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JIMIN QUICKLY SWIPED the hotel room key on the lock and opened the door for Alice, who sluggishly walked inside. He followed her inside, his head low as he quietly watched her throw her stuff down and grab her bag. She retreated to the bathroom as Jimin assumed she was going to take a shower.
The walk back from downtown had been silent, Jimin walking slightly behind Alice who had been walking with her eyes glued to the ground. She didn't want to talk at all, and Jimin knew better than to talk to her when she didn't want to. As much as he wanted to comfort her and speak to her, he wanted to respect her privacy first.
Jimin was on the couch when Alice opened the bathroom door, hair wet from the shower as she dropped her bag onto the floor. She walked straight to the bedroom, leaving the door open as she just laid onto the bed. He could see her from the living room, and it hurt his heart to see her like that. He didn't even remember the last time she cried as much as she did that night, and seeing it again made it realize how much it meant for Jimin to make her happy.
After his shower, he peeked into the bedroom to see Alice under the blankets, her back facing him.
Good night, he thought before gently pressing the light switch, turning off the light in the bedroom. He was about to close the door until he heard a voice coming from the bed.
"Jimin," Alice mumbled. Jimin blinked and stopped the door, slightly poking his head into the room. She was awake the entire time, just curling up in her blankets.
"Yeah?" he softly asked.
"Come," she said while pulling the blankets off of the spot next to her, patting the empty spot gently.
Jimin swallowed before quickly turning the lights off to the living room and making his way toward the bed. He slowly climbed on, shifting onto his elbow to face Alice and pulling the covers over his lower body. The bed was pretty small, so they were already in close proximity.
"Everything okay?" He whispered, looking at Alice who had only been looking down.
"Yeah," she replied, but it didn't sound convincing to Jimin. He brought his hand up to her face, gently caressing her cheek with his thumb. Alice closed her eyes at his touch, emitting a tear from her eye that she was unaware of shedding. She thought she had stopped the tears- guess not.
"She... She told me she lives in the apartment above the restaurant," Alice started to speak up, but Jimin only shushed her in response.
"You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to," he shook his head.
"No," she sniffled before continuing. "S-She told me she felt guilty that I started school later because I had to support the two of us. And she told me that she-she thought I could do better if she wasn't there, have a better life, you know?" Alice explained, her eyes still avoiding Jimin's. She was too afraid to look into his eyes, to show her vulnerability and her pain. She almost felt ashamed and she hated it.
"What did you say to her?" He asked, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.
"That I can't forgive her," her voice started to break as a tear fell. "Because I can't. It's been so hard, Jimin," she took a breath. "And knowing that she probably knew that while living her own life... it hurts."
"Maybe... Maybe you just need time," he calmly said as he wiped her tears away. "Time to heal. I know she must be really sorry and must feel really guilty, and she should, and you have every right to be angry and hurt. But I'm sure this will haunt her for the rest of her life. Perhaps she just wanted to give you a better chance at life, you know? You still have a long, beautiful life ahead of you and she's already lived hers. Just... don't do anything you'll regret, okay?"
She looked up at him, for possibly the first time that night, and his eyes met hers. He smiled a bit as he continued to caress her cheek, causing a sigh to fall out of Alice's mouth. She couldn't argue with him; she knew what he was saying was true.
"I'm sorry for ruining your trip with this mess," she mumbled before tilting her head back down again, but Jimin's fingers caught her chin and tilted her head back toward him, surprising Alice a bit.
"Don't apologize," Jimin dropped his hand from her, Alice immediately frowning a bit from the loss of contact. "Your happiness means the most to me. More than anything."
More than anything. It echoed in her head.
As she felt more tears coming, she buried her face into his chest before they could fall.
Jimin blinked, a bit taken back, before reluctantly laying down fully, tucking his arm under her head. He wrapped his other arm around her body, pulling her closer to himself. He held her tighter as her body shook with her cries, muffled against his chest.
"Jimin," she whispered as choked on a sob.
Hearing her say his name like that; in pain, in sadness, well, it made Jimin never want to hear his name fall out of her lips again.
He frowned as he pulled back slightly, seeing her tear stained cheeks. He brought his hand to her cheek, wiping off her tears gently, her wet eyelashes tickling his skin.
He wrapped his arm around her again, pulling her closer. "Go to sleep," he whispered, his breath hot on her forehead. He felt her nod slightly, and he closed his eyes, the feeling of her forehead rested against his chin.
Though, his eyes opened when he felt her eyelashes touch against the bottom of her chin. She was still awake.
Alice's body froze as she suddenly heard a sound coming right above her head.
Jimin was singing, his voice coming out lowly as he began to sing the first verse of his song, Serendipity. The song he had written for her.
The words fell out of his mouth smoothly, voice sweet like honey as Alice felt her body relaxing. She instinctively moved her head a bit, her cheek bone now resting on Jimin's lower cheek as she gently let her eyes flutter shut at the soothing sound of Jimin's light verse.
