Safe With You | Yoonmin

Chapter 23: In This Dark Hour

Trigger Warning: Suicidal Thoughts

| Jimin |

EVEN AFTER JIMIN WAS LEFT ALONE in the dark stone room, the acrid scent of the Kim alpha's pheromones lingered. He barely had the strength to move, to bury his nose into the thin sleeping mat he lay upon -- a weak attempt at blocking out the cruel scent.

The priests' potion lay heavy in Jimin's blood and his body still ached and trembled with the aftershocks of being compelled. With each swallow his throat burned, raw from his screams only hours before.

He lay shivering on the sleeping mat, clad only in the thin white garments he had left the bathhouse in. They did little to defend him from the cold, damp air of the temple. Small distressed sounds escaped Jimin as he tried and failed to keep warm. The tattered collar of his tunic - which the guards had torn - kept slipping off his shoulder.

His cries were swallowed by the darkness. No candle or lamp had been left for him. Only the faintest light could be seen around the edges of the locked door. Occasionally a shadow would pass by, footsteps echoing in the hall beyond. Every time, Jimin instinctively braced himself, terrified that the priests would return to torture him further. The dread was overwhelming, making it impossible to sleep.

Something had broken inside Jimin. The thin threads that had connected him to the Black Mountain Pack now lay severed, and now his omega instincts were telling him that everyone here was a threat. The primal urge to flee was overpowering, but even if he had the strength to stand there was nowhere to run. He was trapped.

The wooden door creaked open and Jimin flinched.

"It's only me," Hyun-Joo assured him. The healer knelt down beside Jimin's mat, setting down an oil lantern and the large bundle he had brought with him."I'm so sorry I had to leave you. It won't happen again, unless I have no other choice."

Jimin stared up at the healer with watery eyes, panting weakly.

He won't hurt me, the omega told himself.

Hyun-Joo has never hurt me before. He won't hurt me. He won't hurt me. He won't...

A blanket settled over Jimin and he yelped, startled, then he gasped in relief as the Kim alpha's lingering scent was drowned out by the fragrance of herbs and ginseng. Jimin nuzzled the blanket desperately, whimpering softly as he inhaled the beta's more neutral scent.

"There now," Hyun-Joo murmured as he tucked the quilt around Jimin, "You're going to be alright. I've been given permission to help you after...what happened. How are you feeling? What can I do?"

Jimin wanted to answer the beta, but forming words seemed impossible. He could feel his body slowly giving up. And his mind wasn't far behind.

Then Hyun-Joo's hands slid under Jimin's shoulders, trying to lift him into a sitting position. The omega let out a feeble sound of protest as a cup was pressed to his lips. The memory of being forced to drink the priest's potion was still too fresh in his mind. He cast a pleading look at the healer, and tried to wriggle away.

"Please Jimin, you need to drink," Hyun-Joo said firmly.

Jimin wanted to obey. He did. After all, Hyun-Joo had burst into a room filled with powerfully dominant alpha pheromones just to save him. The beta had confronted the priests on Jimin's behalf. It was wrong and ungrateful of the omega to refuse him, but how could Jimin trust anyone now? He felt so afraid...

"It's just water," the healer explained, "You've had hours with only that poison in your belly. You have to drink something."

The beta didn't relent. He held the cup out patiently until, finally, Jimin gave in.