Part III - Missing "you"

Jimin laughed. It was a dry and mocking laugh, which echoed the cold and hollow room. He was surprised that this man claimed to be his brother but even he couldn’t deny the similarity in their facial features. But Jimin was no longer human; he had no care for human desires, including his own human kin.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” He scoffed, looking exhaustedly between the two of them. He tried to focus but his energy was nearly at zero capacity and he could barely focus his eyes on his surroundings. There was only one exit he could spot.

He continued to try and bide his time, “All of this because you want to get the human version of me back? Are the both of you idiots? You’re holding on to something that no longer exists. You’re wasting your time. I don’t care who the hell you are.”

Jihyun wasn’t fazed by Jimin’s harsh words, but Jimin could see the colour drain from Seulgi’s face.

He couldn’t understand it. How much had she been hiding from him? How long had she been deceiving him? He had been angry but now he was just curious. And would he be able to use it to his advantage since it looked like she was close to breaking point. It was a side of her that he never saw before. She was usually steadfast and cold-hearted. But then again, she was not used to seeing him in this pathetic state.

Jihyun took this moment to take out a small knife from his pocket and immediately stabbed Jimin in the stomach with it in a swift motion, causing Jimin to groan in pain and he clenched his teeth in an attempt to control his expression. He wasn’t going to let them have the satisfaction of knowing how much it hurt him.

“What the hell did you put in that knife?” Jimin grumbled through his gritted teeth.

It was not a normal knife, Jimin was sure of it. Even though the demon hunter had stuck the knife in his stomach, he felt an intense after shock spread through all his nerves. It was worse than the chains around wrists and ankles, which even now still electrocuted him when he tugged at them or flinched in pain from the knife.

It must have been a poisoned or anti-demon knife because if it were a normal knife, his wounds would have healed straight away. He didn’t like where this was heading, he needed an escape route fast.

Jimin was exhausted; his breathing was harsh and shallow. He swallowed his saliva, trying to get his dry throat some relief. He just needed to steal some energy first. It was a drag to be so damn exhausted.

He dug the knife into him again in a different spot in his stomach and watched Jimin scream out in agony, his eyes burning red at Jihyun in a death stare. Jimin really wanted to break this guy’s neck in half.

“Something that would hurt you the most,” Jihyun said coldly.

+ + +

Jihyun believed that all pain was relative.

He had once thought that being mocked at by his classmates was the most painful moment of his life. But that was until he lost his brother, until he found out his brother died because of him, until he found out there was something fishy with his death, until he found out he had turned into a demon.

But that didn’t matter. His pain didn’t matter. All that mattered was that he needed to right the wrong he had created and free his brother. It felt numbing to see his older brother in front of him after all this time. His brother who had thought to been dead, he was right in front of him, his face frozen in time, when he had aged 10 years. It wasn’t fair. His brother didn’t deserve this cursed fate. It was this logic that had solidified his resolve all these years.

Jihyun had been a scrawny, short boy of 15 years old who looked more like he was 10. He hated how weak and helpless he was. And how much of a burden he was to his older brother, Jimin. It was his duty to end this. He had trained to be strong mentally and physically for this moment.

His memories needed to be triggered with pain for his brother to remember who he was. He needed an extreme shock to the system since as a converted sin; he was so much more resilient to pain. He had prepared everything for this day. He was not going to let anyone stop him. This demon in front of him was not his brother. He needed to remind himself that consistently, for that was the only way he could go through with this.

The demon had fainted from the pain, so Jihyun had stopped and waited until he was conscious again. He needed the demon to be conscious for this to work.

“There was a boy with an older brother. The boy always looked up to his brother, he was the world to him. When he was really sick, which was a lot of the time, it would be his brother who carried him on his back and take him to the nearest clinic.” Ji