Chapter 31: CHAP29-"Doritos are priority"

M      I      N      R      A      E

"Its nice and warm. It will help you relax" I spoke, handing the cup of herbal tea to a pair of shivering hands.

There was a desperate need in me to call out his name and hold his soft hands tightly in assurance. But I held back at every confused gaze he exchanged with me. There was not a moment in the time we spent together, that I saw the slightest hint of smile on his face. If anything, he was only rubbing his toes against each other while biting onto the corner of his lower lip in nervousness.

It was Jimin's idea actually. He suggested we take Hoseok away from the godown to a more secure and calm place when we found him nauseous and sick. I was too busy analyzing Hoseok, that I didn't really bother asking Jimin where he had in mind. But thankfully, he knew exactly where I needed to be and we three were teleported to the apartment I rented in Seoul.

It's been a week since then, and here I am, settled on the carpeted floor looking up at Hoseok who was seated on my couch, sipping onto the tea while looking around my apartment, confused. At least this time he took the cup, the first time it went straight to the wall, crashing into several pieces to the floor. Hoseok didn't trust us. And I don't blame him. All of a sudden, we were all new faces to him.

Right beside him was the other man who joined the two of us. While there was an intense and serious mood going on between me and Hoseok, Jimin was beside him on the couch, having his jaw wide open at every scene on the television screen, stuffing his mouth with a bag full of Doritos.

"That man sure loves his food. He even curses with them. I want to try this bloody doughnut he keeps talking about"

"I thought you agreed to help me gain Hoseok his memories back"

"Yes, and I did that"

"All you did till now is finish two packets of Doritos and binge watch Kitchen nightmare"

"You told me to learn human knowledge from this. And that is exactly what I'm doing"

"Yea, well, we might have to revise your channel preference before you end up throwing expensive microwaves down a window" I replied, snatching the remote from his tight grip and switching the TV off.

When I realized Hoseok had spilled some tea on the carpet, I immediately moved to the kitchen counter to grab a clean cloth.

The Demon however, whose precious time with his his most favorite 'man-made object yet' was interrupted by a mere human, did not look happy at all. Although I'm not surprised. If only I was grateful there wasn't the usual threats about turning me into a donkey. Which you may know from where he got it from.

Jimin pouted and distanced himself away. He then snuggled towards Hoseok who looked uncomfortable and moved further away from him until his body met the sofa handle, leaving him squeezed next to Jimin who wouldn't move until he wishes to do so.

"Do you want some?" he asked the frightened man with a raised eyebrow, gesturing his half finished Doritos packet.

Hoseok shook his head and Jimin pulled back.

"At this rate human, only your skeleton will be left. Eat something already."

To that Hoseok nodded but looked away immediately. Jimin didn't look convinced, but he had his eyes fixed to something else. And then I heard it. That awful loud shriek of his. I rushed to the couch to find Jimin hugging Hoseok ever so tightly while pointing at something on the couch handle where Hoseok was seated next to, before being attacked by Jimin.

"That thing would have gotten your brother. Good thing I was faster" he proclaimed with horror in his eyes, pointing at the same direction.

I trailed my eyes to the said direction to find, guess what?

A spider.

"For the sake of God, Jimin, please stop this. You are an immortal being ascending from the firing pits of Hell. And you are afraid of a five-centimeter-long insect!!?"

"Afraid? Who said I was afraid. I was only worried okay?"

"Worried about what?" I asked, though I regret doing so. His response had the different forms of myself  existing in all parallel universes, face palm at the same time.

"That thing could have turned your brother" he said, gesturing to Hoseok with dramatic tone in his voice. "Into an ugly red and blue skin fit suit man who shoots webs, and wears his underwear outside" he completed, but then paused to rephrase.

"Oh wait, the underwear was another one. The red and blue got me confused"

I sighed. I mean, what else could I have done.

"No more TV for you. At least not until you can differentiate between fiction and reality"

"But—"

Jimin was interrupted by the doorbell. He crossed his arms over each other and settled back to his side of the sofa, this time eating the Doritos with fire in his eyes.

Thankfully Hoseok wasn't completely thrown off by this behavior of Jimin. This was better than the last time, three days ago, when Jimin had asked Hoseok to get inside the washing machine to see if it would roll him around as well. Let's just say thank 'heaven and hell' that I reached home in time.

"Hola partner, missed me?" Jungkook asked, pushing my shoulder away to walk into my apartment with both his hands carrying shopping bags. "Its been only a day the last I've seen you, Jungkook"

"How is he doing?" Taehyung asked, handing me a bag full of groceries I had requested him to get.

"The usual, nothing different from day one. He did eat a little last night. Apart from that, no, nothing"

"Don't worry, he will come around soon. And—" Taehyung paused, before looking down, not meeting my eyes anymore. "I'm sorry we didn't do anything about Hoseok having to stay in that Go down for that long. Jimin was being punished, and your brother had nothing to do with it, yet I didn't do anything about it"

"Well, Jin was there. And if he like you explained is his guardian Angel and decided to let him be there for a while, then maybe it was for the best" I reassured, holding his hands with a smile that he returned as well.

"Mrgh" Jimin cleared his throat, though we gave no attention to it. But that was until he repeatedly did it until he sounded like a dying horse.

"What is it?"

"What?"

"What do you want?"

"Nothing. Water! I need water" he replied, eyeing the both of us before walking to the water filter. He looked as if he was firing laser beams through his eyes from the Star Wars movie he watched last night.

Every time Taehyung visits, Jimin gets worked up. I get that they have a weird relationship or rather a big misunderstanding. But this was not it. How are they even brothers? A minute I take away from these two and they would be at each others throats.

"Why are you with Jungkook?"

"Ah, about that, I don't really know how human clothing works that much. So, I figured he would be useful to buy Hoseok's clothes. And I really don't know if that was a great idea right now. Because all these clothes are very colorful. Do you think he will like it?" Taehyung asked, rubbing the back of his neck in doubt.

"I think he will" I replied, seeing how I could see the first smile on Hoseok's face when Jungkook tried to see how the shirt would look on him by fixing it to his shoulder.

"What do you think made him lose his memory all of a sudden?" Taehyung asked.

"I really don't know. Few weeks back all he spoke was my name. Now he doesn't even recall my face"

"Something isn't right. If he was able to remember you regardless of the time span passing by him, then why now? Why all of a sudden?"

"You're right" Something about what Taehyung said had made sense. Why now? Why out of all days did it have to be when I recalled everything. Who could have done this. There was one man that I had in mind. But I thought to leave my suspicions as just a thought for now. There was way too much on my shoulder at the moment.

"I know you must be super busy after Hoseok coming back to your life and all, but" Jungkook paused, sliding his hands inside his coats pocket to take out two invitation cards that were made from gold and silver sheets. "I was hoping you and Jimin could make it to this event I am hosting tomorrow evening"

"You're hosting?" I asked, raising an eyebrow before accepting the invitation.

"Excuse me, but I am an aspiring future billionaire, these are nothing compared to my creative and competitive abilities. Bill Gates and Elon Musk are soon going to be nothing"

"You drink your smoothie with two straws" Taehyung blurted and Jungkook flinched. The burn was real.

"Just hear me out" He pleaded and we both agreed. "Alex Dinovo is coming for this event. He is the leading animation producer in the world right now. And he is actually looking for a new idea for his upcoming projects" Jungkook continued.

"He is visiting Korea for some inspirations and stuff. And he is going to stay in one of our owned hotels. And fortunately, it's his birthday tomorrow. So, it's like a welcoming and birthday party kind of event which I am put responsible to manage. Everything is set. And I thought it will be nice to have you all around"

"Well, I'm not really busy or anything tomorrow. And Hoseok will be taking his ivy drips at the hospital since he isn't eating much. I guess I'll be there"

"Great!" he said, handing me the two tickets.

"Oh, and I have given your invites to that other fairy doctor. The one who thinks he looks better than me" he said to Taehyung.

"This event means a lot to me, guys. So be there at your best. Wear your best and be at your best behavior okay?"

"No promises. But Jimin definitely needs a new suit" I said, watching in horror as he wiped those Doritos stained hands across his closet in search for a pair of jeans.

_______________

"Where did you park it again, Taehyung?" I screamed at the top of my lungs on my phone at Taehyung. The traffic was the loudest today. Cars were honking relentlessly. There probably was an accident.

"I parked it on the opposite side of the building. You just need to walk past the first signal"

"You could have parked it inside the building"

"Sorry, the traffic looked bad, I didn't want to risk taking that road"

"Its okay. I'm hanging up"

I walked towards the signal with Jimin beside me who had not liked the idea of going in a car again. He needed a new suit and this required a visit to the mall. And since he wasn't well aware about the locations of any malls around, I didn't want to risk ending up in a completely different continent with his weak teleportation skills just because I wanted to buy him a nice attire for tomorrow.

Now, we don't want a visit to the mall to turn into a visit to the penguins do we.

As we both walked past the signal, the accident spot was nearing us. Few centimeters away from us was a bike accident of a young man, severely injured by a truck. The man was still on the ground, bleeding. Everyone gathered around, but not one was giving a hand. Asking around I found out that they have called the ambulance already. But I noticed the man was slowly losing his breath with his eyes making it obvious as they moved around aimlessly. An immediate CPR must be conducted on him.

"Are there any Doctors around!" I yelled, fearing my own abilities.

"He's very close to dying, Minrae, I know it. He won't make it till help arrives" Jimin warned, holding my arms to alert me when I crouched beside the bleeding figure. "Help him" he finished, eyeing me with eyes that were filled with trust.

"I—I—okay" I said, holding both my hands over his chest, ready to push.

I knew I was the only option for his survival. His life was now in my hands. Everything was fine until my eyes trailed to his blood dripping from the number plate of the vehicle that did this to him. A truck.

A truck.

No.

I can't.

Immediately my eyes went back to my hands that were over his chest. They were covered in his blood.

'You were supposed to die that day'

I heard this same faint whisper from back then. Soon my hands covered in blood were shivering in fear. A menacing beep noise ringed in my ear like the last time at the pedestrian cross. Everything was coming back to me. I was trapped back in time.

I turned to my right to find two headlights racing towards me. A truck. A truck was racing to my side. My body felt paralyzed. There was nothing I could do. This was the end. End of me. I wanted the ringing noise to go away so badly. The headlights were closer than before. And just before it had me, there was a strong grip on my shoulder. Someone had pulled me away.

But soon that felt almost surreal. I was being shaken by my shoulders by the same hands that had saved me back then.

Jimin.

"Minrae! Are you okay?" he asked. I was brought back to the current reality when he shook me by my shoulders. He leaned down to meet my eyes that were in hiding. And now his hands went from my shoulders to tightly hold my shivering hands.

"Hey hey hey its okay. Look at me. You're okay"

"I'm—I'm—I can't—"

"I am here, darling. I won't let anything happen to you. I promise. But right now, we are losing him."

He was right. My trauma can wait. Surprisingly like the last time too, when he is next to me, it all just seems like nothing. I need to snap out of it. Adrenaline kicked in me and I pushed my hands on the slowly dying mans chest. With several tires he finally took in a huge breath.

I saved him.

"You did it, Doc" Jimin yelled. "You truly are something, sugar" he completed with a wink.

"Let's go, the ambulance is here. He is in good care now"

We walked to the other side of the road and it slowly started to have less traffic after the injured was safely taken inside the ambulance. Jimin walked right beside me, almost matching our footsteps. I have never seen him this worried about anything.

"Doc" he talked, standing right in front of me, blocking my way. "That was the same kind of thing that tried to kill you that night, right? What did you say her name was? Um, Yes, truck"

"If my memories are right, then yes"

"I'm sorry, I should have noticed earlier. Are you feeling better now?"

"You're being really nice?"

"Its never going to happen again, so take it while you get it" he replied with a smug face and I couldn't help but giggle at his silliness.

"Anyways, I'm fine now. I just need to change these clothes before leaving. Let's head back for a minute" I suggested and Jimin nodded. We turned to walk the opposite direction before Jimin grabbed my hands and pulled me away from a moving cycle.

"Hey! Watch where you are going dude!" Jimin yelled.

Jimin's hands were firm on my wrist. But what he hasn't yet seen was the way they were slowly disappearing? I could still feel the grip of his hands on my wrist but they started to vanish? I doubtfully stared back at Jimin who was at loss of words and stared at me and nowhere near his disappearing hand.

"What is happening to you, Jimin"

"I hoped you'd never see this side of me"

"Answer me damn it!"

"You very well saved the life of that young human. But will you truly be able to save me, a Demon who lost his wings from ever existing" he spoke with a pitiful smile playing on his lips and his eyes looking like they have no strength left in them.

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A/N- What do you think? What are you most excited to see, bbys?