Work Text:
Year 1 – Day 1 – 13:56
Some people would say that the end of one thing is the beginning of another. Like his father used to tell him, that death isn’t the end, but a gateway for a new life to blossom.
For Park Jimin, it didn’t seem like he could see anything beginning in the midst of the end that he’s witnessing.
The flames that are consuming the whole building of Seoul National University prove to have no end in sight. The left wing has collapsed to the ground and he isn’t sure if those debris were concretes or bodies of those who weren’t able to get out in time.
He felt helpless as he watches structure after structure crumbling down in front of his eyes. He couldn’t do anything but watch as the institution that shaped him to who he was today, burn to the ground.
Namjoon is throwing up behind him, his loud retching unable to mask the screams that were coming from the inside of the burning building.
The screams, he would later realize, will be one of the things that would haunt him the most, even in his dreams.
Taehyung has gone with Jungkook to get his truck, but that feels like a lifetime ago instead of a few minutes. And he doesn’t know where his father is, he could only hope that he got out and was on his way to his mother and younger brother.
He feels Namjoon grab his elbow, but he’s deeply rooted from his place behind the tree, looking on to the chaos that was transpiring in front of them.
“Jimin,” Namjoon shakes him, “we have to go.”
He looks back to find Jungkook’s truck a few meters from their hiding place, the doors already open for their quick escape.
Year 1 – Day 1 – 14:42
Namjoon said that it was a signal – some kind of transmission that carried through the air waves and through devices and into people.
“How do you know all of this, hyung?” Jungkook asks from the driver’s seat. He’s been mostly steady throughout their drive, but Jimin could see his hands tighten on the steering wheel.
“There have been murmurs for a few months now.” Namjoon started, “I joined this forum, conspiracists, and they were talking about different government projects. Things—things that we only read in books and—and it was bad, it was the worst.” Jimin could hear the tremble in his hyung’s voice as he recounted all the things he’s seen online.
It was the plague, but instead of the locusts it was the devices. Its aim was to wipe down the population, starting from the heavy users until the numbers are controllable.
Jimin meets Taehyung’s eyes through the rearview mirror and what he sees is not the usual confidence that his best friend wears, but fear. He could see it in Jungkook’s hands, can hear it in the quiver of Namjoon’s voice, can feel it in his bones.
Namjoon takes a deep breath and continues. “There’s this organization, they have files on zombie drugs and mind control and a lot of shit that shouldn’t be humanely possible!”
“And this?” Jimin asks, his voice cracking with the lack of use, “What is this?”
It takes a few beats before Namjoon answers. “This? This is the end of the world.”
Year 1 – Day 1 – 15:50
One thing Jimin hates is seeing other people cry. But one thing he hates more than that is to see them cry and be unable to do anything about it.
As much as he can, he’d like to save the world—or at least his world.
He could only cradle Jungkook’s head to his chest as he weeps. Taehyung’s driving and Namjoon stays silent in the passenger seat.
Jungkook refuses to talk about what he found inside his house. The only indicator of the horror he witnessed is the bloodstain on the knees of his pants.
After the incident at the school, they decided to drop by Jungkook’s house first, worried about his parents and his older brother.
It wasn’t even a few minutes when he staggered out of his house with a bat and bloodied pants. The younger just proceeded to open Jimin’s side of the car and dropped all of his weight on his lap.
That was an hour ago and they’re on their way now to Taehyung’s. The silence is palpable inside the car as everyone’s scared of what they might find there.
“Do you think my mom—” Taehyung starts.
“No.” Jimin surprises himself on how strong his tone was. With the fear that is slowly consuming him, he’s surprised that Jungkook wasn’t the one comforting him instead of the other way around. “She will be with your dad and your siblings. And they’ll be on their way to my parents.”
Namjoon is still silent as Taehyung turns the corner. “Well what if they were affected by the signal, my mom’s on the phone a lot and my dad’s—”
“We don’t know that, okay?” Jimin tightens his grip on Jungkook, convinced that if the younger wasn’t there for him to hold on to that he might have been dry heaving at the back of the car at that moment.
“This is crazy.” He hears Namjoon whisper. “Absolutely crazy.”
Taehyung fiddles with his hair and takes a deep breath. “I’m just trying to ready myself for the worst.” He takes a quick second to look back on him and that’s all it took for something to hit the side of their truck.
The vehicle swerves a few meters before flipping and he can hear their screams until he can’t hear it anymore.
Year 1 – Day 3 – 00:47
He can hear a steady beep somewhere on his right but he can’t seem to open his eyes. His limbs feel heavy like they aren’t in their right places.
The beeping quickens and he loses his consciousness again.
Year 1 – Day 5 – 05:36
The first thing he sees when he opens his eyes are constellations. He has to blink several times to convince himself that he’s in a room and not laying somewhere by himself.
“Jimin.” Someone whispers.
He looks at the foot of his bed to find Taehyung. His best friend looks relatively fine except for some bruises on his forehead. He’ll be lying if he says that seeing Taehyung whole and walking didn’t give him immense relief.
“Where are we?” Jimin had to swallow a few times before he could ask the question. His throat feels like sand paper, and it hurts every time he breathes.
“Odessa.”
“Odessa?” He asks Taehyung, who had situated beside him on the bed.
Taehyung nodded. “I’ll explain later, when you’re more alert.” And as if seeing the questions in his eyes, he continues, “Namjoon-hyung and Jungkook are fine.”
Year 1 – Day 10 – 09:29
It was a few more days before he regains his strength. According to Taehyung, when the vehicle hit their truck, it hit directly on Jimin’s side, shouldering most of the impact.
During those few days, Taehyung, Namjoon and Jungkook took turns visiting him at the infirmary. One by one they explain what happened and what they have learned following the days when he was still unconscious.
What Namjoon said about the signals was true. It has been going on for years, little by little. Incidents of random killings and freak accidents were the results of that. A subtle effect of the signal to random people, as to not cause mass hysteria.
“The people behind the project became impatient,” Jungkook says. “They wanted it over with, so they hit full impact.”
“It affected the young people more.” Namjoon says from his place by the door. “Then with their inhumane state, they targeted the older ones.”
He locks eyes with Jimin and he knows what he is thinking as he recounts what they learned for the past couple of days.
It was Cha Jinyoung on top of a teacher they don’t recognize, hacking at the latter’s chest with a ballpoint pen.
He can’t remember some things from that day back at the school, but he does remember Taehyung grabbing his arm and telling him to run. Meeting Namjoon half way and running to his dad’s office, finding it empty. The panic that courses through his body, the chills he felt when the gun shots started firing.
“And Odessa,” Jimin says to them, snapping out of his reverie. “It’s a facility? For what? What do they do? Are they even the good guys?”
Taehyung places a hand on top of his and shrugs. “We don’t know. But we haven’t found anything to be suspicious of them the whole time we’ve been here.”
“Tae’s right. So far, they’re the best option we have right now.” Jungkook agrees.
Jimin scrunches his face, still finding it hard to process all of the things his friends had told him. It was a little overwhelming if he was being honest.
Being in and out of consciousness really didn’t help as well. The last thing he remembered was them driving to Taehyung’s house and the next thing he knows, he’s in a mysterious facility—it was a lot to take in.
Namjoon sees his hesitation and offers him a half smile. “If it helps, Sejin-hyung is here.”
Jimin perks up at the information. Sejin-hyung is here?
Namjoon nods. “Turns out he didn’t really went abroad with his wife.” The older boy crosses his arms. “He doesn’t even have a wife!”
“Wait—what?” Jimin couldn’t help but ask. What did Namjoon mean?
Kim Sejin was their professor on their science courses back at university. The elder’s easy-going personality had been a fresh air for their group of friends—made their university life a little bit easier.
Despite Jimin only being at the university for two years, Sejin-hyung had been a pillar of support through their tough times.
It’s been almost a year since he last saw the man though. The professor quit his teaching job at the university in the middle of the first term of Jimin’s second year—reasoning that he needed to be with his wife as they needed to deal with family issues abroad.
Now, it seems that it wasn’t the case.
“It’s true.” Taehyung answered for Namjoon. “We saw him on our second day here. You and Jungkook were still out of it, so only Namjoon-hyung and I saw him.”
“And?” Jimin presses.
“He wouldn’t tell us much—said he couldn’t disclose information. But he did clarify that he didn’t have a wife when Namjoon-hyung asked if he was with anyone here.” Taehyung explains. “And it turns out that for the year he’d been away, he was here, working at Odessa.”
Jimin eyes his best friend, nibbling at his bottom lip. “Tae…” He starts. “If he lied to us then, how are we sure that he isn’t lying to us now?” Jimin eyes the rest of their group. Namjoon was still at his place by the door, while Jungkook was fiddling with the cast on his right hand; a frown marring his face.
“I don’t know, Jiminie.” Taehyung sighs. “I’m as lost as you are. But right now? This place is the best shot we have in surviving what’s out there.”
Year 1 – Day 17 – 07:31
It was a cold February afternoon when everything fell. Looking back, there wasn’t a single sign that everything would go into chaos that day.
Jimin was on his way to his Film Studies class when the screaming started. Taehyung didn’t even bat an eye, so intent on getting to class that Jimin had to grab his arm to get his attention.
“What?” He said, as if snapping out of a trance. “What is it?”
Jimin hadn’t even opened his mouth to reply when people started running their way. They stood their ground, a little confused as to what was going on.
And that’s when they saw all the blood.
Ever since it happened, there isn’t a day where he doesn’t remember what transpired back on that cold February afternoon.
He sees images of Cha Jinyoung on top of a teacher, hacking at the other’s chest with a ballpoint pen. That was the day he decided that he will never wear red ever again.
He remembers the feel of Taehyung’s hand grabbing his arm, telling him to run. He remembers running into Namjoon when they turned the corner of the hallway; snatching the older’s collar when he failed to notice them, running towards where he and Taehyung ran away from.
It was all still very vivid in his mind; how quickly Taehyung locked the door when they reached Jimin’s father’s empty office and how his best friend ushered them under his dad’s desk.
Jimin didn’t even realize that he is shaking until he finds that he couldn’t hold his phone properly.
“Namjoon-hyung,” He breathed, eyes locking with the boy closest to him. “My phone’s not working.”
“Shut up.” Namjoon said, a little distracted. His eyes were closed, and he’d been muttering something incomprehensible.
“Namjoon-hyung, I can’t reach my dad.” He said, louder. “My phone’s dead, it’s not—”
Namjoon grabbed the phone from his hands and threw it across the room. Before he could register his shock, Taehyung leaped to him from his place to press a hand on his mouth.
A loud bang from the door cut off whatever Jimin was about to say. The look he found on his best friend’s face was something he had never seen on him before. Fear. And he could feel it creeping through his bones, and he knew that Taehyung could also see it in his eyes.
There were a few more shouts before the door busted open. Heavy footsteps filled the room and it took all of his willpower to not scream right there and then.
Jimin chanced a glance at Namjoon and he was about to place a comforting hand on his arm when they heard a commotion outside. However loud it was, it still didn’t distract the person that busted into his father’s office.
They waited with bathed breaths as the person trashed the room, thankful that the table they were at didn’t seem to be one of the intruder’s targets.
The next minute of them waiting felt like a lifetime. Taehyung was still covering Jimin’s mouth and Namjoon had closed his eyes again, tears spilling down his cheeks.
The footsteps got louder and it was at the same time that the person leaped above the table that gunshots echoed outside.
Taehyung had let out a whimper and Jimin still remembers the ringing in his ear when someone from outside shot the person on the table.
He still remembers his own muffled scream when the body fell near from where they were hiding under the table—still remembers the other person’s greyed-out pupils and their hacked shoulder where an arm should have been.
“Park Jimin!” Shouts a voice that pulls Jimin out of his reverie. He focuses his eyes to the owner and is met with the piercing glare of Captain Ryu.
Ryu Minjun was a very intimidating man. He wasn’t very tall—a few inches taller than Jimin himself, if his observations are correct—but what he lacked in height, he made up for in built and power.
The man was every bit of a military man; confident, well-built and a lot more authoritative.
Two days after Jimin was discharged from the treatment facility, he and his friends, along with other people at Odessa, were asked to line up in what seemed to be a very large and spacious training room.
As they scurried to find their places, he was quick to notice the man in front, watching their every move like a hawk. He would later come to learn that the said man to be their captain.
When everyone was in position, the man took deliberate steps, stopping at each person and looking them straight in the eyes. He would look at them for about a minute and then would lower his eyes to the person’s feet and will trail up their eyes with equal intensity.
The man didn’t say anything to those on the first row and Jimin would have been convinced that he won’t say anything to them either if not for the man stopping in front of him.
“Punch me.” The older man ordered.
And Jimin, very much startled, and stupidly loose-lipped, answered with a “where?”
He could hear hushed gasps from the people around him, and saw the man in front of him give a smirk. He mentally slaps his head and berates his mind on why he didn’t just say a “why” or even a less stupid “what”.
“Anywhere.” The man answered after a few beats.
And Park Jimin, who had 8 years worth of training in Kendo and a black belt in Taekwondo hit the officer straight at his very-built stomach.
He hears a quiet grunt from the other man but otherwise his face was impassive. He can also feel the stares of his three friends along with the entirety of the room.
Jimin was sure that he was about to pee his pants when the man in front of him jerked his head and pointed his thumb behind. “Other side of the room.” He said, tone not leaving room for arguments.
Jimin obediently went towards the other side and watched as the man did the same to his friends and to a couple more people. He didn’t know it then, but the people that Captain Ryu let to land a punch on him would be Odessa’s very first combat unit.