PICTURE PERFECT.

3 | KNOTTED BONDS

結ばれた債券

❝the strong seek for beauty 
— was toxic, an unhealthy chase
after human-made standards that can
be reached by natural means.❞

The sobbing and whimpering had soon stopped, replaced by the deep breathing of a male, yet the scent of tragedy and sweetness remained, it had piqued his curiosity, that a male of his caliber, a fully fledged demon was capable of reminiscing to his childhood memories. Memories that was never sought yet had come to him naturally, it was unthinkable, and possibly a rare case. He knew telling anyone would become a problem for him.

His hand made contact with the stall door, and despite the door being locked, Yoongi had opened the stall with no ease, only to find himself staring with a pain-stricken male, tears rolling down his cheeks and plump lips stained with the scent of vomit, yet his overbearing sweetness had overwhelmed the smell of puke.

Yoongi thought he was one of the most beautiful men he has seen, his fingers dragged across his cheeks, hollow and swollen, possibly because of his case of bulimia. "My.. my." He murmured underneath his breath, tilting his head to look at the man. Long eyelashes framed his closed eyelids, sunken and eyebags decorating his eyes. "He chases after the human standard." He chuckled, the boy did not know that he was already beautiful, yet continued to be swayed by the beliefs of society.

"Human standards can never be reached. That is simply the way of life, perhaps I should put him out of his misery?" Yoongi smirked, his voice laced with amusement. To savor a soul like his, Yoongi wondered if it tasted as good as it smelled. His fingers moved swiftly, tracing his fair skin and the faint sight of scratches on his wrists, marks left by his mother. The action seemed to jolt him awake, the boy was sensitive to physical touch. He tensed when he felt Yoongi's hand on his skin.

Yoongi traced Park Jimin's name on his skin, taunted with scars and scratches.

"Do you want to be beautiful?" He whispered into the ear of the boy, his husky voice and warm breath fanning against his skin, causing Jimin to tense up — unable to turn around to the man behind him. Yoongi hummed in amusement, a low growl from his throat escaping after a few minutes of silence.

".. Yes." He whimpered, slowly turning around with his hand on the cold edge of the seat, eyes widened when the man behind him turned out to be beautiful, Jimin could only imagine through his voice. Jimin admired the thick eyelashes that Yoongi held, a smirk bewitching the boy beneath Yoongi.

"Do you want to strike a deal?" Confusion was encrypted upon the face of the innocent young boy, with a slight tilt of his head, and a question spilling from his strawberry lips, "W-What do you mean?" He stammered, his cheeks red at the close proximity of the beautiful male, but curiosity sparked in his eyes.

"I'll turn you beautiful, isn't that what you seek?" The man had responded to his question, he was confused, licking his lower lip, ".. How would you do that?" Once more, a question to fulfill his curiosity as to how this man would turn him beautiful. Even then, he probably required something out of that deal. He didn't want to risk it, mother told him not to trust anyone.. But what if this man could really make him beautiful?

"A wish, sweetheart." The man was devilishly beautiful, he was sinfully charismatic, the smirk held on his lips told it all. The man, with a flick of his finger, the bathroom stall shut and locked itself, as if it wasn't dented by him a few mere minutes ago. "I can make you beautiful, strike a deal with me, and all those insecurities will disappear." Jimin froze, but he did not trust a man, his mother would scold him. He shook his head no.

"N-No, I'm sorry.. I.. I have to get out of here." He mumbled meekly, but Yoongi was stubborn, the environment changed and they were no longer stuck in the bathroom stall, but rather, a spacious living room, that was .. familiar into Jimin's eyes, it was too familiar. His ears perked up, hearing the loud yelling of a woman, and the endless sobbing of a child.

"You insolent little brat! No wonder your own father left us, because of your tainted ugly face. You don't deserve to be called my son, you selfish pathetic scum."

He froze upon hearing the voice of his own mother, echoing in his ears, tears bloomed by the corner of his eyes when his mother had walked into the living room, with a child that reminded Jimin of himself, because it was him. The mother grabbed the child by his collar and threw him onto the wooden floor, the child winced and yelped.

"Ugly little frog. Croaking and croaking! Annoying."

The insults spilled from his own mother's lips, his eyes were wide, filled with tears and eventually dripped down his cheeks. Jimin did not say anything when the scene had disappeared, merging into the white tiled bathroom wall, the scent of vomit circling around the stall. He was quiet, silent, yet tears had freely rolled down his cheeks.

"Do we have a deal?"

Jimin's heart quickened, he had to do it for his mother, didn't he? .. But his mother would only scold him once more.

Yoongi expected the outcome, and the bathroom wall had merged into his school cafeteria. A young boy, sitting on a table alone, chewing slowly with tears in his eyes. Jimin knew why. A box of milk was thrown at the young boy, followed by yelling and laughing, whistling and cheering.

"Fatass!"

They taunted him with inappropriate insults, laughing and cruelly eyeing him. The boy did nothing but pick up his cardboard tray, discard it and run to the bathroom. That was the start and cause of his bulimia, followed by his mother's death.

".. Do we have a deal?" The man repeated, this time, Jimin couldn't handle it anymore, his voice stammering and sobbing, echoing through the bathroom. "Please.. make me beautiful. Stop it all, I don't want this anymore. I'll do anything."

"Then it's a deal."

Once the words have been stated, he felt a strike of electricity coursing through his body, the room turned dark, and blood red strings appeared, tying around them, around his neck yet he felt no suffocation despite the tight knot created. The strings looped around Yoongi's neck, who seemed to be in pain, the strings tightening, they all dispersed into nothingness.

Including his vision.