The Unders (BTS fanfic)

Chapter 8: Jimin

"Yoongi, you are visiting way too much, what is your problem? Do you want to be Broken?" I teased the Higher guard. My happiness stopped as soon as I saw the girl being dragged along just behind him.

"What's going on?"

"She's part of Broken now,"

And with that, Yoongi made a swift exit, leaving me really confused, and with a sobbing girl. I crouched down next to her and tapped her shoulder hesitantly. She looked up at me, her eyes brimming with tears and my eyes widened. "Um, I'm Jimin," I stated, too nervous to remember to ask for her name. I felt as though she didn't want or deserve to be here. "What went wrong?" I asked.

Her sorrow was quickly replaced by anger. "I don't know, maybe you should ask your fucking leader," She murmured seriously, rising unsteadily to her feet. I outstretched my hand and held on to her arm to keep her balanced, yet she shook me off.

I heard Jungkook scoff behind me with what I think was a, "Rejected," comment. Haha.

"Here, you can take this cell here," I pointed at Changmin's recently vacant cell which was alongside Jungkook's and Heesung's.

"Do I really have to stay here?" She sighed sadly, her feet rooted on the spot.

"I can't forget that you're still Broken, and I will still use force if I have to," I sighed in return and guided her forward with my hand resting on her back.

I closed the cell door as soon as she entered, and I couldn't help but feel a slight twinge of guilt as she retreated to the corner and assumed a fetal position, shaking with cries.

I backed away and noticed Jungkook trying to calm a panicked Heesung down, who kept asking questions about his mother upon seeing another woman. Although I wasn't even Broken, it almost felt as if I was; being here in Purgatory all day long. Me being an Under, employed unbeknownst by any Higher apart from Jacheol and his army was a little lonely, even though there were at least thirty others in my position right now. Even the leaders and their families were no exceptions, or, at least it was like that when I last visited Higher.

But more than any of my thoughts, I was greatly suspicious of a woman being brought to Purgatory by Yoongi. This was just strange, and out of the ordinary. Well, it had never happened before. And whatever story she had - and trust me, every Broken had an interesting one - she was immensely distressed by it. She could only be here for one of two reasons: she's committed an unspeakable crime, or, Jacheol and Namjoon have something personally against her. And that would imply that she's important in some way.

I stayed awake through the entire night again. I rarely slept nowadays. I shifted as soon as I heard the thud of breakfast rations arriving by the gate. That meant it was six in the morning. They were always on time. I counted them up, and the amount had been decreased yet another time. This was my breakfast they were getting rid of too.

I placed the packages of bland energy outside each cell, within reach through the bars, and added mine to the woman who arrived late last night. She would be in need of the most energy out of all of us. I usually gave whatever was leftover to Heesung, but this morning, I split it between the two of them.

"You should eat something too,"

"Oh, I didn't mean to wake you. Sorry,"

"I was already awake," She laughed quietly.

"I didn't know that," I scratched the back of my head.

She came up to the front of the cell and sat cross-legged in front of me. "I do not believe I was very polite yesterday evening, I am sorry for that. My name is Kim Yejin,"

"Park Jimin," There was a pause, "I mean that's my name, uh, Jimin. Oh, I've already told you that, haven't I?" I smiled as she smiled back and nodded.

"It's fine. I was wondering whether visitors were allowed into Purgatory?"

"Well, no planned visits are allowed, but some of the Highers, like Yoongi, just seem to appear sometimes," I said, an ounce of annoyance in my tone of voice.

"Oh, I was just hoping I'd be able to see my brother... But what about Jungkook? I swear I heard him talking to someone during the night," She frowned, peeking over to the cell next door.

I gulped and hesitated to answer, but I couldn't lie to her. Neither could I tell her the full truth. "Jungkook's looking after him for someone," I told her vaguely, not that it mattered, as she seemed to take in my response.

"Hey Jimin, can I ask you something?"

"Sure," I replied.

"Have you ever lost someone you didn't even realise you were close to, until they were gone?" She was looking at the wall now, avoiding eye contact. It was obvious that someone she knew had been killed.

Without even fully realising it myself, I had reached through the bars and held her hand. I leaned in closer so that this would somewhat be at least a semi-private conversation. "Whatever happened that got you down here; I'll be here for you. You can confide in me, and I won't mind if you don't. I know I shouldn't, but I feel like I should look out for you since you're the only girl here,"

"Do not be mistaken. I can handle myself," She gave me a sharp glare and huffed in a half-joking manner.

"I'm sure you can," I chuckled at her childish actions. I ended up splitting the extra rations between myself, Yejin, and Heesung, after Yejin threatened to wake everyone up by screaming if I didn't eat any. We ate together, although there was a cell door between us, in silence for the most part. We finished up as the other Broken were stirring and waking up.

And before I knew it, it was another day at work, but it had been made so much brighter within those few hours.