Chapter Text
This time, his life is quite short.
He lives for, what, 6 or 7 years this time? It is hard to tell since most of his days are spent locked behind bars or locked in a room with hardly any light.
It is hard to tell how long he had been there, but he doesn't really care about time. Had it been a day, a year or a decade, all he cares about is stopping the pain.
At first, he learns his name is “the wolf”. He learns to recognise that word very quickly in the very first days he is captured by the circus people, just a year after being born in the wild. He knows he has to learn very fast to avoid the fire, the beatings.
At first, he tries to bite them, snarl at them, bark, but he is still a little cub. He knows little of the fierceness and pride of the wolves. Of ways to protect himself. Of love and family.
But he knows all about pain and death and fear.
And so he lives like that. He walks with his ears folded close to his head, his tail hidden underneath himself, his whole body crouched low to the ground. He learns to jump through fire, stand on two legs, to crawl. But it's cold. It is so cold and lonely. He doesn't feel good, it hurts. It hurt so much and he is so, so sad because they won't set him free or maybe because he won't set himself free.
Maybe he can just try, one day he could just fight, fight as far as he could, because maybe he could be free. And maybe he would die. Either seems like a good option.
Oh, he hates them. He hates those people, he hates how they look at him, how they hit him, touch him, how they talk, how they smell.
He hates everything.
Except this one thing. Those bright eyes, shining and screaming in excitement. Little hands clapping. When he looks at the children, he knows he is making them happy. He sees, even if he's suffering, even if he's in pain, he can still make those children happy and excited.
They love him.
And for that little bit of love, he would go on. Even when his tail gets burned even as his ears get cropped and his rib breaks.
He realizes only later, that wolf isn't really his name. He is a wolf. Locked in a circus, performing tricks. Sleeping with chains on his legs and muffler on his mouth in that cold, cold place, where sun never shines.
Then, years later, a storm comes and a flying branch rips a hole in the tent. The next morning, he wakes up to sunlight gently seeping through the hole made by the storm. There is water in his cage, he is all wet and shivering, but the light looks so pretty. He sees beautiful white specks flying around, some landing on his snot as he looks around in excitement. As little water droplets glimmer in the sun.
He hadn't seen rain for so long. He sees the green through the hole, feels the wind blow through, feels the warmth, at least for a little bit.
That is how he dies.
Truly, this life was really miserable.
So when he gets reincarnated again, he doesn't have his previous memories, he never does until the very end.
Only this time, at the age of 22, Jimin suddenly remembers.
Realizing that he is now a human he needs to sit down into a plush chair he just bought in Ikea.
“Fuck no,” he whispers as he stars at his fingers.