Darkside

21

While you were fast asleep under the velvety covers of Jimin's guest room, Jimin rested on the couch in the living room, flipping through TV channels, but not actually paying attention. The figures that danced across the screen just couldn't take his mind off things, and eventually, he gave up.

Letting out a huge sigh, he pressed the 'off' button on the remote, and the TV cut off with a soft click. He pressed his back deeper into the couch as he finally allowed himself full attention to his thoughts.

What was he doing?

Unbeknownst to you, Jimin was actually a lot more concerned and worried than he looked. He kept a calm façade around you, but in reality, he didn't know what to do.

It was really strange. Though he often acted friendly and close to people, he had never actually felt any deep connection with them, and only acted in such a way to block out his loneliness. With you, however, everything felt different.

He felt freer around you. He felt like he could actually be himself, without any strings attached. You weren't connected to him by any forced bonds, and you were free to stay or leave or do whatever you liked. You were real around people you weren't even close to, and he had to admit that he was jealous.

Jimin was constantly putting up an act for others, to please them, to make them like him and enjoy his company. Most people thought he was an extrovert that loved attention, but honestly, he was quite the opposite. Interacting with people generally drained him, though he would never let anyone else see it. 

Somehow though, he didn't have to put up that act around you. Maybe it was because you had already seen his worst point, or maybe it was your personality. Whatever it was, he couldn't help but feel that something... different was about you. Something unique that he didn't find in most people these days.

Or maybe it was because he felt guilty for being the one who had chosen this fate for Jungkook.

-

11:51 pm, October 12th, 2 months ago

The irony was that it was dangerous to stroll around at night in the Darkside. He had grown up hearing it, told it to many others, yet he found himself pacing the street-lamp lit alleyways, feeling lost and somehow hopeless.

It was dark and silent, as it always was at night. It wasn't actually that late to most people's standards, but in the Darkside, most people knew better than to wander around after dark.

It was dangerous.

Jimin didn't know what he was doing. He probably should be at home, or with Bangtan. Even if he weren't sleeping, he should be resting, maybe watching a movie, or texting somebody. But he was out in the cold and dark-infested streets of the scariest part of Busan.

Perfect.

Checking his wrist-watch, he could see that the time displayed was 11:54. He wanted to laugh. It was 6 minutes until his birthday, a day he never really paid any special attention to. He sighs and puts his hands in his jean pockets, trying not to think too much and enjoy the lonely walk he went on to clear his mind. 

He felt strangely sentimental, recalling memories of his family when he was younger, of the day Bangtan found him, broken and torn down. He recalled how the only place he had truly felt at home was with his friends, who had somehow cared about him though he was from one of the scumbag families which judged people for pure bloodline and looks.

Now that he was outside of that toxic environment, he could really see how sick his family was. They expected him to be perfect, and nothing but perfection was acceptable. But he didn't want to be perfect. He wanted to be himself.