The Ninth Life of Min Yoon Gi

17.

He knew he had to apologize to Jimin for freaking her out and pushing his crazy idea. He had been foolishly hopeful that some magic existed that would fix all of their problems. Maybe the tea would have worked if he had the real pot. Since he didn't, he had to go back to the original plan: care for Jimin and make her care for him.

And, he sighed, the first step to doing that is going to be convincing her I'm not crazy and obsessed with fantastical legends.

Despite having stopped for a latte with a double shot of espresso, Yoon Gi was finding it hard to stay awake. He kept yawning as he walked to Park's Plantorium. He really wasn't sure what he wanted anymore: did he want to return to being a human, break the cycle, and eventually die; or did he want to live for an eternity as a cat and be able to spend forever with Ji Min. His heart kept pulling him towards the latter, but Ji Min's words echoed in his mind—I'll always be here.

Yoon Gi pulled open the door to the plant shop, the bell jingled to signal his arrival. Jungkook looked up from where he was watering a plant and rolled his eyes.

"Is Jimin here?" Yoon Gi asked.

Jungkook jerked his head in the direction of the back room.

"Thanks..." Yoon Gi said. "I guess." He muttered to himself, heading to the back of the shop.

He pushed the door open and began talking before he saw Jimin.

"Jimin, I was just—"

From where she was perched on the top of the step stool, holding a large ceramic pot, Jimin jumped in startlement. The pot slipped from her grip, shattering on the hard floor as she lost her balance, arms windmilling as her body fell backward.

In the blink of an eye, Yoon Gi no longer saw the back room or Jimin falling. His mind's eye was looking down over an outcropping.

"Ji Min!" Yoon Gi's voice ripped through his throat as his eyes watched Ji Min's body falling.

An eternity later, his body laid still on the ground below.

Yoon Gi rounded on his cousin, Ho Seok. Without a word, Yoon Gi punched him in the face as hard as he could, releasing all of his pent up anger from years of abuse. He felt the crunch of cartilage and knew he had succeeded in breaking Ho Seok's nose. Not wanting to waste any more energy on him, Yoon Gi made his way back down the cliff to where Ji Min laid.

Throwing himself down next to his friend's body, Yoon Gi took Ji Min's head in his lap, not noticing the blood that began to pool there. He could barely see Ji Min's chest rise and fall with shallow breaths and his eyes were unfocused. Hot tears streamed down Yoon Gi's cheeks.

"Don't leave me! Ji Min! Please! Don't leave me!" He sobbed, clutching at the young man's limp body.

Ji Min's lips parted as though he wanted to speak, but no sound emerged. His chest rose and fell and then rose no more.

Jimin's cries of pain brought Yoon Gi back to the present.

"Oh shit!" He darted to where Jimin now laid on the floor amongst the broken pottery pieces. His hands worriedly raced over her, trying to discern the severity of her injuries. He couldn't let her die—not like Ji Min.

No, not like Ji Min!

Seeing that she showed signs of life, he exhaled the breath he didn't know he had been holding and helped her sit up. There was a stream of bright red blood running down one of her arms as she held it up to examine a deep gash from one of the pottery shards.

"Fuck! Are you okay? Where does it hurt?" Yoon Gi grabbed what he hoped was a clean rag from a box on the shelf next to him and gently wiped the blood. He didn't like blood, but at least blood meant she was alive, right?