A Day In September - BTS Zombie au

15: Playing it Cool

"Can I come in?"

Mara was laying on the floor, blankly staring at the ceiling for hours on end. The idea of sleep was an unpleasant chore, given the nightmare that had left frightening thoughts upon awaking.

Being alone had never felt so terrifying.

It was the idea that her nightmare was plausible—at least to some extent—and the thought scared her. Mara had never forgiven someone so fast in her entire life. She wondered why Jimin was so different. She questioned how easy she'd come to depend on the presence of someone like him.

He was different than everyone else, but in what sense? He felt like more of a human than so many others she'd helped before. Coming across someone she could relate to, someone she could count on and openly talk to was like going home to a warm blanket after a cold winter day. It would be a lot harder for her to accept his absence if it were to become reality. She dreaded the idea of being emptier than before, having known the feeling of what it was like to have someone, and then suddenly not.

Mara was worried she was growing too attached to Jimin. Nevertheless, at the knock that took her from her dreadful thoughts, the girl stood up in a flash. Her heart was aching for reassurance, for the affirmation that she hadn't been deserted.

The girl pushed the barricade aside, opening the door a tad bit too hastily. Her eyes landed on Jimin's brown ones. He wasn't scowling or cold and his gaze wasn't distant. He'd spoken from the other side of the door but Mara wanted to hear his soothing voice again perhaps to make sure it really was him.

"Hi," he spoke gently. At Mara's sudden watery eyes, he frowned with worry.

"Hey I'm really-" but Mara didn't allow him to finish, instead throwing herself at Jimin with her arms wide open. She held him tight, feeling slightly embarrassed but unapologetically so. Jimin was clearly stunned as he stood with eyes widening ever so slightly. His arms slowly circled around her, comforting the sniffling girl the best he could.

Mara was smiling through her tears, happy to feel something other than fear.

"Don't leave me," Mara whispered, "At least not without a goodbye."

"I would never," Jimin asserted sternly, and the tone of his voice brought her joy. His frown was delicate, seemingly embedded with concern and sympathy for the young girl in his arms.

"I'm sorry for what I said the other day," Mara squeezed her eyes shut with regret, "I was acting on impulse when I should've bitten my tongue. I'm terribly sorry that that happened to you and that now you're stuck with some weird chick who's hugging you and begging you not to leave," Mara chuckled. The sniffling girl did not let go, regardless of how warm the room already was.

"Like I said, I'm not stuck with you. I think you've got it the wrong way around. You're stuck with me, and I'm not going anywhere," Jimin playfully teased, squeezing Mara before slowly pulling away. Mara was secretly disappointed to let go, but she knew she couldn't hug him all day, no matter how much she wanted to.

Jimin looked at Mara, his eyes shifting between hers but with a warmth that was previously missing in the Jimin of her dream. He took his sleeve up to Mara's cheeks and gently wiped away her tears.

"I forgive you. I do. What you said really put things into perspective even if it was a tiny bit harsh," Jimin chuckled, Mara joining too but brandishing a faint grimace, "But I was being a jerk too. I don't know what was wrong with me," Jimin sighed. His head fell onto Mara's shoulder, his shoulders rising and falling as he breathed deeply, "I'm sorry. I was trying not to think about it. I was trying to convince myself that that's how life was going to be from now on." Jimin raised his head to look at Mara, "Preventable death, helplessness. In one way or another, we've lost something. And I just don't want to keep thinking about the many things I've already lost. That only makes me fear what I'll lose next."