[ PARK JIMIN ]
"Are you sure it's just empathy? Are you sure you're not feeling... attracted to me?" There was a shift in his voice as it became more silky, pleasing to listen to. I could feel my muscles relax in response to the soothing sound. "Don...
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⊰ ＦＯＲＴＹ ＦＩＶＥ ⊱
FIGHT
"Yes," Jimin whispered, affirming my guess. A sharp pain dug into my gut at his answer.
I didn't know what to think. I wanted to stay angry at him for letting me get stuck in this terrible situation in the first place - for putting my freedom at risk - but I had to consider the fact that the curse kept him from caring in the beginning. He couldn't have felt sympathy for me even if he had wanted to, so I couldn't exactly blame him for following his instincts and doing what he needed to do to try to escape his bondage. What did still pain me was that he had kept it a secret that whole time, and he hadn't done anything to stop it even when he could see that it was progressing.
But if he was telling the truth about his plan, I couldn't keep the same perspective. If he truly had the intention of giving up his only chance at a human life in order for me to keep living my own, how could I possibly see him as some monster who didn't care? I had caught those beautiful glimpses of the true person Jimin was, and those moments became the anchor that grounded my thoughts and helped me to calm down.
A small voice in my head questioned if I could trust him after he'd kept such a secret for so long, but I knew everything matched up to what he was planning. He had been trying all this time to do what he could to keep me from turning, I just hadn't known it until now.
"Please, please, believe me, Katherine. I know what I did was terrible. I was so angry with myself every time I was reminded of what was happening to you. I wanted to stop it so many times, but Jihyun-" Jimin's voice hitched at the mention of the little boy he seemed to care so much about. His bottom lip quivered before he continued, "He's the only thing that kept me from taking the curse back. It's the one thing I need to do before I go back to the water. I promise you I will not let you become a siren," he stated earnestly.
Holding his gaze for a moment, I finally sighed, "I believe you," I whispered, taking a step closer. He breathed out in relief, his shoulders drooping as he briefly rested his forehead on the bars. Then he lifted his head to look at me, eyes glistening with a sincerity that robbed all breath from my lungs.
"Thank you. I don't know what I would have done if you hated me. That's not how I wanted to spend our last moments together." His gaze remained trained on me, taking me in carefully like he had so many times before, only this time the curious, admiring look was replaced with a longing sadness. It was as if he was trying to engrave my face into his mind, afraid he'd forget what I looked like.
That's probably exactly what he's afraid of.
"Jimin..." I moved closer, hesitantly placing my hands on top of his. He let out a sigh at the contact, meeting my eyes again. "I'm not happy with you, but I don't think I could ever bring myself to hate you. I'm just hurt that you kept it from me," I explained quietly, to which he slowly nodded.
