Jimin's Pet | Park Jimin (a hybrid story)

^.^Twenty-one~~

Jimin~
It was late when I finally let myself back into the apartment. I had gone to a nearby park and sat on a bench, mulling things over and staring at the night sky for several hours.

What Mi-cha wanted me to do was actually very simple, but it was the last thing on earth that I wanted to do. I would have happily given her anything else.

As I walked through the darkened living room, I saw the vague outline of Poppy sleeping on the couch.

What is she doing out here?

I had put her things in Hobi's room, hoping he would take her in. Why hadn't he done so?

I walked over and kneeled down next to her, laying my head beside her on the cushion. I watched her silently, recharging my senses with the sight and smell of her. Timidly, I reached out to touch her, needing to feel her silky skin and the softness of her fluffy tail.

I missed her.

I missed everything about her. It had been four of the longest days of my life, but I needed to protect her and if that meant letting her think I didn't want her anymore, then so be it.

"I love you, Poppy," I softly whispered. She didn't stir, so I continued, "No matter what it looks like from now on, I will never love anyone else. My heart belongs only to you. Please don't hate me for what I'm about to do."

It occurred to me that it was actually a stroke of good luck that Hobi had developed an interest in her. Maybe it would make things easier for her—when I betrayed her.

Poppy~
It was still dark. I didn't know what time it was, but the living room hadn't lightened up at all. I lay still, looking through the shadowy grays and blacks of night, seeing everything sharply, but finding nothing unusual in the room that would have awakened me.

I listened, trying to separate the many different sounds I could hear, but it seemed that most everyone in the apartment was sleeping, their breathing slow and regular. Only one was still awake, which I knew because he continuously sniffled and his breathing was irregular. Was he crying?

As I tried to focus on the sound, I became very aware of something else—a scent. Where was it coming from? I inhaled and leaned my face into the cushion beside me, the raw smell of Jimin intoxicating me. He had been right here! And it was recently, judging from the strength of the scent. I buried my face into that cushion and stayed there, tears slipping from my eyes, until I fell asleep again.

~~~

I became aware of a strange sensation. I had slept fitfully when I fell back to sleep earlier, weird dreams invading my normally peaceful slumber. But now I felt something cold and wet on my cheek, waking me up. Not opening my eyes, I brushed my hand across my face and turned onto my side to go back to sleep.

I could hear a commotion coming from the kitchen. The guys seemed to be panicking over something.

"What do we do about this?" I heard Namjoon say. "Has ARMY reacted in any way yet?"

"This is bad. Has anyone heard from Mr. Bang yet? Does he know about this?"

"I'm going to check Twitter right now. If ARMY has seen this, you can bet it'll be trending."

In my head, I counted up the voices. Everyone, except Jimin, was present and accounted for.

Something cold and wet landed on my cheek again, followed by a soft chuckle. Irritated, I opened my eyes expecting Hobi, but found myself face to face with a younger boy instead. He was smiling, and his smile reached all the way into his beautiful deep brown eyes. Even though he had annoyed me, I couldn't help smiling back at him—until another drop of cold water landed on my face.