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Jimin had been seeing his soulmate in his dreams ever since he had turned ten. It was an early bond, explained by the way his other half was a few years older than he was. But it was also a powerful bond. He could see the other boy so clearly, it was like they were physically standing together.
Seokjin was everything he could have ever wanted in a soulmate. Even when they were young, his genuine kindness and adoration shone brightly. Whenever he’d have a rough day, Jin was there and holding him in their shared dreams. When his father died, and he intentionally slept more to see the other, Jin did his best to match the new sleep pattern to be there for him. Jimin easily found himself looking up to him, his slightly younger heart feeling impossibly endeared by the care.
After what had ended up happening, he’d chastise his younger self for being so impossibly naive.
Don’t trust what you see so easily , he’d say, look closer.
One night around his 18th birthday, he fell asleep easily and expected to find his soulmate there, just as always. Except he appeared in the dream to a shock. The usually peaceful dreamscape of their bond was suddenly a vast and winding labyrinth.
Jimin stood at one end and he knew his other half stood at the other.
He knew what this was and he wanted to cry.
Everyone with a soulmate had heard the warnings of what was called Maze Mind. It was a natural occurrence that happened between two halves; some kind of test of the bond from the universe. Strong bonds tended to have simple mazes, as it wasn’t hard to find each other and solidify the bond. The weaker the link, the more complicated the maze.
And he was looking at the king of all mazes.
Jimin sunk to his knees at the entrance of the massive labyrinth, heart breaking to pieces right in front of him. How was he ever to find the end or meet up with Seokjin somewhere in the middle? It seemed too overwhelming, too impossible.
“Jinnie-hyung…” he cried softly, “do you hear me?”
For awhile, silence answered him. He felt ready to dissolve into total despair. It would be a hard enough venture to find his way through such a labyrinth, but having to face it without any interaction with his end goal? It was too much.
Then he heard it, soft a whisper on the breeze.
“I’m here Jiminie…”
His tears turned into ones of relief. “Hyungie,” he sobbed, “w-what happened?? What did I do w-wrong?”
Seokjin was quiet for another long while. Maybe contemplating his answer.
Every moment was torture as his mind conjured the endless possibilities behind such a tense silence. They had never been so eerily quiet with their bond and the sudden distance was torturous. Jimin wanted to scream at the injustice he felt.
“I was always there for you,” he said eventually with an obvious exhaustion in his words. “I helped you overcome so much but you never thought to look out for me.”
He wanted to cry fowl with every fiber of his being, but he fell short. How could he deny such a claim when he immediately knew it to be true? Jimin had to bite back stomach bile that threatened to rise in his throat at the feeling of guilt that arose.
“Besides,” Seokjin continued, a bit more bitterly, “you’ve always liked things a little dangerous or challenging. So here, have the biggest challenge of your life.”
Hearing his soulmate so sad and beat down was almost worse than the sudden appearance of the labyrinth. How had he missed such a thing? Had he simply been too focused on himself? It wouldn’t have just suddenly appeared.
“H-Hyung…” He could hear the soft sniffles Jin tried to conceal and it made him feel even sicker with himself.
Their bond was so weak, so fleeting, that if he so much as doubted whatever they had left, it would probably snap in two and cease to be.
Jimin felt awful. He stood on weak legs and stared down the chainlink labyrinth. It was almost a self inflicted punishment.
One he could have avoided if he had been a better soulmate.
He could only hope his feelings of remorse and guilt were being transmitted to Seokjin on the other end of the labyrinth. He just hoped that his soulmate knew how sorry he felt.
Jimin still felt daunted by the task set before him. But Jin was exactly right, he had always loved a challenge. He lived for the feeling that came with overcoming obstacles.
He just hoped that the payoff of the labyrinth would end with him having his hyung in his arms again.
With a determination for a good outcome settling into his very bones, Jimin heaved in a breath and took his first step into the most important puzzle of his life. Somewhere from the other end, he swore he could feel a hint of relief from his soulmate. It only strengthened his resolve to fight the labyrinth.
Every turn he made led to even more turns. Every potential path seemed to strike a dead end.
Jimin growled each time he found himself blocked off in a corner somewhere. It was devastatingly frustrating. But he pushed on, moving quickly in a vague hope of trying to find his way to the end easily. He longed to build up the bond to what it should be, he was ready to change himself and be a better soulmate.
It was truly the least he could do to find the path.
His wandering continued. The process of searching so hard and coming up empty handed was disheartening but he did his best to continue pressing on. The mental image of Seokjin’s soft smile was motivational enough.
Though, gradually, he lost some of his initial drive; especially when he only seemed to be hitting dead ends.
Seokjin must’ve sensed it. “Slowing down already… I suppose that is a bit telling.”
He couldn’t help but burst into tears at the words. “I’m trying my best hyungie, this place is just…” Jimin wasn’t even sure how to describe how spirit sucking the labyrinth was. It was like just being in its midst drained at his motivation and he hated it.”
“Yeah… I know the feeling.”
It was another stab at his heart. Jimin ducked his head in shame. He knew that finding his way through the labyrinth was only a start towards fixing his mistakes. He owed much to his other half, and it was so much that he wasn’t even sure he’d be able to repay it in their current lifetime.
“I’m… I’m so sorry hyungie. I was too focused on myself… you deserved better.”
A wave of resignation seemed to ripple through the air.
Jimin hated it.
Things had always been too good, hadn’t they? For all the times he had been suffering, how many of those times had his other half been struggling too? Why hadn’t he ever asked? Why had he taken it for granted and never offered such care and love in return?
He had never pegged himself as someone who took over gave such things. But retrospect on his soulmate bond made him realize just how undeniably greedy he had been.
Though he really didn’t know why he had been that way.
Seokjin truly deserved better than him.
Self doubt weakened his resolve. But he desperately fought it down and avoided the toxic feeling. To save the bond, he could have no room for such things. He could question things later, when the situation was on more stable ground.
Time passed, he continued to fight his way through the winding maze. But eventually felt the telltale signs of his body shifting into consciousness. His grip on the shared soulmate mindspace slipped.
“H-Hyung! What will happen if I wake now?” He was scared. Would the bond fall through his fingers while he was awake?
His other half said nothing, and the silence was ominous.
Jimin fell to his knees and let his forehead press into the ground. “Please wait for me,” he begged, “I will come back for you. I always will.”
He woke up.
When he returned later that same day, the progress he had made was lost. Jimin was back at the start of the labyrinth.
He wanted to scream.
The trend continued for a week or so. He would fight waking up, fail, and end up right back at the beginning.
With each day that passed, he could feel Seokjin’s spirit sinking impossibly further down.
One week turned into several.
The bond was so weak, so fragile. Jimin feared a small slip up would sever it.
It was by that point that he began willing away his need to wake up. Returning to the beginning so much was wearing on him too much, so it was the only solution. If he didn’t wake up from the dream, he wouldn’t have to restart.
Seokjin didn’t seem to notice for awhile. Jimin was alright with that.
But it wore on him. Somehow sleeping so much felt almost as bad as bouts of insomnia. Even from the isolated mindscape, he could feel the effects on his body. Jimin realized that he had single handedly forced himself into a coma. He hoped his friends would get him the care he needed when they noticed the situation.
It wasn’t until around a month in that his soulmate noticed.
“How are you always here before me?” Jin asked once. “You’re sleeping way more than you usually do…
Jimin stayed quiet, choosing instead to keep fighting his way through the endless pathways.
Apparently it was more telling than he had hoped.
The vague waves of emotion coming from Seokjin reflected concern. “Wait… you-”
He grit his teeth and pushed on.
Gotta keep going. Gotta keep going.
“Jimin what did you do…?”
Another dead end. At least he didn’t have it in him to scream or get frustrated about it anymore.
“What I had to,” he answered.
It was undoubtedly stupid of him. There was no way of knowing what potential issues he’d be facing once he woke back up. But all he could think about, all he cared about was finding his way through the damned labyrinth and winning back a stable soul bond.
He had heard the rumors of people who had been confronted with intense Maze Mind. People who fell into comas because they got so desperate to find the connection or the end. People who ended up slipping away into death because no one realized what was going on. Even people who had tried, toiled, and fought for a bond, only to end up failing or exhausting themselves.
The rumors had always been awful, full of warnings and the adamant declaration that one should’ve delve too deeply into resolving a soul bond in such a way.
But he hadn’t listened. How could he?
Seokjin was.... he was everything. He was the calm amidst the storm of Jimin’s life. He was a comforting embrace when everything seemed to be going wrong. He was the light at the end of the tunnel… He was his soulmate, and Jimin would be damned before he gave up on such a beautiful human.
Though his resolve was unfaltering after such a long battle, his body was weakening. He could feel it in the way his limbs felt leaden and sluggish. The way his vision would blur and grey at the edges. Jimin knew he was in too deep, but he couldn’t give up, not when he had gone so far into the labyrinth.
“Jimin,” Seokjin called, “you can’t do this… you’re going to overwork yourself!”
He paused, fingers gripping at the chain link fence in a vague attempt to keep himself vertical. “I h-have to,” he said firmly, “I have to fix this.”
“You won’t be able to if you die before you have a chance!”
Part of him wished his soulmate was exaggerating. Yet, it was becoming a matter of life or death.
“I won’t give up on you,” Jimin murmured, “I can’t…”
Onwards he fought. The more he pressed on, the worse he felt. The longer he stayed in the dreamscape, the weaker his body became.
Eventually, he reached a breaking point.
His legs, long since gone numb, collapsed beneath him and sent him crashing into the chain link fence. Jimin wanted to stand and keep going, he needed to reach the end of the labyrinth. But his body would not listen to him. His strength was gone.
“I-I’m sorry,” he whispered hoarsely, “you deserve better than me…”
Seokjin’s voice reflected his worry. “Don’t you dare, Park Jimin, this is not the end.”
Jimin choked on a dry laugh. “I wish it were not, but I cannot find the strength to keep going. I failed you, hyungie.”
“You have not failed me! I… You’re going to be fine. You need to wake up!”
He doubted his ability to wake up at all for how he was feeling.
Jin sounded on the verge of panic then, “Jiminie… please, don’t give up now. You have to keep fighting.”
“...I’m sorry Jinnie-hyung…”
Jimin felt heavy, his body sagged loosely against the fence.
For all the rumors he had heard of the worst cases of Maze Mind. He was so terribly afraid to know the awful experiences and sensations were proving true.
“JIMIN!”
Jimin slowly blinked awake, the sterile smell to things and faint beeping of a nearby heart monitor clearly giving away just where he was.
He had awakened in a hospital room.
His body felt weak, so much so that it was near physically painful. Even just waking from his self imposed coma made him feel exhausted and ready for sleep.
“Perhaps from here on out, you might reign in the dramatics a bit?”
Jimin flinched at the sudden voice, eyes dragging to a familiar visage at his bedside. Though in his dazed state, he couldn’t honestly discern if the sight was real or not.
Seokjin stood there, looking every bit the vision as his dreamscape self.
“H-Hyungie?” He croaked.
The older male smiled thinly and grabbed up his hand. “Hello my stubborn soulmate. You gave me a scare. Though I must admit I am sad that you missed the way I dissolved the entire labyrinth in my desperation to reach you and force you back to your body.”
So he had been saved by his other half after all.
Jimin felt slightly guilty but it was softened by the feeling of his hyung’s warm hands. “You came for me again… Add it to the endless list of things I need to payback…”
Jin hummed and smiled more genuinely. “Very well… I guess you have a busy lifetime ahead of you.”
Their joined hands squeezed together.
Jimin mentally swore he’d do anything and everything in his power to make it up to his soulmate. He wanted to return the love and care he had been given tenfold. He wanted Seokjin to know of his feelings with the utmost certainty.
He would never let the labyrinth leave his thoughts, not for the toil they had both faced because of his choices.
He would be a better soulmate.
He would work on himself and make Seokjin his priority.
He would use the pain of his experience in the love maze to fuel his devotion for his soulmate.
Jimin swore he would do right by Seokjin…
Come hell or complex labyrinths.