The Temptation of Park Jimin | p.j.m / vmin

seventeen /4

[trigger warnings]
this chapter contains the following: mentions of past abuse (towards lee) and dismemberment
If any of the following make you uncomfortable, read at your own risk/do not read; your mental health is more important than my views

————— ♱ —————

—HE DID NOT HAVE TO WAIT LONG.

"Well, well, well,"

It was as if Jimin's life had finally settled back into place when he heard his voice come through the void; it didn't take long for the angel to find him, as he appeared through the mist.

Taehyung seemed different, but then, it seemed as if he hadn't changed at all. He was still as handsome as Jimin remembered him to be; the curve of his smile was welcoming and familiar to him as Jimin approached him with a relieved look in his eyes. His hair had grown longer, and Jimin wanted nothing more than to run his fingers through his hair. But in the end, it was him; his Taehyung.

But Taehyung could see how much Jimin had changed. He could see it in the dullness of his eyes, and the tiredness in his stance. His expression bordered misery, frustration and relief. Jimin looked older, wiser, angrier, than Taehyung remembered him. It bothered him. He resembled Namjoon too much. Taehyung had no doubt in his mind that Namjoon had done this to him, that it was him who had kept him away just when he'd gotten close enough.

Jimin stared at him with wandering eyes, taking in the sight of him. He was really here.

"Oh, Angel, what have they done to you?" he whispered.

The way his wings drooped made Taehyung pity him.

"I'm so sorry," Jimin mumbled, turning his head away. Even his tone sounded different to him. "I didn't mean to abandon you. I never wanted for that to happen, that was wrong of me,"

"Why?" was all he asked him. "-because he said so?"

Jimin made a face.

"Yes...and no; I was afraid — I let my fear inside my head, and let it torment me to the point of staying away,"

"Your fear? Do I scare you, Angel?"

"No. You've never scared me,"

"Then what could have frightened you so much that you ran away? It's been two years almost, and this is the first time I'm seeing you,"

Jimin swallowed the lump in his throat.

"I was afraid of falling,"

"What makes you think that you'd fall?"

"Be...because that's what happens to Angels who seek knowledge they're not ready for; they...they hurt them, Tae, they-" Jimin's voice cracked as he choked back tears. It was too easy to picture the High Archs, and the Hall — the sword and Lee's screaming, twitching body. His body shuddered as he inhaled, and Taehyung looked on in horror. This was not the confident Angel he once knew. This was a mess, tormented by something in the depths of his mind. "I don't want them to hurt me," he whimpered.