"This is where you've been keeping halmeoni? I thought she was dead."

Jungkook raised his eyebrow at the spirit. Jimin, who was scratching its ear, fixed him with a narrow stare. "You think I would kill an old lady like her?"

"You're a fucking demon!" Jungkook shouts in defense, arms flailing wildly in the air. "You fucking tossed my friends around the room like ragdolls until their bones break. What do you want me to think?"

The spirit shakes his head. "Did you forget that I spared your life?" Jimin jabbed a finger at him which Jungkook swatted away furiously.

"If it weren't for my mark, you would've killed me too, idiot! I was so close to dying until you saw this!" The boy pointed said mark.

"Fine. Whatever."

The sound of the doorknob turning finally ends the heated argument between the two. They've been waiting for the past hour for Jungkook's grandmother to wake up. Thus, they have been sitting on the cabin's sofa, waiting.

'We can't wake her up. She really has trouble sleeping. Please.' courtesy of a doe-eyed Jungkook. The spirit tensed.  He scoffed and stepped away from the bedroom door right away.

Jungkook's grandmother steps out of her room in her comfy night dress and small, round glasses. As soon as she spots Jungkook, her face lightens up with a smile, the wrinkles on her face becoming more prominent.

"Jungkookie!"

"Halmeoni!"

Jungkook ran to his grandma with the same smile resembling the lady's.

"Oh finally I've seen you again." Lisa said with a huge sigh of relief. "Thank you." She nodded towards Jimin who gave an awkward smile in return.

Jungkook looked back and forth between the two with confusion glimmering in his eyes. "You know this spirit, grandma?"

"Mhm. Didn't your mother tell you? I can see and speak with spirits. Jimin's my friend." Lisa laughs, nudging the silent spirit beside her.

Jungkook blinked and tried to slowly digest what he's hearing. "Halmeoni he killed my friends!" The boy screamed, shaking the old woman slightly.

"Yeah, it was your fault, sweetie."

Jungkook laughed dryly. "That's all you have to say? You don't care about Taehyung, Hoseok hyung or Y-Yoongi hyung?"

Jungkook was more than horrified when his grandmother just laughed. Laughed. The nerve she has when he's talking about his dead friends.

"Halmeoni!"

"Jungkook, Jimin can fetch them back from the land of the dead in a jiffy. No need to worry."

"What?" Jungkook was shocked, to say the least. "J-Jimin?" He turned towards the spirit who gave a huge grin and pulled up a peace sign.

"Oh my god." He exclaimed, feeling his head spin slightly. He slowly walked to the couch to sit down, the shock ringing loudly in his mind.

"That's not the news, we came to hear, Lisa." Jimin interjects, giving a side glance to the horrified boy staring at the coffee table with wide eyes. "I want to end this curse already, please." He pleads, his voice soft above a whisper.

"Let's sit down." Lisa says, grabbing Jimin with him to sit on the couch beside Jungkook. "Do you want some cream for that, Jimin?"

"Huh?" The spirit looks up, lost.

Lisa points at his red ear.

"Oh. I-I don't think it will work on me." Jimin scratches it more.

"Nonsense." The old woman walks to her room and grabs the cream. The spirit stares at it with apprehension. It might not even touch his skin.

"Go on. Apply it before we talk."

So Jimin does with a bit of hesitance. His eyes go wide when the cream actually meets his skin. He feels the coolness of it soothe the itchiness. He looks away, biting his lip.

"Better?"

"Yeah."

Lisa took the rocking chair in front of the two and clasped her hands on her lap with a soft smile. "Okay so, Jimin has told you about the history of your marks?"

The youngest sat up straight, his lips shut tight. "I want my friends back, Jimin." He whispered. "I want them back." He repeated himself firmly.

"Jungkook, now's not the time."

"What the fuck? What do you mean now's not the time?" Jungkook spoke with an indignant tone, suprising the other two in the room. "I want my fucking friends back, Jimin!"

"Sweetie-"

"No, I got this." Jimin faces the younger with a blank look on his face.

"What?" Jungkook chuckles shakily. "You're going to use your powers on me, huh? Go on!"

"Jungkook, what's wrong with you?" Jimin asks, trying to scoot closer to him but the other just moves futher away, hands raised in front of him as if he's protecting himself from Jimin.

"No! What's wrong with you?!
Y-You played with us! You played with me! I thought they were gone and I will never get to see them again but-but-you're a monster!"

"Jungkookie." Lisa tried to calm the boy down but it looks like he's gone.

Jungkook was trembling like a cat soaked wet under the rain, breathing heavily through his mouth, eyes wide.

The spirit moved closer to him and Jungkook tried to move away but he's trapped against the armchair of the sofa.

"N-No. Don't come any closer. Don't fucking touch me."

"Jungkook."

"No!"

"Jungkook, listen to me."

"Shut up!"

"Calm down, okay? Try to breathe."

"Fuck you!"

Jimin sighed. He spared a careful glance to Lisa, receiving a small nod in return. With no other choice left, he raised a hand to cup Jungkook's cheek. The younger's breathing slowly evened out and Jimin felt his heart beat slow down.

"I'm sorry." The spirit apologized sincerely. "I'm sorry, okay?" He cups Jungkook's other cheek, the younger's eyes glossy with tears. "But you need to understand that it wasn't my choice to become what I am. I promise I'll get them back for you. But right now I need your help, alright? I need a way out of this fucking nightmare so I won't have to hurt more people in the future. I need you so please stay with me."

A sob broke out of Jungkook, his eyes still trained on Jimin's dark ones. With shaky hands he gripped the other's wrist for support. He slowly nodded. "Okay."

"Okay." Jimin smiled.

Neither of them moved after that. They stayed still as if neither wanted to pull away.  That was until Lisa chuckled, muttering something under her breath.

"What was that?" Jimin asked but he didn't get an answer.

The old lady stood up, dismissing Jimin with a wave of hand when he tried to help her. "I'll tell you both everything tomorrow. I think Jungkookie needs some rest."

"I want to be alone for now." Jungkook announced, arms around his body.

"Right. I'll...uhm...walk around outside I guess." Jimin stands up. "Rest well both of you."

"Be careful not to trip over rocks, sweetie." Lisa joked to which the spirit laughed sarcastically.

+++

Jimin knows the monster he has become. It eats away every piece of your being until you're an empty husk. Like a piece of paper lighted up on fire at one end. It spreads until only ashes are left. Ashes are nothing like paper. Paper is nothing like ashes.

He felt empty all those years. He killed and he killed. Taking the lives of curious people that liked to prove something to themslves or to their friends. Even if he was dead, the dull ache is present in his mind. He was like a puppet. A puppet controlled by no one.

But ever since he saw Jungkook that night. Scared and shaking. Something was different. He didn't find amusement in his fear. He felt the urge to protect him. It was different and with so many years of doing the same shit over and over again, Jungkook scared him instead. He was ready to kill the boy because it freaked him out that he got scared of a helpless mortal. He felt like Jungkook was a threat. But that damn mark. It just had to be him.

Jimin's starting to think that yes, Jungkook is a threat to him. There's a chaotic stirring in his head. Similar to a radio trying to find a signal but the antenna's broken.

"Jimin!"

The spirit looked up at the mention of his name. He saw Jungkook waving at him through the bedroom window at the second floor of the house.

"I'm sorry. Is now a bad time?" The younger said. His face was puffy from sleep, Jimin can tell even from a distance.

Jimin smiled then shook his head. "No. What is it?"

"Can you get me food? I'm hungry."

+++

Jimin stepped through the closed doors of the restaurant. He hated going to places like this. His heightened hearing made the buzz of the crowd way more louder than it is.

The spirit walked over to the kitchen quickly. He never went to a restaurant. Every meal he had stolen for Jungkook was from the houses not far from where they were.

So Jimin walked around for a while, the only ones that see him are the people who played the board so he didn't have to worry and well, special ones like Lisa. He searched around the kitchen, looking for what Jungkook said he was craving for.

"I want pizza." Jungkook said.

"What's that?"

The younger obviously didn't like his response. He gasped like he's been offended and raised his arms in disbelief.

"Only the best thing in the world ever."

Jimin walked around some more, going over the description Jungkook told him.

"Okay so it's a flat piece of bread cut into a circle. It has red sauce and lots of toppings."

His eyes fixed on an item that matched the description. He reached inside one of the ovens and grabbed the pizza. The look on one of the worker's who saw the pizza float in the air was priceless.

"I also want ice cream."

Jimin dropped off the pizza before retrieving the ice cream Jungkook wanted as well.

It was easier to take this one because the convenience store looked deserted when Jimin came in.

"Is that all?" Jimin asked, floating outside the bedroom's window.

Jungkook currently had a spoonful of vanilla ice cream in his mouth but he gave his best smile to Jimin. "This made me feel better. Thanks."

Jimin nodded and started to float away but Jungkook stopped him.

"Wait!"

"Need something else?" He asked and Jungkook nodded so he approached the window again.

"Come here, like step through the window." The younger said, gesturing for the spirit to come closer.

"I thought you wanted to be alone?"

"Just come here. Sit across from me."

And so Jimin did.

There's something different about how Jungkook was acting, the spirit observes as he takes his seat. He can't point it out but he knows.

"Here. Have a slice." Jungkook offered. He pulled one of the triangular cuts of the pizza and gave it to Jimin but the latter kindly refused.

"I don't eat."

"You can't eat?"

"I just don't."

Jungkook stood up to sit closer to him. Close enough that their legs bumped in the slightest move. Jimin's not used to the close proximity with a human being.

"There's no harm in trying just one bite. You won't die, right?" Jungkook poked his lips with the slice of pizza but he kept them tightly shut.

"Can you move?"

He saw the confusion and felt the pain that Jungkook responded with. There were a couple minutes of silence until he heard Jungkook sigh.

"Ok."

He was about to breathe out in relief but instead he felt a heaviness against his shoulder and the warmth of Jungkook's thigh touching his own. The mortal's body heat seeping through his own cold skin.

"W-what are you doing?"

"I moved, Jimin."

"That's not what I meant."

Jimin didn't know if Jungkook had fallen deaf because the mortal snuggled closer instead, made himself comfortable and started eating the slice of pizza he was trying to feed him earlier.

"You feel so cold." Jungkook giggled like a kid. "It's like I'm lying against a block of ice."

Jimin shifted uncomfortably and mumbled under his breath. "No shit."

"You're cold both literally and figuratively." The other chuckled. "You know I'm kind of pissed you used your powers on me earlier."

"Oh."

"But I also wanted to say thank you because you stopped it."

Silence fell over the both of them. The younger did chew quite loudly and it started to annoy Jimin. He was about to scold the mortal but it was the same time Jungkook decided to look up at him.

"I wanted to say sorry. I was an asshole when I shouted at you earlier. You're not a monster. You're...Jimin."

Up close, Jungkook's eyes looked larger. It's like a whole ocean you can dive in. There's a surge of something that made him jump when he felt the warmness of Jungkook's hand placed on his thigh.
He stayed still and watched as Jungkook craned his neck, trying to reach something until he felt the wetness of the human's lips against his cold cheek.

Almost immediately after that their eyes widened cosmically and they both pulled away quickly.

"I'll go and ask halmeoni if she wants some pizza and ice cream." Jungkook blabbered out in one breath. He stumbled over to the door and raced downstairs.

Jimin felt his heart beat again.

+++

wow hello
this update's longer
jikook is starting to sail my friends