Bangtan Angst [ Editing ]

Tell me one honest Truth [ JiKook ]

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❛Tell me one honest truth.❜
❛I'm glad you're here with me.❜

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The soft crackles of branches meeting the ground with a small thump were the only things you'd hear in the illuminated nocturnal alleyways of the outside, besides the constant chirping of birds and whistling of tall trees. Taehyung, his cousin, but also the person he had learned to trust with the very inch of his whole being, had wandered around to pick up remnants of fallen branches of wood they could find. They were seated outside their humble abode, a two-story wooden cavern that looks too classy to be counted as a 'cavern'.

It had been summer vacation, months away before classes would start monotonously. Jimin, being a closed-introvert fourth year of high-school student, his parents had decided that he haven't got enough experience outside of his own little bubble. And so, within that reason, they sent him off into his grandparents' sanctuary in the near province, where his best-friend Taehyung also happened to live.

Things were going alright, but if Jimin had to be honest, it had almost been the deprivation of vivacity; the apathy of doing his mundane chores, watering the garden and crops, over and over again almost took a toll in his frustrations. Despite all that, though, he'd be willing to kiss the deity's toes just to thank them for giving him his best-friend to keep him sane.

But, the positive energy radiating from Kim Taehyung wasn't the only thing that piqued his interest and attention. A huge forest that lacked any remnants of light was located nearby, and Jimin had heard a lot of interesting rumors about this peculiar forest that no one had dared to explore.

The crackles of flames turning ablaze in front of him and Taehyung's resounding clapping in celebration of putting up a fire made him snap out of his thoughts, deciding to break the silence. “The forest looks...interesting. Don't you think?”

All the sudden, the positive energy illuminating his face darkened, and he looked uncomfortable, squirming in his seat. “Uh, well...rumors said that, that forest is haunted with a lot of spirits.” Taehyung offered, hesitant.

Jimin shrugged his shoulders. “They're only saying that because they know nothing about the forest, and humans are accustomed to being afraid of the unknown.”

This time, Taehyung didn't try to hide his discomfort. He pursed his lips, and glared down at the flames that reflected the sorrow and melancholy hidden in his eyes. “It's just a forest, Jimin. Get over it.” he said, almost bitterly.

Jimin noticed the venom in his voice, and offered a, “Is there anything wrong?” in the softest tone he could muster. Taehyung visibly relaxed at his words, but still looked awfully tense. “Look, it's just...can you keep a secret?”

He let out a resounding chuckle at his best-friend's words, feeling like they were back in pre-school. “Yeah, man. You can trust me.” with that, the corner of Taehyung's mouth lifted a bit, but enough to ease the tension. He released a heavy breath, before admitting, “I've been in the forest before.”

For a moment, there was a profound silence. Jimin, despite being stunned, had asked, “How did it go?” noticing the slight sorrow in his words. He never likes seeing him upset, as the boy was so happy all the time. Taehyung nibbled his bottom lip, sinking into his knees. “I was curious after hearing all the rumors, like you. I was nine that time, so I went out in the middle of the night to go exploring. For a few minutes, everything was alright. I was ecstatic, I've proved the rumors all wrong. But...I met someone.”

His eyes widened a bit at this, but said nothing, waiting for Taehyung to continue. “You know, living here on the countryside...it's lonely. And when I met him, I felt a lot better. Even if he wasn't...like us....I had a friend, Jimin. I was devastated when I told my dad and he took it wrongly— he went to the forest, and after that...I never saw my friend again.”

Again, nothing could be heard except the resounding sounds of nature. Taehyung took it as the advantage to tell him, “It's okay if you don't believe me...I—” he got interrupted as Jimin tackled him into a tight hug, encircling his arms around him, almost knocking them both to the ground. “You're my best-friend, of course I believe you.”

They stayed there, cuddling to withstand the cold night and sorrowful memories. There was a comfortable silence for a long time, until Taehyung had pulled away but not before sending Jimin a soft smile on his way. “Let's go back inside.”


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Jimin had been relentlessly turning back and forth unto his and Taehyung's shared bed all night, his thoughts louder than NYC's busy streets at daylight. He couldn't forget about Taehyung's story and how his curiosity was eating him all up inside. Even though he was described as introvert, he was the type of person to choose forests over beaches in an online buzzfeed personality test. What could be so wrong with that forest? He thought, Taehyung said that it's been long since he'd seen his friend. Maybe I should check it out. But what if I got myself murdered? What would Taehyung say? Okay, no. But...

And with that happy thought, now he was standing in front of the mystical and illuminated floors of the forest, hesitation that was weighing him down earlier long forgotten. Sure, in some angles it looked awfully terrifying, like those forests you see in five star rated horror movies. But, within a close range, seeing the moon's light illuminating through the trees, painting a beautiful imagery that almost made Jimin smile. And so, he stepped inside.

For a few good minutes, everything was good. Leisurely walking around, occasionally hearing birds from outside, just the soft sounds of life. Jimin always adored nature and it's natural resources, natural beauty. Therefore, it wasn't difficult to feel comfort within the knot of trees. But, as though if jinxed, the little smile painted on his lips disappeared almost immediately as he noticed a particular details.

Two particular details. It was summer— despite temperature always rising whenever nighttime falls, Jimin was sure it never should've been this cold. He couldn't believe he just noticed that his hairlines were standing up due to the chilly air, but that wasn't the most unnerving one. It felt like he was being watched by a million eyes surrounding him, which was more chilling than the cold air. His eyebrows furrowed, looking around more carefully, analyzing his surroundings. And—did that shadow just move?

It was then he heard the sound of a branch getting stepped on behind him. His heart jumped out of his flesh as he tried to run, but he found out it was too late as a figure stood his ground in front of him.

A...masked figure.

Jimin blinked. He studied the figure's— no. He studied the masked man with skepticism, hyperaware of their ragged modern clothes and disheveled chocolate brown locks, parted fringe that was complimented his mask. Ah yes, his mask...'twas the cherry on top, as it didn't look as terrifying as Jimin predicted it to be. It was quite...cool, in a way. The white, black inked mask was a mix of the form of both a rabbit and a fox with pointy ears, making it both unnerving and interesting. The mask had two holes in front the eyes, though. And he was taller by an awful lot, enough to step down Jimin's pride.

“Leave.” He commanded, despite his face being unseen, his gaze pierced holes among Jimin's skin. “You're not welcomed here.”

Jimin blinked. A few second passed, and no one spoke, no one made a move. Despite the nerve-wracking situation, he couldn't help but notice the man's unnoticeable raspy, but honey-comb like soothing voice. He studied him for a moment longer, and suddenly, Taehyung's story resurfaced from his thoughts, making him widen his eyes and gasp out, “You. You're Taehyung's friend.”

He didn't clearly see it, but he swore he saw a flash emotion pass by this man's black doe eyes as he mentioned the word Taehyung. The same one he saw that passed by his best-friend's, earlier, when he had confessed. The man looked to the side in discomfort, clenching his fists. Perhaps, maybe he remembered that in one point of his life he had openly welcomed the boy, and wholeheartedly took care of him. It went away almost as it arrived though, his gaze hardening. “You must go, and not tell anyone that you went inside and met a masked man, especially to Taehyung.” his jaw clenched, before loosing a bit. “Just leave. Now. Before something happens to you, and I won't, in any form, be accumulated to it.”

Jimin stepped back at the venom that could be heard in the boy's voice. His knees shook a bit, before looking around to run back to where he had went in. His face fell, along with the fear in his heart, as he blurted out, “I—I don't know where I went in earlier.”

He expected an uproar. Or maybe even getting his existence wiped off the universe— with worries as huge as that, you can only imagine how confused he got when the masked man vanished, leaving a thin trail of dust as the forest falls into deep silence again. He finally let out the air he didn't know he was keeping, sighing in relief as he thought he was all alone again. But, then, the voice behind him made him shriek and jolt to that direction, scaring the nuts out of him. “Follow me.”

Jimin's heart was beating so loud in his chest due to the surprise, whilst the man nonchalantly inserted his hands inside his pocket jeans, lacking reaction. Then, he turned away, and started walking through the dark alleyways. Jimin reluctantly followed the man, wondering what in the hell he got himself into.

The forest was silent, as usual. The only thing could be heard now was the sound of their footsteps hitting the solid ground, occasionally stepping unto some slivers of wood and dried leaves. It still felt like someone was taking their time watching him— uneasy, he decided to analyze and take a brief look on his surroundings more. He stumbled as he noticed a shadow— no, countless shadows, a bit blurry but with the sharp gazes of their bright eyes, Jimin knew there was no way he could be mistaking how he sees things.

He gulped, his voice a little shaky as he squeaked out, “W—what are they?” Though he only received silence as answer from the ever talkative man, which was no surprise in any form. What the real surprise was, though, that the man had actually led him to where he's originally entered the forest from after long ten minutes of awkward silence and walking, the cavern seen not too far in the distance.

He sighed in relief, feeling the warmer temperature as he stepped outside. He faced the man with a grateful smile etched on his lips. “Thank you for not luring me to my death. What's your name?”

Jimin said nothing when the man just stared long at him, before turning his back and disappearing right in front of his eyes, into the dark forest.

Jimin also said nothing, when Taehyung caught him walking in their shared room, asking where he'd gone off to.


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The next midnight, when he made sure Taehyung had completely fallen into deep slumber, Jimin found himself back in the forest facing the masked man, like the hard-headed little shit he is.

“Why are you back in here?” The man demanded. “I told you to leave. Which part of that you didn't understand?”

Jimin frowned at the spite in his words, and said, “You didn't tell me your name.”

“So what?”

“If you tell me your name, I'll leave and forget I met you.” He insisted, eagerness in his words. The man squinted his eyes at short boy, as if trying to read through his lie. Nonetheless, he sighed, and told him, “Jeongguk.” Jimin made no efforts  to try and hide his grin after hearing his name. “Okay, so now that I decided I'm not leaving, hello! My name's Jimin!”

The man fell silent after he'd uttered his words, and just sighed. “Aren't you scared?” Jimin thought about it for a second. Despite this man's aura of terror and constant burning gaze, he couldn't find any trace of cowardice towards him. Remembering Taehyung's words only strengthened his bravery, and thus, he shook his head no. “When I wasn't there by Taehyung's side when he needed a friend, you were the one next to him. And with that fact, no, I don't think there's much reason to be afraid.”

For a second, he couldn't be happier as the man—no, Jeongguk's hard gaze softened at his words. He stayed quiet, as per usual, then started to walk away further into the forest. He didn't hesitate one bit and started following him, keeping a safe distance, as he noticed the taller man was always scooting away whenever he'd gone too close. He'd ask him about the distance later, Jimin decided. He felt eyes on him again, and he briefly looked over to see those creepy shadows once again, for good measure. He almost flinched when he counted about a several of them watching his every step, before they had dissolved into vapor again, disappearing through the trees.

“They're harmless.” Finally, Jeongguk muttered out, slightly halting his steps to look at where the shadows had recently disappeared into. “I only told you that something bad would happen to scare you off.”

He didn't know what to reply, so he offered up a small, “I'm sorry it didn't work.” to appease the silence. And he thought he may be dreaming, but he swore he heard a scoff coming from the man. Was that a short chuckle I heard?

There was it again, the never-ending silence that resonated all throughout the forest. It had been so loud for ten long minutes, he couldn't take it anymore, and asked the first question that surfaced his mind. “Why won't you take the mask off?”

He faced him, and he'd thought Jeongguk would just pretend as if he didn't hear anything like before, but he muttered out. “Maybe you'll find out soon.”

Then, along with the comfortable silence, Jimin had decided he already found out enough to sate his curiosity for the day. They spent the night aimlessly walking around, no words needed to be said.


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He'd kept himself busy by continuously watering the planets in his grandmother's garden, constantly humming, when Taehyung had walked up to him, a garden tool in his hand. “Hey, Tae.”

“Hey, uh,” Taehyung looked at the ground anxiously, before meeting his eyes. “Where have you been off to this past two nights?”

As much as dumb Taehyung was described to be, he isn't oblivious. Jimin cursed inwardly as he had forgotten the piece of information. He tried to meet his eyes, to croak out, “In here, the gardens. It's relaxing to stargaze in this particular place.”

Taehyung looked skeptical, but didn't say anything, and just continued to check up on the plants.

Later on that night, Jimin once again stood up from their bed, slowly but surely not to wake his roommate up, to walk towards the forest, no trace of being scared after spending two nights walking around inside.

He spent his first few minutes trying to find Jeongguk, and when he didn't, he took his time to appreciate the forest, and this time, without feeling tension from any part of his body.

It looked enthralling now that he'd grown used to the less intimidating shadows, remnants of moon light scattered around the forest. Despite the mount of trees, you can still catch glimpses of the starry night, and although he lied about his statement earlier, he knew the he'd been telling the truth.

“You really like this forest, huh?”

Jimin almost jumped at the voice that spoke again, and slightly smiled at the familiar presence of the masked man. “Yeah, I do.” He admitted, staring off at the obfuscate skyline. He felt his piercing gaze, then suddenly had an idea. “Want to know more about what I like?”

“No.”

“Great! So—” Ignoring his immediate denial, Jimin went off rambling about all the random stuffs he likes. Puppies, kittens, some anime— he even painted a picture of his favorite city, Tokyo, in his head. He figured Jeongguk, despite his creepy shadow companion, had probably been too alone. He wanted to make him feel a bit better. And he knew it was working as the masked lad started nodding along his stories, occasionally giving reserved reactions.

“So that's what it's like being to be able to walk freely outside?” He'd asked in astonishment. Jimin pursed his lips at this, feeling like this had been the first time he'd heard about a place besides the forest. His heart clenched as he imagined young Jeongguk mindlessly wandering around with a mask on, finding no one to play with. “You'd never been in any place besides the forest, have you?”

He stared down the ground at this question, dragging his feet to kick the nearest rock. He looked like he wanted to say something, but was reluctant. Jimin smiled comfortingly. “It's alright if you don't want to tell me, it's none of my—”

“Long time ago...” he cut him off, deciding to share a part of his lifestory, a part that Jimin treasured and considered a puzzle piece. He was an enigma, that needed to be solved. “A man and a woman had accidentally left their child wrapped around in cotton blankets. Stupid, I know, but the spirits told me they saw a glimpse of houses burning. They ran off, losing their child among the rampage, neither of them noticing. The child's wailing near the forest alerted the spirits, and had decided to give the dying child a gift, but also a curse.” At this, he stopped for a moment to look around, with a, “No offense to you all.”

“...how long?”

“Seven thousand and four hundred eighty-eight moons.”

Jimin's eyebrows furrowed, but it didn't lessen the feeling of his heart getting gently squeezed. “Can't you get out?”

He shook his head, but the latter had already expected the kind of answer. “My lifeline is connected with the forest. I can not leave, even if I wanted to.”

He felt his throat drying up, this was a huge turn of events in one night. “Was that the price? Of your gift?” The bunny masked man shook his head, again. His shoulder tensed, discomfort evident in his figure. “...despite having enough power to keep me alive, it isn't that good of a spell. A single touch of a human being, will impale my existence out of the universe's grasp.”


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