After exiting Taehyung’s office, Jimin went to the R&D department.
The lab’s R&D staff were all elated to see him back, and everyone gathered around to chat for a while. Jimin didn’t tell them about his amnesia and only mentioned that he still hadn’t fully recovered from his injuries yet, directly sidestepping their many questions.
When everyone returned to their stations and resumed their work, Jimin was left to walk around the lab alone. The laboratory contained numerous reagents and equipment that Jimin didn’t dare to casually tamper with. Although he had majored in biochemistry, his memories were limited to his second year of university, and while he knew the uses of some of these lab equipment, there were a great many more that he was unfamiliar with.
The lab also had an entire wall dedicated to perfumes, all of which were natural perfumes with the purest fragrances. Because Jimin was extremely sensitive to smells, standing in front of that wall made him feel as if every single scent in the entire world was assaulting his senses.
At the innermost part of the laboratory was a sealed room enclosed in glass walls that served as Jimin’s private testing station. As Jimin was about to open the door and enter the room, a young female beta employee stopped him and reminded him to change his shoes and put on a hairnet.
Jimin had already changed into a set of work clothes as he entered the lab earlier, so he was taken aback and asked, “The requirements are that strict?”
The female employee’s name was Dong Ha-rin. She was dressed similarly in a lab coat, and she was also wearing a hairnet. Her features were pretty and delicate. “Wasn’t it you who set them?” she asked.
Jimin didn’t refute her. He immediately changed his shoes and put on a hairnet.
The instant he entered the glass room, Jimin felt as if he’d been isolated from all the scents in the outside world, because in here it smelled like nothing. Or perhaps—saying that it smelled like nothing wasn’t entirely accurate, but it was true that Jimin couldn’t detect anything that could irritate his sense of smell. His lab table was free from contaminants, and it only housed a few small-scale instruments and a laptop. The glass test tubes on the rack were filled with liquids, and their mouths were all sealed.
A large blackboard that hung next to the lab table had several words scrawled over its surface. The handwriting was sloppy and illegible, but it was easily identifiable as Jimin’s. Among the words on the board, there was a particularly eye-catching set of words that were larger in size than the rest: Xishui Hall.
Jimin took a test tube from the lab table, unstoppered it, and dipped a scent strip in to determine its smell. The liquid’s scent had a watery note; it smelled of a quiet elegance, beauty and seclusion, but it was far from mature as a perfume. It was most likely only half-finished.
The fragrance on the scent strip quickly evaporated, and the smells in the room were soon dispersed by the ventilation system.
Jimin capped the test tube, returned it to its rack, and looked at the words Xishui Hall. His mind was a vast blank expanse.
When he got off work that afternoon, Jimin didn’t contact Taehyung and took the subway home on his own.
He had dinner at a small restaurant near his apartment. The food tasted neither good nor bad, and the restaurant was neither packed nor empty. Occupying a table all by himself, he couldn’t suppress a sigh as he ate.
Today could be considered the first time he was truly exposed to his former job since waking up from the coma ensuing his car accident. Whether it was the interview he read on the internet or what Taehyung had said about him, they both mentioned how he was a skilled and talented person; he also believed that if he left Taehyung immediately, he’d be able to live comfortably because he had savings and a job. However, the moment he sat down at his lab table, his mind went completely blank. He had no idea what had gone on inside that genius beta perfumer’s head in the past, and he lacked even the most basic expertise.
Jimin felt a little dismayed.
After dinner, he went to the nearby minimarket, bought a dozen cans of beer, and carried them in his hands as he hobbled home.
He unlocked the door with his fingerprint. It was pitch-dark and quiet inside the apartment; Taehyung had yet to return. He was probably still angry about what had happened this afternoon, so he didn’t go home nor contact Jimin.
Jimin couldn’t be bothered with the lights. Walking over to the living room’s floor-to-ceiling windows, he plopped down and sat cross-legged facing the window as he opened a can of beer.
The beers had been stored in a cooler, so it retained its original temperature. Downing a mouthful made that coolness spread from his stomach to his entire body.
Jimin leaned back, his hands at his sides propping his body up in a lethargic posture. The neighbourhood they lived in was in the city centre; there were no large parks nearby, but he had a clear view of the city’s most prosperous scene. Dusk had just settled, yet the high-rise buildings were already lit, their dazzling lights illuminating the twilight sky. Off in the distance, the moon had appeared at some point, sheer and luminous, and even the brightest lights couldn’t compete with its radiance.
On his sixth can of beer, Jimin had already shaken off his dejection.
Since he was a child, he’d never been one to linger in a bad mood for long. His and his grandpa’s lives had been far from easy, but his grandpa always assured him that there were no trenches you couldn’t cross so long as you raised your legs high enough. If you’ve reached your limit and can’t get them any higher, then throw in a chair and leap over that.
So why be dejected? If you have the time for dejection, then just go grab yourself a chair.
Jimin got to his feet and tossed the empty beer can to the ground. It landed on the glossy floor tiles, bounced off another beer can, then bounced once more before rolling away.
At that moment, bursting with loftiness, Jimin opened the remaining six cans of beer. He took one can, knelt down, knocked it against another beer can on the floor, then exclaimed “Bottoms up!” before draining the remaining six beer cans dry.
Taehyung returned at around 10 pm. When he opened the door, not a single light in the apartment was on. The living room was quiet and there was no sign of anyone in sight, and yet the air was thick with the smell of alcohol.
When he switched on the lights, the instant the room lit up, he saw Jimin standing behind the door, eyes wide, staring straight at him.
Taehyung froze. In a flash, his pupils dilated slightly as he angrily rebuked, “Are you insane?!”
He didn’t know how long Jimin had been standing behind the door. Not a sound escaped his lips, and his whole body reeked of alcohol. All of a sudden, he reached out to grab Taehyung’s lapels, leaning forward as he pulled Taehyung’s tall body towards him. “Kim Taehyung!”
Taehyung gave him a cold look.
“I’ll work really hard!” Jimin exclaimed.
Taehyung frowned. “How much have you had to drink?”
Jimin’s voice boomed out loudly as if he were responding to an instructor during military training. “Twelve cans of beer!”
“And what’s the reason for you getting blind drunk?”
“Every can represents my sincerity to the company!”
“……”
“Twelve! For the twelve astrological signs! And the twelve Korean zodiacs!”
“……”
“The unity of twelve ethnic groups! To form Great Kim Hyungjin’s perfume dynasty!”
“Which twelve ethnic groups?”
“Hydrogen, helium, lithium, beryllium, boron…”
“Get out!” Taehyung could no longer take it. He grabbed Jimin’s hand and shoved it away from him.
Unbeknownst to anyone, Jimin was too tipsy to stay steady on his feet, when he tipped backwards from Taehyung’s motions, the latter hurriedly extended a hand to support his back, drawing Jimin into his arms.
Jimin’s face was pressed to Taehyung’s chest. “Ah?” He pressed his ear harder. “President Kim, why is your heart beating so fast?”
Without another word, Taehyung caught his arm and dragged him to his room.
YOU ARE READING
On-Way Passage || ᴠᴍɪɴ
Fanfiction[COMPLETED] Park Jimin, a Beta, awoke after a car accident discovering that he couldn't remember anything from the last six years. He didn't remember being the top perfumer in the world, the death of his grandfather and, most importantly, he didn't...
