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Jimin was a genuinely caring person. Some would say too caring for his own good. Being someone who was doting, affectionate, and kind to everyone in his life, it wasn't hard to see why. If you need somebody to talk to? He was there to listen. If you were sick? He'd come to your dorm with a steaming pot of noodle soup. He would literally give the shirt off his back to someone who was struggling, cold, and in need of warmth and affection. Just ask Taehyung, who—to his slight dismay— had the opportunity to watch as his best friend took off his sweatshirt (his only source of warmth) one cold December day to give to a small girl they encountered while in town, obviously homeless from the way she had nothing but old, tattered clothes and a ragged scarf. He refused to accept Taehyung's jacket afterwards as they headed back to their dorm twenty minutes away, grasping his bear arms in a haphazard attempt to stay warm. He woke up the next day with a bad cold, recieving a rather harsh lecture from Taehyung about how he needed to think about himself for once in his god damn life. Jimin was just that kind of a guy. Especially when it came to animals. So as he watched the little calico cat tremble meekly in the middle of the lake, afraid of moving an inch so as not to upset the cracking ice beneath its paws even further, he knew he couldn't bear to just stand and watch and walk away as the helpless creature struggled before his eyes. It was a terribly chilly day in the month of January, one that left the said teen clutching at his fur line hood and grasping his hands together tightly. Jimin was on his way home from class when he spotted the cat passing by the lake, and now that it has caught his eyes he couldn't tear his attention off of it. Having no idea how it got on the center of the lake, he went as far into the lake as its small dock allowed, fully set on attempting to rescue the poor creature. He knew it was risky, and he knew it might as well end up with him wet and shivering and colder than he already was, but that never stopped him before. Fuck it, if seeing the cat safe and warm meant dunking himself in ice water in eighteen degree weather (-7.8C), than he wouldn't hesitate for a moment. Taking off his jacket so he'd have something to keep the cat warm with afterwards, he got on his knees at the very edge of the dock and leaned down towards the frozen lake, outstretching his arms as he caught the cat's attention. From there, the ball of brown and white fur was only a few feet away from Jimin. The dock sat on wooden stilts, standing quite a few inches taller than the lake, so Jimin had to be careful. Making small and patient gestures for the cat to come closer, he clicked his tongue in order to coax the cat into is reaching arms, but as it carefully made its way towards Jimin, the ice made a threatening crack under the creature, scaring it into freezing in place. One more step and the cat would be frozen meat. Jimin cursed. It was only a few inches away from him now, but he understood that taking any more steps would be risking it. He slid forward a bit more, lowering his back a little further as his hands barely grasped the little cat. Just a little more, and he'd be able to grasp it and pull it to safety... His entire upper body was directly over the ice now. He didn't know if his arms were trembling from the biting cold or from the slight, unsettling fear that was starting to take over his entire being. Anchoring his legs on the dock as best he could, he urged himself to propel forward just a bit more and swiftly swept the cat into his arms, bringing it closer to his torso as he tried retracting his entire upper body back to his legs, but he teetered dangerously backwards as he turned his body to throw the cat onto the dock, and before his senses could process it, his back crashed into the already weakened ice with a sickening crack. A shrill cry made its way out of his lips, and then all he knew was freezing, biting cold closing in on him on all sides, engulfing his entire body. He fell into the lake. He fell into the freezing cold lake, as his mind was screaming at him to get out, get out before the ice cold water drags him deeper into its hold. He gathered himself the best he could and swam up, hoping to meet the sweet relief of air, but his head bumped into the ice that now prevented him from escaping, trapping him within the clutches of the lake. If hell was cold, he was sure that this is what it would feel like. Kicking feverishly to keep himself up and moving, his hands flew up frantically in search of the opening he had to have created only moments ago. Or was it moments? He didn't know. He opened his eyes as a desparate attempt to locate the hole, and the cold and powerful water stung like a million pinpricks, attacking him and belittling him as it pushed its way down his empty lungs as well. He couldn't breathe. He had to get out, now. Where the fuck was this damn hole? Now, Jimin was starting to panic. He could feel his arms and legs growing tired and heavy from his constant thrashing about, combined with the cold beginning to seep its way in and freezing them. If he was unable to move before he found the hole, then what would happen to him? His already induced anxiety spiked at the thought. His head pounded, and his lungs were burning, screaming for air, but the water that currently filled them up and suffocated him was an alarming reminder that he couldn't even breathe to calm himself down. He knew he wasn't going to last much longer now, he could feel it in the way his arms and legs begun begging him to stop, aching terribly from the exertion. He frantically looked around his tunnelling vision as a last means of trying to find the hole, with no mind at all to be concerned for his eyeballs currently being frozen to shreds. If he was going to be forced to deal with the consequences on his body later, than he was going to make sure he'd be alive to experience them. And like a miracle, his hands caught against sharp, stinging ice, staining the water red. The jagged edges of the hole he made only moments ago. Paying no attention to the harm he had caused himself, he attempted to grasp onto the ice and hoist himself upward. By some fate the sheet of glistening white was strong enough for him to use it as a surface for bringing his head up and taking in a strangled gasp, coughing out the ice water in his lungs as he pulled his upper body out of the water. He was cold, shaking, and exhausted, but the rays of sunlight being cast onto his back was a warm reminder that he made it out intact and alive. He let himself bask in the relief, thinking that the worst was finally over until the telltale cracks of the ice from below him sent him back into a frozen panic, and in his desparation he made a blind reach for something, anything that would stop him from returning down there, in the freezing cold, the suffocating water. He knew for certain that he was not going to be able to feel the sun's warmth on his back ever again if he took another plunge. He searched about with his arms for the dock as he felt himself slipping back into the water's grasp, but instead found a pair of firm, warm hands, grasping his tightly and pulled him out. 💜💜💜💜💜💜💜
