On-Way Passage || ᴠᴍɪɴ

Chapter 20

Taehyung didn't say anything else after that, so Jimin followed suit. He lay on his back, gazing up at the ceiling unseeingly. Yawning, his weariness eventually caught up to him, and he closed his eyes and fell into a deep sleep.

It was already bright outside when Jimin awoke the next morning. This, however, was the least of his concerns-what concerned him more was the fact that he'd rolled right across the divider some time in the night and slept plastered all along Taehyung's side. Furthermore, he appeared to be using Taehyung as a bolster, his arm thrown over Taehyung's waist.

He opened his eyes, slowly lifted his head, and discovered that Taehyung was still fast asleep, so he gently and slowly withdrew his arm from the man's body, trying not to rouse him.

Halfway through, just as his arm was about to leave Taehyung's body, but before he could move any further, he heard Taehyung say, "I'm awake."

He looked up in alarm, saw that Taehyung's eyes were still closed, and retorted without thinking, "No you're not."

Taehyung opened his eyes and turned to face him. His eyes were bright and clear, not at all like someone who'd just awoken. "I've been awake for a while now," he said.

Jimin retracted his hand and shrank into his blanket until it was up to his chin. "Then why didn't you wake me up?" he mumbled.

Taehyung sneered. "Why would I? Won't you scram once you're awake?"

Jimin grumbled, "You're a nutcase."

Taehyung threw off his covers and went to the bathroom.

Jimin retreated inside his blanket and lay there for a while. Since all traces of sleepiness had already left his body, he simply got out of bed, put on his slippers, and walked to the window. He opened the curtains slightly and closed his eyes in reflex as the morning sunlight streamed in. He took a half-step back until his eyes adjusted to the brightness before looking outside again.

He could now see the garden clearly. It was overgrown with plants and flowers, and it was clear that someone cared for it on a regular basis. The colors were lovely, and the plants grew abundantly. In the middle of the garden, there was a small open space with white tables and chairs. It must be nice to sit there with a book and a cup of coffee when the weather isn't too hot.

The chairs were empty at the time, but in the downstairs garden, there was a lone wheelchair.

And the person in the wheelchair was none other than Ju-yoon.

From where Jimin stood, he could only catch a glimpse of Ju-yoon's frail back and the fluffy black hair at the top of his head. Ju-yoon sat motionless in his wheelchair, his eyes fixed straight ahead as if in a daze.

Ju-yoon would occasionally lower his head, revealing a sliver of fair nape between his collar and the ends of his hair. Jimin then discovered that he actually had a tattoo on his nape. From this distance, he could still make out a butterfly tattoo; which was perhaps of a similar design to Yoongi's.

"What are you looking at?" said Taehyung, who'd walked up to his side without him noticing.

Staring at the tattoo on Ju-yoon's nape, he said, "Your brothers have identical tattoos on their glands."

"He doesn't have glands."

"What?" Jimin turned to Taehyung in confusion.

Taehyung cast his gaze downwards and said, "Ju-yoon doesn't have glands. He's a beta."

For a moment, Jimin was somewhat stunned.

From the moment he arrived at the Kim family house and met Ju-yoon, Jimin had assumed that he was an omega. Primarily because he was Yoongi's-who was an omega himself-twin. Their resemblance was uncanny, so how could their secondary sex be different? Were they fraternal twins who just happened to be identical?