Taehyung's Pov

Jimin was right; that girl can't keep a secret. How do I start explaining everything to him?

"What is she talking about? Is she right?" Jimin asked, breaking me from my train of thoughts.

"I honestly don't know, but she said she asked around. Why would she lie?"

"Taehyung," he called. "This is bad, awful even. I couldn't change anything again." His face paled. A tear slipped down his cheek, that might have gone unnoticed by anyone but I saw it. I saw his lips quiver as they struggled to hold in the sobs that threatened to break free.

"I'd like to be alone." He said

Jimin's shoulders hunched as he walked slowly down the narrow street lined with bare trees, their branches swaying lightly in the wind.

"Don't forget to come to that house we arrived in." I shouted at him.

I think it would be best if I left him alone for a while.

"So... are you ever going to tell me what happened between you and Jimin at the restaurant?" She asked as I watched Jimin leave.

My neck whipped around so harshly to face her that I almost thought it would break. I glared at her, my stare hardening into a menacing look. My fists balled tightly at my sides, knuckles white from the pressure.

Deep breath, Taehyung. Deep breath.

Author's Pov

Jimin left his two friends, walking slowly, his face hollow and lips tight, as if holding back all of his emotions.

The world around him felt distant, as though he were walking through a haze, disconnected from everything but the heaviness within his heart.

Tears welled up in his eyes, but he blinked them away, unwilling to let the pain spill over.

As he passed by a row of buildings, his pace slowed, and he paused for a moment as he watched a family-a father carrying his five year old son on his back, as if he were a horse and the mother cheering them on. "Why not me?" He asked himself internally, repeatedly.

He took a deep breath in, shaky and uneven, gathering the strength to keep moving. His hands, balled into fists, relaxed briefly before tightening his grip again, as if trying to grasp something that had already slipped through his fingers.

He exhaled, eyes drifting towards the sky, unsure of where to go. Without a word, he continued on, disappearing down the streets.

"I guess I'm just not destined for a happy family."

____

Taehyung had been waiting for Jimin for the past hours, so they could go back home, but he had refused to show up.

After a few more minutes of waiting, Taehyung decided to take up Wonyoung offer and look for Jimin.

They had searched everywhere, and finally saw him in front of Jiwon's house, watching his parents through the window.

Jimin's Pov

I stood outside my mother's house, watching her and Jin through the window. She was laughing-carefree, in a way I had never seen her in the future. But I knew this wouldn't last.

Soon, my father would betray her, and the chain of events I came to stop yet again, would unfold.

"Jimin, let's go. We don't have much time left." I heard Taehyung say to me.

"I can't go back." I whispered to myself. "I can't go back to the future if this is how it ends."

I turned away from the house, my mind racing with various thoughts. I came to the past for a reason; I had to stop my mom, but I couldn't fulfill it.

As my thoughts spiraled, a distant voice called my name-faint at first, but growing louder. I shook my head, trying to clear the fog, but the voice persisted.

"Jimin..."

The world around me began to distort. The houses, streets, Taehyung, even my mother's figure through the window, started to flicker like an old TV. I blinked, looking around, confused.

What is happening?

Everything collapsed around me, falling away like pieces of shattered mirror, until the only thing left was an empty void-silent and still.

I opened my eyes. Bright light blinded my vision. I blinked, trying to make sense of the white walls surrounding me and my wrist strapped to the bed.

"Jimin," The voice came again, clearer this time. I turned my head towards the voice, seeing a man who looked a lot like Taehyung standing by the bed. "Do you know where you are?"

My breath caught in my throat. I looked around before I turned back to him. "Where... Where am I?"

"You're in a hospital," he said gently. "You've been here since you were sixteen."

"No..." I shook my head. "Since I was sixteen? I am sixteen."

The doctor looked at me sadly, shaking his head. "You've been here for seven years." He said, sitting down on a chair beside my bed. "You have to stop doing this to yourself, stop trying to forget your trauma and instead conquer it. That's the only way to heal."

"But I was in the past. I was trying to stop-" I stopped mid-sentence, the words slipping away as my memories flooded back. The beatings, my bloodied face, her drunken smirk as she saw me almost dead. Her painful words telling me to die, telling me how much she hates me because I look like my dad.

I was her personal punching bag, the target of all her frustration over everything my dad did to her. His betrayal and abuse towards her were all reflected back at me. I remember her making fun of my weight and making sure I went days without food.

I stayed most nights on the floor in my room, terribly hungry and in severe pain-black eyes, bloody nose, bruises all over my face and body. My only wish-to feel what a mother's love felt like.

Is that too much to ask?

My journey to the past had all been in my head. I had been warned by the doctors about these episodes-my mind would create worlds to protect myself from the trauma.

"It wasn't real." I muttered, my words breaking.

The doctor sat down beside me. "Jimin, you've been diagnosed with schizophrenia. The memories of your mother, the abuse-it all triggered something in your mind. You've been creating fake realities, to protect yourself."

I felt the walls closing in, the truth becoming clearer to me. My quest to save my mother wasn't about saving her but saving myself from the harsh truth: I was living in an abusive home.

"I couldn't change anything." I whispered.

"It wasn't your fault," the doctor said softly. "You couldn't have changed what happened to your parents. You have to let it go, to heal."

"Dr. Kim." A nurse entered, calling him to another room.

I sat in silence for a long moment after the doctor left, then closed my eyes, trying to forget every abuse my mother had ever inflicted on me.

____

I opened my eyes and saw myself in an abandoned house, Taehyung and I standing in a circle, holding each other. We chanted a spell, as I felt a white portal form beneath me and I entered into a body of water.

~Everything will be okay this time around.

Thank you all so much for being with my through my writing journey. I appreciate each and everyone of you and and all the support you've shown me through this book. Till next time.
Borahae💜
~Vicky