[JIMINIE]
Staring at Jiminie, Lee Tang knew that this wasn't going to be easy. He would be selfish if he asked that of the broken Alpha, but it didn't make life any easier for the man who had had everything taken from him.
There was so much raw anger and pain in the air that Lee Tang felt suffocated. However, none of that would ever compare to the pain that Jiminie had gone through. It was like the man had to wait time out and hope to the deities that everything else that any of them held dear would be fine.
Then again, there was no telling when and how. Loss was something that Jiminie had been forced to deal with for the longest time, and staring at Lee Tang right now it was damn hard to accept the fact that all of this was just the same still. It was breaking him.
"Make it stop, please" Jiminie begged, the reality of everything making him feel dizzy. So much had happened and he hated it, but then how else could he explain the emptiness? How was he supposed to deal with the greatest of all losses he ever experienced?
Jiminie had tried to be numb to it all, he had tried his best to act like none of that meant shit to him, but at the end of the day, he was the one who had bled so much they had to fix him with everything they had.
It made him look weak, but as long as they were not Agust, Jiminie didn't want to hear any of it. His entire life was a circus that was fucked over more than once and there was just no way that he would ever be able to make things work for him at this rate.
"I'm sorry." Lee Tang voiced slowly. He didn't know how to make all of this better and he knew that it wouldn't be easier for Jiminie. This was a long battle with his reality and maybe he would be the shoulder Jiminie could lean on, but for how long?
How long before the alpha broke down again and he needed help from everyone possible? How long before the reality of the crazy mess hit them in one go and nothing ever stayed the same for them?
The odds were not on Jiminie's side and Lee Tang knew that too. But perhaps if he tried to not think about it, if he didn't have to imagine the worst every time, maybe there would be a way out for the broken alpha, right?
"I had Agust's baby, and I lost it. I lost our child," Jiminie sighed, the silence in the room weighing on him. He had been thinking of that as a part of his truth since the surgery began.
Perhaps his anger for everything had dampened it for a moment, but when he felt them tear through him to clean him up, Jiminie felt like there was never going to be a way out of this for her.
He had carried a baby and lost it without even knowing that that had happened. He wasn't even sure what the hell had happened to trigger that, but it ruined him beyond what even he could explain to anyone.
It wasn't daily that everything ever made any sense to him, but this was one he wasn't ready for. Regardless of what had happened, he wasn't sure it was right to move on. Jiminie was already a broken alpha and an erasthai who didn't have anything to show.
"Do you think he did this to me?" Jiminie asked and this time, Lee Tang stared at his best friend like that was the most incredulous thing he had heard from the man. It was impossible.
There was just no way Lee Tang may not have known Agust for long, but he had a feeling that even the air Jiminie breathed was precious to the king. So, what of a baby that reminded them of their union?
That was essential, their little paradise, and no one would ever take that away from them. It just didn't make any sense, not to Lee Tang at least. Perhaps the rest of the crew would have different ideas for this, but hell's damned if they had the same line of thought.
"The man is a bastard, but he loved you, Jiminie. He would ever do that to you," Lee Tang said, the hope of their understanding making itself known even though he wasn't sure if there was even a reason for them to hope.
This was a gray area, one that they didn't even know of yet. Hell, Lee Tang was still trying to come to terms with the reality of his best friend having boobs, a pussy and even having the ability to bear children.
He had been thrust into this side of the world that was confusing as hell. Perhaps there was an explanation somewhere along the way, but why couldn't it be now?
"Or maybe it was So Hee?" Jiminie asked and Lee Tang stayed silent. He couldn't defend the woman, because he truly didn't know her. He was sure about Agust, but not Kim So Hee.
The woman was the king's enforcer and if there was someone who was bound to understand the king well then it was her. Maybe she had really been jealous of Jiminie. Maybe she had really come to upset the alpha and fuck this up for him.
Maybe…
There were so many maybes and a part of Lee Tang hated that he didn't have a defense for So Hee. The woman had been nothing but understanding of Jiminie since she came to Kiyoto.
She had stood up against Agust and insisted that they talk. Then again, on the other hand, So Hee had shown up, then Jiminie got so damn upset, then all of this began like a chain reaction.
It didn't make sense and at the same time, it made some sense. But who had the truth though? Who was to be listened to this time? Who would hold the door for the madness and even close the gates when all of this spiraled out of control? Poor Jiminie.
"That can't possibly be the truth, brother," Lee Tang said softly, his voice betraying him. Then again, what else could he say? He couldn't defend So Hee and the woman needed to do that for herself this time.
"She had to have known I was with child. It doesn't make sense that Agust would leave me like that. He was crying when he left," Jiminie defended and Lee Tang stared at his best friend like the man had gone bonkers.
Surely this couldn't be the same man who had even been certain not to accept the invite, right? He couldn't be defending the mad king. The man had taken a lot from him and still had him by the tits this time.
"You need to rest. You're not thinking clearly," Le Tang said as he stared at Jiminie. He didn't want to be the bearer of bad news, but he was sure that life wasn't supposed to be this cruel for him and Jiminie.
"He loves me," Jiminie whined.
"Yet he left you at the first chance he had. Go back to sleep," Lee Tang snapped and Jiminie sighed.
His friend didn't know Agust like he did, yeah?