brother ;

"Is Taehyung Jimin's buddy?" you swing your entwined hands. Before entering the lift, jimin managed to grab onto your hand, squeezing it tightly. Still a little dazed, you shrugged it off, allowing him to hold you just this once. Hoseok was silent, zoning in and out.

"Yeah, they're literally best friends," Namjoon laughs, pressing a button. The level sixteen lit up, looking like an outcast in the rows of unlit buttons. "Sixteen?" you whisper subconsciously. All heads turn towards you. "Didn't Jimin say that the higher the level, the worse the crime you have to commit?"

Jimin stops you from swinging your linked hands.

"We'll get there. Step by step, y/n." Jin sends you a comforting smile. Jungkook pats you on the shoulder, before leaning back onto the lift, eyes trailing to the ceiling. Jimin has been suspiciously silent these... hours? Days? "Jimin?" you whisper, afraid that you might startle him away. He hums back, shoes screeching across the marble floor. He didn't bother to look you in the eye.

"Why are you so silent?"

He looks up, creating a link. His eyes were now on yours. "You'll see," he murmurs, and his gaze was back to facing the floor. It was as if strings had tightened around your heart - he was showering you with affection, but no attention. It felt weird since he'd usually do the opposite.

A pang of sadness and pain hits you in the chest. Thinking about it, you kind of missed his sweet little nicknames, although they might or might have not been inherited by his lover.

The lift door dings open and the seven of you walk out. The area was grand. Instead of the casual black or red painted walls, the walls were painted in yellow - golden-ish yellow. "Why are the walls painted golden?" you inquire, staring at the six, dull-looking men. You didn't get it. Shouldn't they be happy? They were so close to reuniting with their friends. Just one more last one to go.

"It's a common colour used in..." Yoongi trails off, stopping himself from saying too much.

"Let's get Taehyung, yeah?" Hoseok spoke, out of the blue, startling the lot of them. A few nods and hums were exchanged through them, and you were back to trailing them in silence. The silence was awkward, tense. You could tell that no one was really over the little confession back there.

You were starting to wonder if they had ever talked about each other's issues. Throughout the story, a few surprised and pained faces were being exposed. "Where's this Taehyung guy?" your head twists and turns, only to find that you were walking in empty space.

The hallway was empty, everything was empty. You were in a huge field of emptiness. And at the end, was a gate. Those kinds of creepy looking gates that guarded haunted houses. "Probably in the cell," Jin mumbles, eyeing the gate. "Do we need a demon to help us bail him out?" you felt bad for asking these questions in your current situation.

Hoseok and Jimin were dead silent, Namjoon was walking forward, without waiting for any of you. Yoongi had his arms slung over Hoseok's shoulder in a sign of support and comfort. Jungkook? He was... being Jungkook. Eyes widened as if he saw a ghost. Oh, the irony. His face was pale, nevertheless, he continued walking alongside Jin.

You had no idea how this worked. And Jin was the only responsive one. "He's able to get out on his own. The only issue is, getting him out of this level." Jin made his way to your side, slowing down a little. It's as if we were in an exam, and he was secretly whispering answers to me.

"What-"

"Everyone of them can escape - it's a matter of whether they want to or not. But the moment they enter this field of yellow... they explode. Like, burst. Their bodies pop like a balloon at the sight of yellow, or golden." Jin interrupts, answering the question that you had in mind. Pop? Burst? Why?

"You'll know soon." was his last words, before Namjoon creaked open the gates.

Y/n.

That voice, again. Breathing in deeply, you tried to play it off cool. You didn't want to add more shit into the mountain of problems the boys had to deal with.

Little y/n, do you remember me?

Your heart stopped, and so did your body. Jimin jerks back, an eyebrow arched up as he analysed the look on your face. Creases of worry formed on his forehead, but that was the least of your concerns. Only one person, in this whole world, you allowed to call you little y/n.

So you do remember me, my little whiny kiddo.

Tears welled up in your eyes as his once unfamiliar voice morphed into the one that you've been missing for years. "Porcupine?" Jimin whispers ever so softly, silky and tender voice adding on to the pile of emotions that were currently overwhelming the poor organ in your chest.

"M-My brother," you stuttered, the tears that welled up began to fall, one by one. "Brother?" Jungkook echoes, looking at you. Realisation forms on his face as his lips make out an 'o' shape. "Kang Jihyun. That's your brother, right?"

I see you've met Jungkook.

"You know him?" you looked at Jungkook, eyes filled with confusion, pain, and more confusion. What was he doing here? Was he even here? Why did he tell me to stay away from them, when Jungkook's face says it all? If he were here, how did he die? The last time you've seen him was when you had visited America.

As if this hadn't overwhelmed you enough, a deep, raspy voice calls your name. It wasn't Yoongi's voice, and you knew that. The person called your name in a questioning tone as if he weren't sure if you were y/n. Still dazed, you raised your head. You didn't need anyone else to confirm that the person who was standing in front of you, was none other than...

Kim Taehyung.