," I responded, as my jaw tightened. "It's to be polite."

"I would prefer Jimin. That would be polite to me." He replied firmly before licking his lips nervously, "I actually wanted to talk to you." Jimin said, pulling me to the side of the hall.

My eyes scanned him suspiciously at his behaviour. No Gem ever wanted to talk to a human, no matter the reason. I assumed he was aware of that, which made this interaction all the more strange.

"Go on." I watched him with narrowed eyes, observing his every movement. I didn't trust him, and for all I knew he could be framing me into doing something eventually leading to my departure. That was the last thing I wanted.

I folded my arms across my chest, waiting for the boy to speak.

"I came here to tell you that the way Taehyung acted yesterday was totally uncalled for." He remarked, biting his lip in worry.

My face suddenly softened, and my serious look loosened. The unexpected apology made my heart leap, and I felt an ounce of hope rush into my body. I dismissed the stupid thought and looked down. "I'm used to it. Most people are just like that, I'm not really surprised."

Jimin sighed looking at me in discontent, "he's afraid. We all are, especially with the tension between the humans and Gems." He gulped his eyes staring off into the distance. "Everyone's on edge, waiting for the other to attack and start a war."

"War?"

Jimin nodded worry laced in his eyes. "It's terrifying, we could be attacked any minute."

My jaw tensed with fear. If that ever happened, humans would be affected the most. We have no resources to fight back, nor are anyone in the right health to. Not to mention we likely couldn't consider reviving afterwards, we would be left in ruins.