salt || jikook

fifteen

burning. that's all jimin felt as he 'danced' in the hellish fire water. it felt as if his skin was being melted off, while his insides screamed in agony. his body was burning from the inside out and frankly, he could do nothing but accept the pain for what it was. he could try to get out, but he wasn't sure if it was even worth it. was being on earth bound by some created image really worth living for?

even after he gets out of the fire, it would still burn at the surface until it's completely washed away. jimin was quaking in fear, as tears pricked at his eyes, mixing into the bubbling liquid. the cuts and scrapes he had on his body didn't help either. the water seeped right through that, burning even his insides. his self inflicted cut on his arm didn't help his situation as he harshly thrashed through the waters with his arms and legs.

his thoughts of letting himself die in the water to questioning his own existence stopped. an image for the angelic face flashed in his mind. jeon jungkook. that's all he could see. the night they spent together from the shock of their first kiss. they weren't even anything official, and heck, they hardly knew each other. but something told jimin that the boy he knew barely anything about was worth living for.

during the couple of days they've known each other, jimin was the happiest he's been in the longest time. that was something he could live for. he wanted to live for the future moments they could spend together, the fact that jungkook could possibly be his one day. he could stay alive for jungkook and fight trough the current pain he felt. he could build a firm relationship, even if it was as simple as a platonic friendship, he wanted to try. because out of all the beings he could come across, out of the seven billion people in this world, jungkook was the only one. something made him feel this way. he drifted off in a daydream for the moments he thought of jungkook. it was a serendipitous... euphoric state of mind... until he was brought back to reality by the acid that burned his insides.

his arms and legs flailed in all directions, searching for escape. but he was nearing the smooth, quartz floor of hell, he felted it with his wet fingertips. it was hard to see while a mixture of acidic smoke and water clouded his vision. it hurts worse for the acidic substance to deep into his eye sockets, even managing to burn his eyeballs. he couldn't tell what he was in. whether it was waters or fire, it didn't matter it felt like water, but had the appearance of flames. so he didn't know how to react, but that wasn't an important aspect.

he couldn't touch a bottom floor with his feet but his legs continued to search for something to step on. he wondered how deep it went, but he didn't want to be the one to find out. his weak fingers gripped at a red jagged rock, feeling the normal heat of hell's oxygen once again as his head surfaced the water. he used his weakened strength to pull himself up into the slippery tiles which had small pools of the hellish water on it as it dropped from jimin's skin and drenched clothing. he sprawled out all over the carpet that covered part of the smooth portion of the floor, his blood from the wounds pouring out all over it, mixing perfectly with the crimson fabric. theres was especially a lot of blood flowing from his arm and lips. he panted for air, taking in as much of a breath as he could, thought his breathing remained shallow. his eyes fluttered while he stared at the jagged ceiling of hell's throne room.

yoongi had to tear his eyes away from the sight, remembering how he had to suffer the same fate for a mistake he made in the last. his mistake wasn't as drastic as jimin's and he didn't receive a personal beating from the devil. he only remembered the scorching pain of fiery water. it wasn't as treacherous and it was a little more 'merciful' (as merciful as the devil goes...) than what jimin had received. but his pain was just as valid. anyone would be suffering in the waters, it was just as scary for anyone. the devil took a few steps towards his panting demon and knelt down. his black eyes stared deep into jimin's red ones.

"dad..." jimin mumbled in the shakiest breath. he still hadn't caught his breath from burning in the flaming lake.

"don't address me like that," the devil said sternly. jimin fluttered his eyes shut, every inch of his being quivered from the experience. "i may have created you but—"

"you and i both know, you didn't just create me," jimin muttered out. his lips curved into a small, pained smile.

yoongi raised an eyebrow at the conversation. this wasn't something he's heard before. he used everything within his supernatural range to listen in on the conversation. jimin's red eyes were staring back up into the devil's dark, intimidating eyes.

"i'm not called... the prince of hell... for nothing..." jimin said in between heaving breaths. the devil's gaze darkened more than it usually would.

"send yourself out," he said in an intense mumble.

"you think i have the strength? after you what you put me through?" the demon replied sarcastically.

the devil stood up, and turned away, not bothering to face the demon anymore. he walked out of the throne room, leaving it empty besides the guards at the door, and his two demonic creations. jimin slowly started sitting up, feeling pain surge through every inch of his body. he winced in pain, grabbing his arm where he previously cut his arm to enter hell in the first place. a silent tear fell down his face. that tear held so much, not just the pain he felt physically, but the pain he felt of rejection.

he heard quiet, faint footsteps, getting louder. they were coming towards him. he carefully turned his head to see yoongi, a face he was quite familiar with, a face he was thankful to see.

"go ahead... brag about how you were right... and how i should've listened to you," jimin said before yoongi even spoke a word. he felt like he knew was was a coming. but yoongi sighed.

"was it worth it?" yoongi asked. his tone seemed uninterested, but inside it hurt him. jimin didn't respond.

"that one night of pleasure you got with an angel, was it worth it? that night you could have with anyone else?" yoongi asked, expanding on the first question. "answer me jimin—" he said, gently nudging the still male's arm.

"yes, it was worth it," jimin said, loudly. his eyes narrowed at the sight of yoongi. the raven haired male seemed rather shocked at the reply, but crossed his arms, waiting for the conversation to progress. jimin tried to stand up, stumbling on his first try, but slowly regained feeling in his limbs. he faced yoongi, still inhaling shallow gasps for air. "and i'd do it again," jimin said.

"you aren't serious..." yoongi said with a scoff, as he shifted his weight into one leg.

"i'm more serious than i've ever been," jimin said. his hand reached up to his lip, touching where it bled. he sighed at the red liquid on his fingers tips, using his sleeve to wipe it from his lips. "sometimes sacrifices need to be made for things we want, and i don't know about you but i'm willing to make them."

"you're willing to sacrifice your well being, and possibly even your life for a temporary feeling?" yoongi asked. jimin's eyes darkened as they reflected hell's flames.

"isn't being in that water a temporary feeling too—" he said in a grumble. but was interrupted by yoongi's raised voice, something he hadn't heard from the demon in a while.

"it is until you die!"

a moment of silence passed by. "i'm willing to sacrifice myself over and over again to be with him, don't get mad at me because you aren't," jimin said turning to leave. he dipped his fingers too into the blood of his arms and was on his way back to earth.

what the hell just happened?