Chapter Text
Expect the unexpected.
Life doesn’t always go the way we wish it to.
Sometimes, while everything looks okay and t looks like it’s going up, everything else around is falling.
Sometimes, even things we think are perfect crumble in the blink of an eye.
We build our lives up, and one tiny thing can bring it right back down to the start.
“I’m sorry to be saying this,” Lee Hon says. There’s a pitying expression on his face but any sign of real remorse doesn’t linger there. He doesn’t feel bad about any of this. He doesn’t care. All he cares about is the money going into his pocket at the end of the day.
It leaves Jimin feeling sick. His stomach is in knots. Uncomfortable knots that leave him wanting to bend over and throw up his guts, but he doesn’t. He stands frozen where he is, feet grounded on the carpet of Lee Hon’s office. He barely remembers coming up here to begin with. Everything about today has been a blur since the moment he woke up until now.
Has he even eaten today? Probably not. Right now, he can’t even tell right from left.
The office is cold. A lingering cold that has Jimin shivering, yearning for some sort of warmth. It was the middle of winter, why wasn’t there a heater running? They had one, right? Jimin is sure that when he started over a year ago he also ran into the same issue. The immense amount of jackets he had to bring with him to work, the blankets, will never leave his mind. For months they stayed in the back of his car because he always forgot about them.
Maybe the heater was broken and Lee Hon didn’t think about telling the employees. Or maybe it’s because most of them have gone home for the night and it’s mainly just him here. Maybe he enjoys the cold. Maybe the heat is just something he can’t get into so once everyone is gone for the night he cranks the air conditioner on until he leaves for the night.
Who knows?
Jimin doesn’t. And now he never will.
Jimin already knows deep down that whatever it is Lee Hon is going to say won’t be good. He can feel the immense anxiety and fear impending down on him like a heavy weight. There’s been a feeling of uneasiness in his chest for the last few hours since Lee Hon called him in. Messaged him, more like, that they needed to discuss something after he finished all his work for the night.
His leg jitters underneath him. A coping method in a way to calm his anxiety and yet it does little but bother those around him. He can’t help it though. It’s like his leg has a mind of its own and he only really notices when someone decides to point it out to him.
“Could you stop that?” Lee Hon motions to Jimin’s leg and he immediately feels ashamed and embarrassed as his leg comes to a stop. He holds his hands behind his back, twiddles and picks at his fingers while waiting for his boss to finish what he’s been trying to say. It’s nerve wracking. Annoying, honestly. How much longer does he need to drag this out?
Throughout his year here, Jimin has never once been called into the office. He’s spoken to Lee Hon a few times in the break room or while he was at his desk, but every time it was Jimin being commended for the work that he was putting out.
One of the best employees, Lee Hon would say with a surge of confidence and happiness. It always left Jimin in high spirits to know he was doing so well even though he’s just a beginner.
This is different. He knows it is. From the way Lee Hon is trying to go without saying what needs to be said to the way he paces his office back and forth like he has nowhere to go. Jimin has never been the most patient man in the world, and this is really testing him.
Lee Hon sighs. He clasps his hands together and doesn’t meet Jimin’s eyes as he says, “I’m letting you go.”
The words don’t register in Jimin’s head for a while. Like a computer dealing with an annoying amount of lag, he stalls. He’s short-circuited.
What did go mean again? What about letting? How did these work in a sentence together? What was Lee Hon trying to get through to Jimin? What was he saying?
Yet, of course, Jimin thinks of it completely different from what was implied.
He takes a step back and lets out a sigh. Surely this had been blown out of proportion. And while Jimin is glad Lee Hon decided not to tell him, he’s still worried it could be bad. Maybe he’ll learn another day though.
“I’ll see you tomorrow then, sir.” Jimin says. He takes another step back but his boss stops him.
“No, Jimin. That’s not what I meant.” The uneasy feeling in Jimin’s chest comes to play again. His footsteps freeze. It’s almost like he’s standing in quicksand right now. Slowly engulfing him. It’s ready to suffocate him. Jimin inhales a shaky breath. “I’m letting you go. You’re fired.”
Oh.
Oh.
Wait… what?
Jimin loses his footing then and as if the quicksand completely took him, he falls to the ground. This could not be happening right now. What did he mean? Fired? No. No. No. He’s done so well for himself. Why would he be fired? What did he do wrong? Did he mess up a serious report? Maybe he wasn’t getting along with a co-worker as well as he thought? What was the reasoning?
What happened to being one of the best? Where did that go? Or was it a lie?
“I-I don’t understand.” Jimin whispers. He hates the way there’s tears lingering in his eyes already. But he built himself up around this job. He got his first apartment because of how much he was making here. He was able to experience life more than before. He was living the way he wanted to. And now…now…
Now all of that went to hell.
Couldn’t one thing good in his life stay the same? Why did everything have to eventually crumble?
“I thought I was one of the best employees? Why are you firing me? What did I do wrong? Give me another chance. I swear I’ll prove myself to you again.” Jimin begs. He hates it. Begging isn’t something he ever wanted to do. He wanted to earn things for himself. Prove that he was useful, but when his entire life is on the line, he’ll beg. He has to or else he’s ruined.
Lee Hon shakes his head. He sighs and falls to his chair. “You were. You are .” He answers. Jimin looks up hopefully, but he can tell his boss has no plans to change what he’s just said. There’s nothing he can do about it, Jimin knows this. And yet, he wouldn’t leave without trying. “But we’ve had budget cuts, Jimin. Your section is barely getting any funding now and I can’t afford to have as many employees. You’re the newest worker here so my choice was you.”
“Y-you’re firing me, because you don’t have enough money in my department to keep me?” Jimin questions. Anger mixes with the sadness. It’s never a good combination. “Why don’t you move me to another department? Or fire someone who does less than me? W-why does it have to be me? ”
“Park Jimin.” Lee Hon says. Jimin pushes himself up to his feet. He feels stupid. Pathetic right now that he’s even on the ground to begin with. This is a professional place and while now he technically doesn’t work here anymore, he needs to stay level-headed. Calm. He can break down later on the way home. “It was a tough decision to cut you. I didn’t want to, believe me. But you’re young. You have a lot of talents and experiences. You’ll find something good for you, and you'll excel more than you do here.” He taps his fingers against the oak desk in the middle of the room and sighs. “You’ll get your paycheck this weekend as per usual, but today is your last day. Come by tomorrow and you can pack up your stuff if you don’t wish to tonight.”
“I—“ Jimin begins but he cuts himself off. There’s nothing you can do about this, his brain supplies. And for the first time, he actually hates that he has one. He knows it’s true. He holds little authority here. In the workplace, he follows what his boss says. His ex-boss anyways. He can’t do anything that he wishes to do. He can’t beg and plead, it’ll get him nowhere.
He’s back to square one.
But he’ll have to act fast.
His paycheck may hold him over for the next two weeks, but after that he’ll be screwed. He only hopes it doesn’t get to the point that he’ll have to ask Jeongguk and Taehyung if he can stay with them. Surely they wouldn’t mind, but Jimin would. He doesn’t even know how to break the news to them.
Maybe he’ll text them tomorrow. Maybe tonight. Depending on his mood, but right now he’s entirely crushed. Completely crushed. Almost like every bone in his body is broken as well. But it’s not physical pain. Purely mental. He thinks it hurts more than anything else though.
Being broken to the point that the tears won’t even form anymore. Empty like the dark.
Jimin bows his head in Lee Hon’s direction. “T-thank you for the opportunities. It was a pleasure working with you.” He balls his hands into fists, and turns on his heel, “I’ll be by tomorrow to gather my stuff.”
He leaves the room before his boss—ex-boss—can say anything else to him. He heads straight for the elevator and chooses to skip returning to his floor and work on his office and goes to the first floor. He needs to leave this place. He needs to get some fresh air before he screams. Before he fully breaks down and someone spots him. He doubts there’s many people left here. It’s almost eight o’clock at night and yet there’s probably a few people staying to work on things.
Jimin shudders as he reaches the first floor and the elevator doors open up wide. It’s cold down here too. Did no one use a heater here? Honestly, at this rate, he might head to a convenience store and pick up some hot cocoa mix before he freezes.
There’s a small crowd in the main hall and while that doesn’t necessarily surprise Jimin, it’s the fact that most of them look as if they’re wet. Some are even drenched from head to toe.
There’s no way that every single person here took a shower at the same time.
No.
That meant something completely different and Jimin prays that it isn’t what he’s thinking.
“It came out of nowhere.” A voice says. Jimin steps out of the elevator and walks towards the front door. He’s not trying to eavesdrop but it isn’t exactly easy to ignore words being spoken. “I don’t have an umbrella or anything. I can’t believe this. My date is ruined now.”
An umbrella? No. It couldn’t be raining. It couldn’t be. It couldn’t be. It—
Thunder screams in the distance the moment Jimin opens up the door and steps outside. He groans in anger. Hisses in annoyance and runs a hand throughout his hair to try and keep himself together.
Right now, he’s at his breaking point. It’s just been one thing after the other, hasn’t it?
Great. Just great.
While his apartment isn’t far from his workplace, it’s still a walk that isn’t the most enjoyable during the rain. He’ll be soaked before he even steps out from underneath the protection of this building and he isn’t exactly fond of pulling water in the apartment with him.
Well, it’s not like he has a job to come to tomorrow, he’ll just mop all the floors after tonight.
Jimin stuffs his phone into his pocket to prevent it from getting any water damage. He holds his hand over his head in an attempt to shield his eyes and then he runs. It isn’t the smartest of decisions, he knows that but it’ll get him home faster than walking would.
The streets aren’t completely full tonight much to his liking. The rain must have scared everyone away. Then again, no one is a fan of getting soaked if they can avoid it and the rain itself was uncalled for. The weather reports said it would be clear skies for the next few days.
How long would it rain this time around?
Running, Jimin doesn’t necessarily pay attention to his surroundings. He wants to get home, change and curl up with a nice blanket to warm himself up and then cry away his feelings from today. But that also means that he doesn’t see the car driving closer and closer to him as he attempts to cross the street in a hurry.
When he does though—because the driver honks their horn—it’s too late.
Or maybe it isn’t.
Jimin shields his eyes as the car gets closer, prepares himself for what is about to happen because there’s no way he’ll avoid getting hit. But the car never comes. It never even touches him, and when he opens his eyes again and looks around, time is frozen.
Literally.
“What the—?”
“Are you stupid ?” A voice screams. Jimin looks around to see that he’s now standing a few feet away from the car. He’s back on the sidewalk now. Safe and secure, almost like he never ran to begin with but he did.
And time? Time remains frozen.
“Do you have any idea what would have happened if I wasn’t there? Are you even listening to me?”
“Shut up.” Jimin says bluntly.
“Excuse me? What did you just say?”
“I-I said shut up.” Jimin repeats. He looks around curiously, confused. Raising his hand up, not even the rain is moving. But seeing it float in the sky is definitely a treat. “Everything stopped moving.” He pulls out his phone and checks it. It’s still the same time. The clock doesn’t change at all. “Time is frozen. Time is frozen. ”
“Okay, you’re crazy. Maybe I shouldn’t have saved you.” The stranger says. Jimin looks at him with dancing eyes. “What does time being frozen have to do with anything? Did you do that? I didn’t.”
Jimin tilts his head, “You don’t know?”
“Know what? I barely remember coming here.”
“The story of soulmates.” Jimin crosses his arms over his chest. And this stranger called him the crazy one. It’s a story that everyone knows. A story everyone lives by because it’s the way life works.
Finding your soulmate was definitely a treat.
Jimin had always been so busy with work that he never cared much about finding them.
“In life, everyone has a soulmate. When you cross paths with your soulmate, time will freeze for five minutes so you can find them. Only you and I are moving while the rest of the world is frozen in limbo…you’re my soulmate.”
The stranger tilts his head to the side. He purses his lips, “This is a strange place.”
“You say that like you’ve never been here before. It happens everywhere in the world.”
“Does it?” The stranger hums. “Alright then. Um…Mr. Soulmate, I’m Yoongi. And you are?”
Jimin stares at the stranger—Yoongi—in amazement. Something about him is striking, yet confusing at the same time. Why did Yoongi look so lost? So unaware of his surroundings? Of life? Everyone knew the story of soulmates. Why didn’t he?
“I’m Jimin. It’s nice to meet you.” He smiles. Smiles because this is his soulmate and technically his savior. If Yoongi hadn’t been there just now, who knows what would have happened. Would Jimin still be okay? Or would he be on his way to the hospital right now? He doesn’t even want to imagine that. Today has already been shitty enough as it is.
A faint buzzing sound rings in Jimin’s ears and moments later, the sound of that same car that almost hit Jimin honking echoes. Those standing around the walkway look towards Jimin and immediately rush towards him. Someone holds an umbrella over his head as they stare at him with worried eyes.
“Are you alright?” An elderly man questions. “You should look both ways before you cross a street, young man. Especially in weather like this, it’s harder for drivers to see where they’re going.”
Jimin nods his head. “I know. I know, I’m sorry. I’ve just had a really bad day today and I wasn’t thinking. All I wanted to do was go home so I ran across thinking it was safe, but I’m fine. If it wasn’t for this guy,” He motions to Yoongi, who smiles and waves, “Then I probably wouldn’t be safe right now.”
The man looks past Jimin towards Yoongi and tilts his head. A confused look forms on his face, “Son, did you hit your head?”
“No?” Jimin frowns. Why would he think that? Didn’t he just say he was okay? “Why do you ask?”
“Well…” The man motions towards where Yoongi is standing. “There’s no one standing right there and you said there was. Maybe you accidentally bumped into something.”
What?
Did he not…
Jimin turns his head around and looks at Yoongi. He’s definitely standing right there. Fully fleshed and in clothing that has seen better days but why couldn’t the man see him?
“Y-you don’t see anyone standing behind me?” Jimin asks. The man shakes his head. He takes a step back then. Jimin sighs, “I see. You must be right then. I probably hit my head. Thank you, sir. For checking on me.”
The sign on the crosswalk changes to go and the man nods his head before heading across. Jimin turns and looks in Yoongi’s direction thoroughly confused on what just happened.
Could people not see Yoongi? Is that what was going on? But that made no sense. It’s not magic or invisibility that exists in their world. It didn’t work that way. There was no logical explanation and yet…
“Come with me,” Jimin says. He crosses the road with Yoongi following in tow. The only way to really figure this out is to test his hypothesis. It’s crazy. It’s definitely crazy but maybe he’ll get some type of answer.
Neither of them say anything during the remainder of the walk. Not until Jimin is unlocking his apartment door and allowing Yoongi to enter first. It’s not like he normally brings a total stranger home. But with the fact that they’re soulmates and his curiosity as to why that man couldn’t see Yoongi, he has enough reasons to bring him in.
For the moment, Jimin completely ignores the way his feet slip across the floor or the puddle of mess he makes as he walks. His mind is focused on the mirror he has standing in his living room. He motions for Yoongi to stand in front of it.
“I don’t understand what you’re hoping to—“ Yoongi’s voice dies as soon as he stands in front of it.
Jimin gasps.
A normal person has a reflection. A normal person can see themself in the mirror.
Nothing reflects on that mirror when Yoongi stands in front of it. Nothing at all.
What was going on here?
Jimin backs away. He slides towards the kitchen and grabs a hold of a broom to protect himself. He glares at Yoongi. “Who are you exactly?”
Jimin can’t see Yoongi’s reflection and it angers him, but he’s sure that Yoongi can see him because moments later he’s spinning around with his hands above his head almost as if surrendering. There’s a frightened expression on his face, his eyebrows are furrowed and Jimin can see the way his body shakes at the thought of getting hit with the broom. It isn’t the best weapon of choice, but really, Jimin isn’t one to initiate violence. While it won’t kill him, it will leave a nasty bruise depending on how hard he hits.
“L-Look!” Yoongi cries. He stays in his spot as Jimin inches closer. Closer and closer until the broom can just barely touch Yoongi’s chest. He’s almost afraid that the broom would go through him so he dares not to try it. He doesn’t think he’d be able to handle it if Yoongi was a ghost of sorts. “I’m Yoongi, that’s all I know, okay? I don’t even know where my home is or where I came from.”
Jimin freezes heading those words. Yoongi doesn’t know anything? Nothing but his name? Was this a case of amnesia? Maybe he was accidentally hit in that walkway instead of Jimin. It would make sense but it wouldn’t explain the fact that Yoongi doesn’t have a reflection. Or the fact that no one else could see him.
“You don’t remember anything?” Jimin tilts his head to the side. He lowers the broom down and pouts. This isn’t how he imagined his first couple of moments with his soulmate to be. Completely at a loss because Yoongi doesn’t know anything and Jimin is even more confused. What type of soulmates were they? He’s never heard of anything like this before. No one has ever reported, “My soulmate can’t be seen by others or in the mirror. What is going on?” They can’t find any answers, could they?
Yoongi shakes his head. He lowers his arms down once he realizes Jimin no longer poses a threat to him and shakes his head. “I don’t remember anything. The only thing I know is my name. When I came to, I was in the street watching you almost get hit, which by the way, I still cannot believe you ran into the street like that.”
When he came to? Okay, now this is getting extremely weird. What did Yoongi mean by that? What was going on, exactly? How could not remember anything if he wasn’t hit? It’s not like he could randomly pop out of nowhere and suddenly take place in this world, right? It didn’t work that way. It really truly didn’t. Magic didn’t exist. And Yoongi isn't magic.
But what are soulmates, if not magic?
Jimin sets the broom beside him. He leaves it against the counter before it ultimately decides to take its own course and fall to the ground. Jimin doesn’t bother to pick it up again though as he walks up to Yoongi and holds out his hand.
“Can I—“ He begins. It’s as if Yoongi knew what he was going to say, because he holds his hand out moments later. Jimin stares at it and hesitates. It looks real. It looks just like a human hand. There shouldn’t be anything weird about it, and yet, Jimin is still afraid to touch it. What if nothing happens? Maybe he’s just paranoid right now from the long day and the need to sleep. Maybe in the morning he’ll be fine.
Actually, what if Yoongi was just a figment of his imagination?
“You can hold my hand.” Yoongi says. “I’m just as confused as you are. I don’t know what’s wrong with me or what I am. I don’t even know if I’m human. Maybe I’m a ghost. But why would you see me? I-I don’t know.”
Jimin tries to push his thoughts to the back of his mind. He places his hand in Yoongi’s but rather than solid skin meeting his, he goes straight through. Jimin stumbles back seconds later.
No. No. No.
This cannot be happening.
“I’m tired. That’s why this is crazy. I’m sure it’s because today has been a horrible day and I’m just overwhelmed.” He laughs cynically before shaking his head and sighing. “I’m going to bed. If you’re still here in the morning after a full night's rest, then we’ll think of something. We’ll figure this out. For now, goodnight.”
Jimin stomps away a moment later. He doesn’t wait for a response from Yoongi nor does he expect one. He closes the door behind him. He doesn’t slam it though he wishes he did, but he slides down a moment later and finds himself sitting on the floor. He inhales and exhales a breath, shaky breaths, as he tries to regain himself. Nothing made sense. Nothing could make sense.
His mind is racing. From thoughts about losing his job, to finding his soulmate and now discovering this. Who was Yoongi? How could they be soulmates if he couldn’t even touch him? It had to be some cruel joke, right? He’s touched-starved. It’s been so long since he was in a relationship just for the hell of it and now that he’s found his soulmate, he craves that skinship. What if he couldn’t even get it? What if…what if there really is an explanation for what’s going on with Yoongi? Something magical. Something never seen before? Maybe a new generation of soulmates was emerging.
Jimin doesn’t know. He doesn’t know if he wants to know. It’s all terrifying for him. All too much. He shivers. He’s still in his clothes from the rain. Soaked head to toe and so is Yoongi. Could he change them? Would he be able to wear clothing that is given to him? Jimin didn’t even give him a blanket or a pillow to sleep on. How rude of him. Everything is so overwhelming, so angering that he took it out on Yoongi.
The man barely even remembered his own name and he’s treated him this way?
Not the best of first impressions. Especially after Yoongi saved his life.
He stands up from the ground, holds onto the doorknob so he doesn’t slip and fall on the water that has created a puddle beneath him. Walking over to the closet, he grabs out a set of pajamas. They don’t look to be much different in size so surely Yoongi could fit into these—if he can even wear them.
Jimin pulls off his socks a moment later, after another two times of almost slipping, he decides this is not how he wishes to go and tosses them towards his bathroom. The apartment itself is quite literally spacious. With two bedrooms, two bathrooms, Jimin has more than enough room for a roommate to accompany him, and part of him wishes he had one now because he’s without a job and it’s only a matter of time before he loses this place. He’s not ready to say goodbye but with time…maybe he will be.
Opening the bedroom door, Jimin immediately sees Yoongi sitting on the couch staring mindlessly at the wall across from him. The television sitting on the coffee table below is off still and for a moment, Jimin wonders if maybe Yoongi has no recollection of what a television is. Maybe he should help him. How lost was he?
“I thought you were going to bed?” Yoongi asks. He doesn’t turn his attention from the wall and Jimin feels a little uneasy because of that but he says nothing as he walks towards the couch and sets the pillow down. Then he sets the pile of clothes beside it. Yoongi looks down finally, “What are these?”
“Clothes.” Jimin answers. He ducks his head before looking at Yoongi finally, “I’m sorry for storming off like that. I’ve just had a bad day and I took it out on you because all of this is entirely confusing for me. Um…” He inhales a shaky breath and motions towards the pillow. “There’s a pillow to sleep on, I’ll grab a blanket in a second and there’s some clean dry clothes for you to wear. I'm hoping you can wear them anyways.”
Yoongi looks between the clothes, then Jimin and the clothes once more. “You brought me clothes before changing yourself?” Yoongi bites at his lip and shakes his head. “I appreciate the offer Jimin but…” he stands up. Jimin looks towards where he was sitting expecting to see a water spot that would forever stay there but there’s nothing. Nothing at all. “I can’t feel the cold or the water on me actually. And I’m not leaving a stain.”
“So you’re…not going to change?” Jimin wonders.
Yoongi shakes his head and motions towards the pillow. “I will sleep with this pillow though so all your effort isn’t in vain. I’m tired too. Extremely tired actually, which I’m not sure why but I am.”
“Wait…can you touch the clothes?” Jimin questions. Yoongi tilts his head in curiosity but reaches out. The fabric of the pajama pants doesn’t slip through his finger. He’s holding it and he can lift it high above his head. He could sit on the couch too despite not being able to be touched. Maybe only non-living things could touch him and vice-versa. How odd. “Well…this is definitely interesting. I’ll try and do some research. Maybe ask my friends if they know something too. Um…” He bites on his lower lip and motions towards the main restroom and kitchen. “I’m not sure if you can use the restroom or eat but…they’re both free for you to use, okay?”
Yoongi nods his head slowly as he gets himself comfortable on the couch. Jimin can see the grey cushions dip underneath his weight. He’s definitely on the couch even though he can’t touch him. Jimin finds it both fascinating and weird at the same time.
He can only hope they get some answers soon.
Though he supposes he has all the time in the world right now.
“Thank you, Jimin.” Yoongi whispers. His eyes have fluttered shut and his breathing evens out. A fast sleeper. Jimin is jealous. The amount of times he’s stayed up just trying to sleep is enough that he can’t even count them anymore. Restless nights were a common thing for him and the fact that Yoongi just fell asleep two seconds after putting his head on the pillow is something that Jimin really might consider magic.
“You’re welcome.” Though Jimin doesn’t know what Yoongi is thanking him for. He’s done nothing. Nothing but stay confused.
Yoongi is the one who deserves thanking