Chapter Text
he’s in darkness, mind disoriented and floating. distantly, he thinks that he’s probably in the afterlife. his body doesn’t tremble with unbearable pain and he feels light. jimin also thinks his eyes are open, which only secures the conclusion that he has died. he starts to panic, jolting up into a sitting position and looking around with wide eyes, trying to make sense of what’s happening. eventually after a few moments of frantic searching in the pitch black, jimin’s eyes adjust and he notices -- or hallucinates -- warm light feeding from under what seems like a door. feeling nervous in the heavy darkness, he decides that whatever is on the other side of that door is probably better especially if he’s dead.
jimin swings his legs over the side of what seems to be a bed and stumbles his way towards the door. his whole body, while not aching anymore, feels stiff and out of use. somehow he is able to feel around and find what feels like a doorknob, but before he can turn it he is pushed back by someone coming inside. the person pushes with relative force, causing jimin to lose his balance and fall backwards as bright light floods into the room. he covers his watering eyes and attempts to make sense of the figure standing over him. “oh! oh, i’m sorry! i didn’t mean to push you, oh jeez yoongi’s gonna kill me,” the figure fusses over him and jimin’s being pulled up, feeling very confused and intimidated by the stranger. the figure, who jimin can now decipher as being a young boy, is clutching his biceps tightly as if he’s afraid jimin will fall again. when he notices the other cringing away, the stranger lets him go and bows to him instead.
“i’m jeongguk. i was supposed to change your dressings, but.. you’re awake. and i hit you. with the door. and you fell. and you’re still injured. sorry about that. i’m gonna be in so much trouble.” the boy, jeongguk, sighs and runs a hand through his curly black hair.
jimin takes this opportunity to give himself a once over, and sure enough his whole body is covered in bandages from head to toe. reeling, he furrows his brows and brings a dried, bloody hand to his face. “i’m… what? where… how? why doesn’t it hurt? who are you? why.. why am i here?” his voice is small and wavering.
jeongguk frowns, considering the questions. “uh.. yoongi, he’s in charge around here and could probably answer most of those questions? as i said, i’m jeongguk. yoongi’s apprentice. he’s a wizard, and this is his house? it’s probably a lot for you to take in right now, just come sit in the living room and wait for him to come back. that’s if you’re feeling up to it, of course..” the boy steps away from the doorway to reveal another room, warmth flooding in, making jimin realise the chill settling on his skin.
jimin glances at the boy cautiously. he seems nice enough, but so did the rest of the village before they went on a witch hunt after him. jeongguk says that they’re wizards, but jimin doesn’t even know if they exist let alone if he can trust them if they are. he’s not sure if he’s safe yet, and sitting right in the middle of an open room doesn’t seem the way to go. skittish, Jimin slowly shakes his head. “i.. i’m still a bit tired. i’d like to sleep for a little longer, if that’s okay.”
jeongguk nods and bites his lip. “um. okay, i’ll just be outside if you need anything. yoongi will be back soon… yep. cool. okay,” the boy mills about for a moment before realising he should probably leave and does so, turning reluctantly. with little of his questions answered, jimin sighs to himself before he goes back into the darkness of the room to sleep for as long as he can. hopefully, he thinks to himself, he’ll wake up and this will all be a dream.
.
.
.
the sounds of voices rouse jimin from his sleep for the second time.
“do you think he’s alive?” a sweet, curious tone questions.
“what a stupid question to ask. of course he is. jeongguk said so earlier.” a more serious, deadpan counterpart replies.
“yeah, but what if he’s dead now? he could have died in his sleep.” the first voice presses.
“he hasn’t. are you blind? he’s clearly breathing.” the other shoots back.
“hmm, i guess. but you can’t really trust that nowadays, you know. simple enchanting spell could make a rock mimic breathing.”
“he’s not a rock. he’s alive. who would even enchant him? nowadays? where have yo- you know what, i’m done with this conversation.”
“i didn’t say he was a rock, he’s clearly a human. or something. either way, i'm just saying that he could be a dead body mimicking breathing. maybe jeongguk killed him and panicked.”
there’s a moment of silence, the rustling of fabric. “i can’t even reply to that. are you serious? for the last time, i to-”
the voices hush simultaneously as jimin starts to stir, becoming aware of his lucidity. before he can process it, there are strong but gentle hands lifting him up into a sitting position. he opens his bleary eyes to see two different men, jeongguk nowhere in sight. rubbing sleep from his eye, jimin frowns whilst shying away; feeling threatened for the upteenth time. “who.. are you?” he supposes asking simple questions will get him where he wants to be, unlike earlier with jeongguk.
the owner of the first voice, a slim, handsome looking man with a curly mop of hair smiles widely at jimin. “i'm taehyung. this is yoongi. we won't hurt you. in fact, you don’t feel any pain at the moment, right? that was us!” jimin flinches at the sudden increase in volume, causing taehyung to frown slightly.
the other man, yoongi, claps a hand on taehyung’s back and pulls him to sit further away. taehyung is still nursing his bruised ego, so he goes easily with a wounded look. jimin tries not to feel too bad for the complete stranger but he can’t quite help himself, wishing he didn’t flinch so much. “i know how confusing and frightening this must be for you, it must be quite a lot to take in. jeongguk mentioned that you had a lot of questions? i could answer them to the best of my ability if you’d wish.” yoongi gives off a comforting vibe to jimin, so he nods; pulling himself into a more comfortable position protected from any potential attacks.
“i just… what am i doing here? How am i alive? i don’t.. the boy earlier said you were a wizard. i’m so confused. please don’t hurt me.” although slightly more comfortable, jimin’s voice is small and shy. taehyung is watching intently from behind yoongi, eyes innocent and open. jimin shuffles at the same time yoongi bristles slightly. “of course we wouldn’t hurt you. jeongguk was telling the truth, i’m a wizard. well, witch or wizard; the words mean the same thing. but i promise that being a witch is nothing like what everyone around you says. you’re here because taehyungie found you pretty badly hurt so he got us to bring you back here and help you.” yoongi tells him, helping to make the full picture become clearer for jimin. jimin takes a deep breath, looking down and noticing his array of bandages for a second time. he looks up again, defeated. “and that’s why I don’t feel pain right now even though i should, right?”
yoongi nods, black curls falling over his eyes. he pushes them back with a considering expression, probably thinking how to explain this scenario to jimin without seeming like he’s lying. “the fabric is doused in a type of potion that promotes pain relief as well as healing, just like your average healing cream” jimin is well acquainted with using the type of cream yoongi’s talking about on patients. this is nothing like it. “.. but a little stronger.” he admits with a hand on his neck, surprisingly mundane and.. normal. for a ‘wizard’. “ugh. this is so much. how can i know for sure that you guys won't hurt me?” jimin rubs his temples, bringing a headache on himself.
“you can trust us! we would never do anything bad to someone, never. it’s against our morals.” taehyung pipes up again, bright. yoongi nods in agreeance. “if we were going to hurt you we already would have, not to freak you out. that potion is pretty important to use on someone and if would be a waste if we were just going to get rid of them.” jimin breathes a reluctant sigh of relief. so if they weren’t going to hurt him, were they going to use him for something else? childhood memories and stories start to flood back to him of witches and their antics, stories detailing the torture and slavery of humans to do their bidding. jimin gulps.
“and you won’t.. like, keep me here against my will right?” he asks, meek to bring it up when they’re very obviously more powerful than he is right now. both of them look as if he’s offended their whole bloodline by saying those words, frowning deeply. “i don’t know what you’ve heard, but we’re not like that. you’re free to go whenever you want, as long as you’re healthy enough. it’s just not and will never be on our agenda to hurt someone physically or mentally so long as they don’t deserve it.” jimin nods slightly. “it’s just, growing up there were so many stories. from my father especially.”
from behind yoongi, it’s taehyung’s turn to bristle. “humans pretend we’re the violent ones when they’re the most violent themselves. you would know, wouldn’t you?” he shoots. jimin winces at offending taehyung, the guilt from earlier rising up in his throat; as well as memories of those at home turning on him. yoongi elbows taehyung and mutters under his breath, to which the other leaves the room with a somber expression. the black haired man turns back to jimin and sighs. “sorry about him. he’s a little touchy sometimes. i promise his heart is made of gold, as are the rest of ours. we won’t bother you except to change your bandages and bring you food, but we’re right outside if you need anything. just focus on healing up right now, okay? we can talk more whenever you’re ready.” he gets up without a reply from jimin who is still feeling small. jimin distantly wonders if he’ll ever be ready as he nods back off to sleep, hearing the door shut behind yoongi.