The last time Jimin had cried, was during the first year following the installation of the e-mote program in Somber. The program was fairly new, as was the process of ensuring it ran smoothly- so mistakes were bound to be made and accidents were bound to occur. Jimin was 4 years old, when in April, fourth months after the initial implementation of the program, one of these inevitable mistakes took place.

A delivery craft, bound for cell 22761 in Block F at the east end of the Somber correctional facility, took a wrong turn. Instead, it found itself outside Apartment G7, in the Sullen district of Hysteria, Somber’s largest city. This was the home of the Park family.

The driver of said craft, Jung Chul-Soo, had woken up that morning in a, to say the least, sour mood. His new job as a delivery man, although higher paying than his previous occupation, left him with even less time to spend at home with his wife and son. Their meetings were now brief and most often tense- Chul-Soo’s absence had put strains on an already unstable marriage. At approximately 4 am, he found himself being shaken awake by his wife.

”I’ve found someone else. I’m sorry. Look after Hoseok.” She had said, her voice emotionless as she picked up her bag and walked out of the house without another word. To make things even worse, over the past few months Chul-Soo had suffered a seemingly never-ending headache. Despite seeking advice from several medical professionals and trying different treatments, he could never quite get rid of the dull throbbing at the base of his skull.

So in a brief lapse of judgement, Chul-Soo had opened the carrier section of his craft and ripped open the nearest box. Not bothering to read the label, he pulled out a small glass bottle filled with dark blue liquid and downed it in one sip.

His arm fell to his side, the small bottle slipping from his fingers as he realized the mistake in his rashness. The small crack that followed the bottle hitting the pavement, drew his attention towards the ground. The bottle was smashed to pieces, but the label remained intact:

MISER-E, 400mL

Recommended dosage: 4-5mL

Well, I really shouldn’t have done that, he thought to himself, before he was hit by a wave of crippling sorrow. He collapsed to the ground, his knees cracking as they hit the tar.

It took several hours for Chul-Soo to gain the motivation to get up and into the delivery craft and several more for him to inform the Navigator of his desired destination. He flicked the auto-drive button on the dashboard and sunk into his seat. Shutting his eyes, he let out a deep sigh he didn’t realise he was holding, and waited for the miser-e to wear off.

So, when the craft made a wrong turn a number of hours later, Chul-Soo was far too lost in his thoughts to act, or even notice the error. Had he been aware, it’s unlikely he would have made any effort redirect it anyhow.

And that’s how the Park family came to be in possession of several cases of miser-e, traged-e and guilt-e that were by no means intended for them. Upon the discovery of these cases, Mr Park brought them into the house and placed them on the kitchen counter, out of reach of tiny hands. He then proceeded to hurry to his study in order to inform the authorities of the mix up.

When he returned to the kitchen, a curious chubby-cheeked Jimin had somehow crawled up onto the counter and was now sitting on it, a small bottle in his hand. Before his father could stop him the little boy grinned widely and took a sip of the sea green traged-e.

12 years later and Jimin has not cried since, in fact- he couldn't be happier. With the highest grades amongst his entire age group in the Sullen district, the title of class president and an internship at e-mote corp. itself, there isn’t much more Jimin could want.

Well there is one thing Jimin wants- and that is to get out of having to help the new kid. As class president, it’s Jimin’s job to give each new student a tour of the school and normally he doesn't have a problem with it. Jimin loves meeting people, loves hearing their stories and learning about them. It’s what makes him so popular, he’s genuinely interested in others, he makes those around him feel important, significant. To Jimin everyone is important.

So when his teacher introduces him to Lee In-Sik, he greets him with his usual blinding grin and an upbeat; “Hello, It’s so nice to meet you!”

And it is- nice to meet him. The boy is by no means unattractive, but rather quite the opposite, in a rather unconventional manner. In-Sik is on the shorter side, just like Jimin but he holds himself with an aura of intensity. It's as if he is hiding power within those small limbs. His hair is the standard black, cut neatly above the ears, but the hairs themselves are wavy and soft- well at least they look soft. Jimin feels his hand twitch, as if he is about to check the softness of In-Sik’s hair for himself, but he quickly clenches his fist and holds his arm down. How inappropriate, Jimin thinks, I’ve only just met him. Composing himself, Jimin draws his eyes away from In-Sik’s hair and towards the rest of him. His skin is pale- ridiculously so, its as if he’s never seen the sun. It contrasts sharply with his plump pink lips and his striking eyes. His pupils are cold and black, but his eyes are round and wide and their shape has a softness to them, Jimin finds himself drawn to them, feeling that if he looks at them for too long he’ll get lost in their shadowy blackness. Rather than responding, In-Sik simply looks at him from under hooded eyes, his mouth downturned and a small sigh pushing its way past his lips.

“Oh. Um, well lets get the tour started then! As you can see this is clearly the second level hallway.” Jimin grins, hoping to get a response out of the boy. But he just continues to gaze at him with those stony dark eyes and unable to stop himself, Jimin stares right back. And he sees something there that disturbs him. Something he’s never seen held in someones eyes before.

He sees emotion.

AN: This chapters a bit longer than the last, but still pretty short sorry! This is only an introduction really, the story will pick up from here on :) again please comment if you want- this is my first fic that I'm posting publicly so i reallyyyy need criticism haha

p.s this is horrifically unedited and i'm sorry, its like the worst thing of all time- but i just really wanted to upload some more I'm super excited for this story and hope you guys are as well <3 thanks for reading x