The night following the talk with his father, Taehyung’s nightmares of the Tiger begin. One specifically wakes Taehyung up screaming in the middle of the night. The dream: the Tiger tying up Jimin and throwing him off of a cliff to almost certain death. Upon hearing her son’s agonizing screams, Taehyung’s mom rushes to his bedside.
“Please tell me you’ve talked appa into giving me the amulet,” cries Taehyung in his mother’s hooves. “I just want this all to stop. All of this to go away.”
“Your father is a stubborn unicorn,” she sighs as she holds her son, “but I’m trying. Whether I can convince him before you actually turn, though, I just don’t know. I’m sorry, Bear. Now, tell me why this nightmare woke you.”
“The Tiger threw Jimin off a cliff,” wails Tae in his mother’s hooves, “that means I threw Jimin off a cliff. Tied his wings, left him helpless, and threw him off a cliff.” He’s now full blown bawling once more. “I just don’t want this curse, this monster in me to hurt my best friend, my group mates, no pony. I…I don’t know what to do.” He says with a sniffle. “I…I don’t know what to do.”
“Oh Bear,” responds his mom as she continues to hold and cradle her son in her hooves, “I will get this sorted for you and some way somehow, I will get you that amulet from your father so you no longer have to suffer.” She kisses him on the forehead. “I promise.” She kisses him and sings him a lullaby to help him fall back asleep. She then goes to his bag he brought home with him and finds his dream catcher and hangs it above his bed to catch any stray nightmares he may continue to have throughout the night. She then returns to bed herself where she is soon greeted by her grumpy husband.
“He’s having the nightmares,” she sighs, now crying herself, to her husband, “please just help him already. Please just give him the amulet already and take away his pain. He’s scared and rightfully so. The nightmares are of him sending his best friend to his death. Is that really the kind of trauma and pain you want to leave with our son? Please help him. I beg of you.”
“I’ll think on it,” he groans, “now please just go back to sleep.” She agrees begrudgingly as she turns back onto her side. The small pale magenta unicorn is far from thrilled. All she wants is for her son to be better, feel better and she just wishes her husband would for once feel the same.
The next morning, Taehyung’s mom is up early and goes and checks on her son once more. “Bear?” She says as she enters his room. Once inside, she soon finds him crying in the corner at his mirror.
“Don’t look at me, eomma,” Taehyung cries back. “I…” he chokes on his words, “I…I’m a monster.”
She comes over and looks at him against his wishes. She then yells down the hall. “Love, he’s transformed over fully. Get your ass’s behind in here and give me that stupid amulet already!”
Her husband soon comes running down the hall, still refusing to give her the amulet all the while. “My love, I love you,” responds Taehyung’s dad, “but I’m not giving you the amulet. Not now, not ever.”
“But, but look at our son!” She screams back. “He’s in agony. He’s in pain! You can take it away!” She begins to cry. “You can help mitigate it, so why don’t you?! I just don’t understand. Why do you hate our son and not want his well-being like I do! You’re the real monster here, not him!” She lets out a blood curdling scream. “You’re the real monster here, not him!”
“But I can’t help him without releasing my own Tiger,” responds her husband. “I’m sorry, but I can’t help our son.” He then takes the amulet and himself and heads off to work for the day leaving Taehyung alone to be tended to by his mom.
“Eomma,” he cries, “why does appa still refuse to help me? Does he not care about my pain? My grief? The fact that I’m an absolutely hideous monster? I can’t go back to Big Hit looking like this. I’ll get laughed at. I’ll lose my friends, my groupmates, my Jimin. Doesn’t he understand?”
“He does understand,” responds his mother. “That’s why he’s so overprotective of that amulet, unfortunately to the point he’s willing to let you suffer.” She lets out a sigh. “I’m trying my best, really I am.” She holds him close to her. “I’m so so sorry you’re going through all of this. If I’d known about this curse before I married your dad, I never would’ve done it in the first place, then none of this would’ve never even happened to you in the first place, my beautiful, beautiful Bear.”
A few minutes after their conversation ends and his mom leaves the room, the phone rings and Taehyung uses his magic to open it and answer it. It’s Jimin. “Hey Taehyung, are you feeling any better yet? I miss you. I’m ready for you to return. We all are. I’m worried about you, my soulmate. I’m so, so worried about you.” Taehyung can hear the shaking and quivering in Jimin’s voice and can tell the little Pegasus is crying.
“No Jimin, I’m still pretty sick, I’m afraid,” cries Taehyung over the phone in response. “I’m sorry, but I don’t know when I’ll be back. Appa is kind of determined to keep me in this miserable state much to the dismay of me and Eomma.”
“So he can help and just refuses?” Asks Jimin confused and shocked.
“Yes,” responds Taehyung. “And I absolutely hate it. I’m literally a horrible monster right now thanks to him and I hate it.”
“Is that why you didn’t pick up the FaceTime and just voice called me instead?” Inquires Jimin still concerned about his best friend and soulmate.
“Mmhmm,” cries Taehyung over the speaker. He sniffles. “I don’t want you to see me like this.”
“There’s something more, isn’t there?” Inquires Jimin. “I can hear it in your voice.”
“Yeah, I…I just don’t want to hurt you is all,” responds Taehyung still in tears. With that, he hangs up the phone leaving Jimin cold on the line absolutely confused out of his mind.
“Why would Taehyungie call himself a monster?” Says Jimin to himself absolutely confused. “What is he sick with where it would change his appearance entirely? What did he mean he doesn’t want to hurt me?” He shakes his head as he walks to him and Taehyung’s room. There, he continues to sit and ponder on their bed the very strange, strange phone call, just trying to wrap his head around all of it the best he can.