A Fractured Mind | 민윤기

Nine

1 May 2018

After their discussion about Yoonji's insight into Suga's upset, Victoria and Jimin decided it would be a good idea to pay a visit to Doctor Choi. Sure, Victoria was definitely helping Yoongi's progress, but they both thought that Yoongi would be better off without the personalities.

If he was able to internalize them and recognize the pain that got him there, he might be able to go back to the way he used to be. Jimin was beginning to forget what Yoongi was like before the others. But most of all, he wanted his best friend to be truly happy. Victoria wanted that for him as well, which is one of the reasons that Jimin always wanted her around.

Even better, she wanted to be around too. There was no begging on either side. The only thing was that once they got into the doctor's office and began explaining their case, she rejected it almost immediately.

"Speed up his treatment?" she asked in an outrage, eyebrows furrowed at the two. "Are you out of your minds? Yoongi's psyche is extremely delicate and needs to be dealt with over time."

Jimin leaned forward in his chair, his temper getting the best of him. "You're the one who said that he could recover in two weeks if we did things right! I don't get what we're doing wrong!"

The doctor sat back and squeezed the bridge of her nose. Her sharp eyes darted from JImin to Victoria a few times before she spoke in a harsh tone. "Do you want this because you think it's best for Yoongi or because you don't want the burden of dealing with his personalities?"

Jimin already had his mouth open to shoot back at her, but her words pushed him back into the plushness of the chair. He glowered, disarmed by the jab. He'd been dealing with the personalities for over ten years. He knew what they did to Yoongi and how much confusion he suffered due to them. He knew how much his best friend had missed out on because of them.

He felt a hand take his and looked up to see Victoria gazing at him softly, a gentle smile gracing her features. It was exactly what Jimin needed. Because he wasn't wrong. He knew what was best for Yoongi—he knew him better than anyone. And at that moment, the only person who could properly convey what he was trying to say was her.

"We know that Yoongi's psyche is delicate," she began, calmly staring at the doctor. "But I assure you, this is in no way to get rid of this 'burden' you speak of."

Jimin marveled at how intelligent and confident she sounded. It wasn't often he got to see this side of her.

Victoria sighed before continuing. "Yoongi is Jimin's best friend. He would do anything for Yoongi and I don't think I've ever seen a more pure love between two people."

Doctor Choi stared back, calm as well, though her eyes were slightly narrowed.

"And thought it hasn't been long, both Yoongi and Jimin have become very dear people to me and I've grown extremely fond of not only them, but Yoonji, Suga, and Agust respectively. We only bring up this acceleration of his treatment because we want Yoongi to be fully and truly happy. We want Yoongi to live a normal life."

At the draw of Victoria's speech, the doctor softened, a bit crestfallen. "Yoongi will never be normal," she murmured sadly.

"How could you possibly—" Jimin began to shout, his anger taking over once more, but with one quick squeeze of his hand from the older, he fell silent and stared at her in confusion.

Victoria only stared at the doctor still, though her gaze was now hardened. "Doctor Choi," she began, voice barely above a whisper. "I understand that you are extensively knowledgeable in this area and in Yoongi's case especially." She averted her gaze for a moment to carefully plan out her words before looking back darkly. "However, I do not agree with you. Yoongi was happy once. Maybe only for a few years or a few days before he was taken home from the hospital. But he was. And I will do everything in my power to make sure he feels that again—with or without your help."

That had convinced the doctor to go ahead with speeding up Yoongi's treatment. Jimin felt so happy he could have kissed Victoria for being strong and level-headed in their confrontation with the expert. However, the thought brought a rosy blush to his cheeks that were filling out thanks to his nutritional plan.

It was a tad strange to him, as he still knew he was in love with Yoongi. He had always been in love with Yoongi.

The decision to talk to Doctor Choi turned out to be the right one, as in the following weeks the two saw certain small changes in Yoongi's behavior. The personalities began coming out less and less, and Yoongi would say or do things that normally would be something Yoonji or Agust or Suga would.

It finally hit them when he stood before them, extremely flustered, trying to figure out a way to ask for cuddles. He didn't really have to ask, as they knew exactly what he wanted. It was so strange to cuddle with Yoongi and have him not freak out. Jimin loved it. Even more so when Victoria was a part of it.

Then there was that morning when Jimin was woken by the sound of the piano. When he went into the living room to greet Yoonji, he found that it was, in fact, Yoongi staring wondrously at the keys as his slender fingers slid over them. "I can play piano," he kept muttering to himself as he played notes that Jimin had never heard, but assumed were pieces that Yoonji wrote.

He called Victoria immediately and told her to get over there—Yoongi was playing the piano. It was hard to not come clean to Yoongi about the personalities right away. They had to make up excuses until the doctor said that he was ready.

Unbeknownst to them, that day wouldn't be too far off.