An Encounter in their high school locker room changed Jimin's view, it leaves him unsettled. He is infected by troubling thoughts and dreams. Who will provide him peace now?
The T-shirt is also a bit tight across the chest and arms, but whatever. I am just grateful to be clean and wearing clean clothes. I gather my dirty clothes and towel and leave the bathroom.
As I walk to Tae's room, I pass an open doorway. The slim roommate is lying on his bed, reading a book. I see him look up at me as I go by, and his eyes drop immediately to my crotch.
His eyebrows rise in a look of mild surprise. Embarrassed, I hurry to Taehyung's room and drape the wet towel over the back of the chair at his desk. Then I go back out to the kitchen, avoiding looking into the skinny guy's room as I pass.
Tae has laid out an impressive array of food on the table. Gormeh japche and kimchi fried rice, and some sort of meat in pomegranate sauce. There are greens and yogurt with fresh-looking pajeong.
Plus a few other dishes I don't recognize. Tae's mom is a master cook. I whistle with delight.
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"Dude, this is amazing!" I say. Taehyung just grunts in acknowledgment. He is dishing out something else in the kitchen.
I sit down at one of the places he has set. "Eat, eat," he says, from the kitchen, and I don't need any more encouragement. He brings a bowl heaped with another rice dish I don't recognize and sits across from me.
For several minutes we both eat ravenously. The flavors and textures of the food send my mind reeling back in time, to family gatherings, from years and years ago, visits from friends and relatives, warm and friendly hands on me, on my cheeks, my face. I am suddenly overwhelmed by the sensation of being a child, wrapped up by my family, protected.
I don't realize I am crying until Taehyung reaches over to put a hand on my arm. I look up at him and hot tears fall down my face. His face registers surprise, but also worry. I take a deep, shuddering breath. He moves his hand away.
"Jiminaa, talk to me," he says, quietly. "What is going on?" "I don't want to get you involved," I say, wiping my eyes with a napkin. "Involved? In what? Are you in some trouble?" "I don't know.
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Maybe." I want to tell him everything, but I'm worried about what might happen to him. He sits back and crosses his arms.
"Jiminaa cut the bullshit. You can trust me, I'm your friend, and I want to help you." I close my eyes.
I am weak, and exhausted from trying to keep everything in check, handling it all by myself. Maybe I should tell him. I open my eyes and lean toward him, over the table.
He leans toward me."I'm being... tracked," I say in a whisper. "Manipulated."
"Manipulated?" Taehyung says, his brow furrowing. "By who?" I don't want to say Hoseok's name, so I say, "By this guy... here at school. He's... making me do things, horrible things.
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He... he's messing with my memory." I feel relief finally saying the words out loud, unburdening myself of the secret. Finally confessing what is going on.
"Messing with your memory, how?" Tae says. He reaches over to spoon more food onto my plate, and gestures at it, encouraging me to eat more. "I don't know how he's doing it, I think maybe he put something inside me," I say, still speaking low.
