doppelgänger [completed]

sixteen.

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Jimin feels his skin shiver as he forces himself to look in the mirror.

Goosebumps form against his flesh. They tease him with imperfections and emotional damage that doesn't seem to be natural.

He's staring, and waiting.

He's been standing there for twenty minutes.

"I know you're there,"

Speaking to the mirror in this particular way has become an evening habit of Jimin's.

As he had promised his boss, he has been going to work. As he had promised his mother, he has been eating fairly well. As he had promised his therapist, he has been taking his pills. As he had promised Taehyung, he has been a more active boyfriend.

Those aspects of his life are being gently fixed, though they are being held together by slivers of temporary glue that Jimin knows will break apart one day. It's only a matter of time. And perhaps he has to force himself to get dressed for work or heat up the fresh stew or swallow the medication or remember to text Taehyung on the daily...but at least for the last seven days he's been able to do so.

Yet nothing compares to failed promises that he had made for himself.

Because inside of Jimin's mind is a darkened spiral of insecurity and fraud. And he doesn't believe that he will be able to fix it. Not even if he pretends.

It's just gotten too hard.

He's gotten too weak.

And Jimin still truly hates himself.

"You said you could help me,"

For seven days Jimin has had no occurrences with the mirror. There has been nothing cleaned for him without his consent, no random plates of food being snatched and reappearing, and no mirror-images of himself doing opposite of what he is actually doing in real life.

For seven days everything has been calm.

Yet Jimin cannot let it go.

"You're not a hallucination. I don't care what my therapist says. I don't care what Taehyung says. I know you are real. I know what I saw. I know you're there,"

Ritually, Jimin has continued to speak to the mirror. Though it only seems that he is simply speaking to himself.

Jimin sighs and his shoulders slump. He's becoming quite obsessed with the strange things that has happened to him and perhaps he needs to take it down a notch. But how can he? He's never been able to let such addictions go before. How can he possibly expect to stop now?

"Fine. I guess you'll only show up when you want to. I didn't want your help anyway,"

Jimin realizes how childish and absurd he is being. If someone were to know of what he is doing then surely he'd be put back into the hospital for a few nights.