what are you afraid of? the advertisement demands.
can you make it to the end of the virtual reality game that exploits your darkest, deepest fears and uses them against you?
jimin thinks he can, even though he is afraid of almost everything in th...
Warning: This chapter contains a sexual assault scene. Please read at your own discretion.
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A man and a woman. Both clad in sportswear swimsuits. Both with great, healthy bodies.
Jimin notices the intricate inked rose above the red bikini strap on the woman's shoulder. The woman has long black hair, woven in a braid down her back. Her legs shift around in the waist-high water, almost uncomfortably in the presence of the man alongside her. He seems misplaced, as if he wasn't originally invited to this woman's ocean swim and forced himself into the picture. The woman moves away from him, distancing herself from this stranger who approaches her with disguised malintent.
Jimin notes the man's crisply cut muscles, his outdoorsy tan, the smirk on his face as he reaches for the woman's waist--and the subsequent gasp out of Pluto's mouth.
"What is he doing...?"
Jimin gazes down, expecting to see his own virtual hands. When he sees nothing, he tries moving his arms around, presses the controller buttons a few random times to see if he can do anything. Nothing happens. I guess ghosts aren't meant to do much anyway. I just have my voice and my eyes.
In front of him, the woman slaps at the man's hand, scooting to the side. Different from the other levels, this challenge feels more like a movie. Jimin can only watch and listen as the woman hisses stop that repeatedly to the pursuing man. Pluto's character freezes in place.
"I think you have to stop him, Pluto." Jimin averts his eyes from the obvious sexual harassment, watching the serene waves lapping against the shore instead. What a strange little beach, tucked away in a quiet corner of the sea.
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"Maybe try yelling at him?"
Pluto turns his head around, as if to place Jimin's voice. "Where--oh yeah. You're a ghost. Do you think they can hear you?"
Jimin watches as the man tugs at the woman's bikini strap, urging the string down over the rose tattoo. Although Jimin isn't big on women (he's 110 % gay, according to Hoseok) he has to agree that what the man is trying to do is way more disturbing than the female species in general. He knows that Pluto has to stop him before it gets out of hand--before the game turns a seemingly simple task into an end-of-the-world challenge.
"No, I don't think they can hear me. If I'm not there in person, how could they?"
The woman angrily swats at the man's hand, struggling to move sideways in the heavy ocean waves. The man follows in close pursuit, his shining mischievous teeth mimicking that of a hungry shark. Jimin shudders.
