The Broken Dancer

Fall of Desire

When Jimin blearily blinks open his eyes the next morning, he flinches as the harsh rays of sunlight blind him as they stream into his room. He had forgotten to pull his curtains closed after the events of last night and he reels his head back in pain to hide himself away from the sunbeams that shine on his face. His sudden movement caused his stomach to twist and he was thrown back into harsh reality when the pain from the night before ran throughout his body. His tired brain took a second to catch up with his aching figure but once it focused he could uncomfortably feel his bruised stomach and sore limbs. His head was throbbing from the daylight and no doubt from where he had hit it against the wall last night, and he groaned agonizingly as he slowly pulled himself upright and planted his feet against the carpeted floor. 

His bones cracked and groaned as he moved and his fancy clothes were all creased and rumpled against his skin having had slept in them. His face felt thick and heavy from not having taken off his makeup and he was too afraid to glance in the mirror to see his disheveled and tear-streaked face. 

As he stood the room started to spin and he wobbled on his heels for a second before regaining his balance. He struggled to stand up straight, his aching stomach causing him to hunch over and limp his way over towards his adjoining bathroom. It had been a few weeks from the last time he was beat like this, and he told himself that no matter how broken he was feeling he would get through it like all the countless times before.

His first point of call was to turn on the shower, avoiding the wall mirror that hung above the sink to his right, and carefully leaned over the bathtub to twist the metal taps. He would have preferred a bath to ease his aching body but he wanted to clean himself off as quickly as possible. So, Jimin tried his best to stand up straight and delicately unbuttoned his shirt and slid it off his shoulders. His trousers were a lot more difficult to remove, his stomach throbbing as he tried to bend down and slip the tight material off of his ankles, but he persevered and managed to remove every item of clothing he had on. 

Groaning as he lifted his bruised legs over the edge of the bath, to then sigh blissfully when his pounding head went under the cool stream of water. He eased up as his body awoke more and attentively worked out the kinks in his neck. 

Now clean and fresh, Jimin felt a lot more awake and could pinpoint the parts on his body that hurt the most. The back of his head was a little sore but his biggest problem was his stomach. He still hadn't looked at the marks yet, but knew that they would be awful. Other than that his body seemed okay, just a little tender from his dance routine and work from the night before. 

Wrapping a fluffy white towel around his waist and grabbing another to dry off his hair, he unlocked the bathroom door and stepped back out into his bedroom. Now was the moment of truth. He cautiously made his way towards his floor length mirror and prepared himself for the sight he would be greeted with. 

The second he saw his reflection staring back at him he felt bile rise up his his throat. His dad had caused some awful marks and wounds before but as he stared at the amount of multi-coloured bruises littering his pale skin he screwed his eyes shut and turned his head away. Taking a deep breath trying to calm himself down, Jimin slowly turned his head back around to take another look and inspect the bruises more attentively. His left hip bone was discoloured a greenish-yellow and his abdomen was a dark brown. What caught his attention though was the large and sensitive purple bruise that decorated his rib cage. That one was definitely new and looked tender to touch. Experimenting, Jimin steadily lifted his arm and prodded the center of the ugly bruise. The light pressure caused him to jerk forward and a ugly scream came falling from his mouth on impact and Jimin new just how difficult it would be to try and hide this one from other people. 

He didn't want to attempt putting makeup onto the aching blemish so he just had to pray that his father would provide him with a solid shirt tonight that didn't show off his skin underneath. Just in case, that night Jimin slipped on a thin white vest top under his shirt to make sure no one would catch a glimpse of what lay underneath.