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Chapter Text

The Seventh Brother watched from afar, not daring to interrupt their leader, the First Brother, whose gaze seemed distant as if he wasn’t fully in the room with them. It was one of his gifts, the Sight, it revealed to him what others could not see.

The leader did not make him wait long. He came out of his trance effortlessly, the only indicator was his gaze, which shifted to the Seventh Brother.

‘How are the preparations coming along?’ he asked in his deep, almost inhuman voice. It was fitting, after all they were no longer mere humas, they haven’t been for a long time.

‘It is ready my Prophet’ he answered lowering his head with respect. ‘We await your instructions.’

‘Good’ the First Brother’s lips stretched in a mock of a smile, human emotions were unnatural to them yet some traces of their long lost humanity clung to them stubbornly. ‘You may begin.’

‘Have you found them my Guide?’ the Seventh Brother asked not able to mask the surprise and yearning in his voice. For once the leader hadn’t admonished him for it, he seemed too satisfied with his findings.

‘Indeed I have’ he said, his lips spreading even wider. ‘We are very pleased. So much so that we will grant you a glimpse. Step forward.’

The Seventh Brother moved without hesitation, it was not a suggestion but an order, one he could not refuse. He allowed the leader to place his hands first at the sides of his head over his hood and then to cover his eyes.

The room around him disappeared and the Seventh Brother found himself staring at an idyllic scene. He was standing at a beach looking at waves crashing gently on the shore, while the setting sun bathed the world in oranges and pinks.

A group of seven boys were playing on the shore, chasing each other, taking photos, talking, laughing. There was a car parked nearby, big enough to comfortably fit all of them.

‘This one’ the First Brother’s voice echoed in his mind. He looked closely trying to see what the leader wanted him to.

One of the boys separated from the group to take a picture of them. He was tall, all long limbs, with full lips and short brown hair. He took the picture and looked at the others with so much happiness and love that the Seventh Brother could see it clearly despite all the distance separating them.

Just as quickly as the vison came, it vanished and the Seventh Brother found himself back in the room with his leader. He couldn’t help but ask.

‘Are you certain my Prophet?’

‘He will do perfectly’ the First Brother answered, the terrifying mockery of a smile never leaving his face.

Taehyung closed the book harshly. He was out of time. He reached for the matches, his hands trembling with how nervous he was.

He could hear them. They were getting closer.

He fumbled with the matchbox almost dropping it in his haste before he finally managed to get a match out.

He struck the match once, than twice before it snapped in his fingers.

‘Shit!’ he cursed still trying to be quiet as he got another match out.

This time he managed to light it on the first try. Taehyung breathed a sigh of relief as he tossed the match onto a pile of old books in front of him and watched as the fire consumed them. Soon enough the flames spread, overtaking the whole room around him.

Taehyung was out of time. He felt the strange pull inside of him, that had become familiar by now. He didn’t fight it. He fell back, lying in the middle of the blazing room and let the darkness pull him under.

Jin took a deep breath and braced himself as he stepped through the door. He had no idea where it would lead him this time but he had a feeling it would be nowhere good. He closed his eyes fighting against nausea that the shift always caused whenever he travelled to a new world.

When everything stopped spinning and the churning in his stomach subsided Jin opened his eyes. He was laying on soft grass in the middle of a field with a few trees scattered around and a dark wall of a forest looming on the horizon. As he took in his surroundings the world around him came into focus and the sounds filtered in.

Jin could hear faint shouts in the distance. He could not make out any words nor determine if there were any to begin with but he pushed it to the back of his mind as soon as he heard a coo of a dove above him.

When he looked up Jin saw a beautiful white dove circle around him before calling out once more and flying towards the forest. Jin didn’t waste any time, he got up and ran after the bird that was guiding him, calling for him impatiently.

It has been like that from the moment Jin found himself in this purgatory. Whenever he entered a new world, he found something that would guide him, help him get through to where he needed to be. Regardless of where that was or what he would find there.

It all started when they went to the beach. Jin and his friends decided to take that trip to enjoy summer to the fullest. They had no idea what awaited them.

The time on the beach was one of the best memories Jin had and even if it was tainted by what came next he clung to that happiness like a lifeline.

They were just getting ready to leave the beach when suddenly Jimin fainted. Without a warning he just dropped to the ground in the middle of a story he was telling. They obviously rushed to help him but soon after all of them passed out one after the other.

When Jin woke up he was no longer on the beach. The room he was in was dark, illuminated only by candlelight, without any windows to let sunlight in. The walls were dark but not dark enough for the various splatters of something that looked suspiciously like blood on the floor to not be visible. When he looked around he found his friends still unconscious, lying on the floor in a neat circle. Jin tried to move, to get to them, help somehow, but his hands had been bound around a pillar and he could not get free. He almost cried from relief when he saw their chests moving up and down. They weren’t dead. Not yet anyway.

Then seven hooded figures entered the room chanting something in a language Jin couldn’t understand. He felt his blood freeze at that. He was still a bit out of it having just woken up but the whole situation was so terrifying, he had trouble grasping that it was really happening. It had to be some sort of a joke or maybe a nightmare. There was simply no way it was happening.

One of the hooded men came closer to Jin and stopped in front of him. Jin wanted to scream but he was so terrified that all sounds died in his throat. By this point he was sure the only reason he was still standing upright was that he physically couldn’t move because of the ropes holding him in place, otherwise his legs would have already given out.

‘Rejoice’ the hooded figure in front of him spoke. Jin felt a shiver run down his spine. The voice did not sound right, it did not sound human. ‘For you were chosen as a token for our Lord.’ The man raised his hands in elation, his voice growing louder with each word. ‘You and your friends will give your lives for him, give him strength that combined with our devotion will make him unstoppable!’

The rest of the hooded men stood in a circle around his friends as the one in front of Jin came even closer. ‘You cannot fight it’ that was the last thing Jin heard before the man not so gently touched his forehead and the world faded to black.

That’s how Jin found himself in this twisted situation. Stuck in an endless cycle he had absolutely no control over, losing himself more and more every day. He didn’t fully understand it, his grasp on the situation was not great.

After the ritual he woke up all alone in a strange room. He had no idea where he was, where his friends were or how to get out. There were two doors on opposite walls, yet no matter how hard Jin tried he couldn’t get them to open. The window was closed as well, but as soon as he looked out Jin froze. There was nothing. Through the window Jin could only see a blinding white abyss.

He hadn’t known it back then and he barely understood it now, but the room, which Jin started calling his safe Vestibule, was a space between worlds. From this little pocket of space Jin was forced to travel through different dimensions regardless of how dangerous or revolting they were.

Jin had little to no control over it. In the beginning he tried to resist. He spent all his time curled up on the mattress in the corner of the room, trying to sleep, hoping it would all just go away. Yet no matter how much he resisted he was still pulled to a new place every time. It happened roughly once a day, like clockwork. Jin also found out he could not travel more than once a day as if the portal needed time to recharge.

Jin learned all of that from weird gold markings, that would appear on the walls of his Vestibule every now and again. Those cryptic messages were the reason he had at least a small grasp of his situation. From them he learned that one of the doors led to a pathway to different worlds and the other was a way back to the real world, the one he was taken from, but it would only open for all seven of them together. He learned that his goal was to find his friends, who were scattered across the worlds, that their lives were tied together by the ritual. If Jin died on one of his journeys the rest would not survive. He also learned that it did not go the other way. One of his friends could be dead and Jin would be just fine. He wouldn’t even know.

That was until a small polaroid picture appeared in the Vestibule one day. At first Jin thought it was a cruel joke. It was a photo he had taken of his friends that day on the beach. Jin looked at the six of them smiling at him from the picture and wanted to cry. He never asked for any of this. He just wanted to spend some time with his friends. Was that so wrong? Why was he being punished for his happiness?

The next golden message brought him an equal measure of relief and horror. As long as his friends were visible in the photo it meant they were alive. If at any point one of them disappeared it would mean they died in whatever world they were stuck in. Jin hugged the photo to his chest tightly that day. They were all alive. He could still save them.

Jin could not count how many days he had spent in his Vestibule, being dragged from one dimension to another only to come back with nothing but more and more scars, both physical and mental, from what he had seen. However no matter how hard it was Jin was determined to find his friends.

He had a purpose and what a powerful thing that was, a purpose. He no longer wished to disappear instead he focused on the things he could do. He tried to decipher as many golden messages as he could, learn everything there was about this weird situation. He stopped fighting and willingly let himself be pulled through the door to explore different worlds.

Jin quickly found a pattern. Whenever he was transported to a different dimension he would find some kind of a guide, something that would lead him to where he needed to go. So he followed it, whatever it was, without question.

This time his guide was the dove he was running after.

But perhaps the most difficult revelation was saved for last. Maybe it was because of what it entailed or maybe because Jin had to find that out himself. The golden writings did not warn him.

The dimensions were working against him. It should not have come as that much of a surprise as it did, they were created by the cult that tried to sacrifice him after all. Yet Jin did not expect that at all. Was it not enough to be trapped with no way out? Did he really have to fight against everything around him?

In various worlds Jin visited he encountered different people, none of them were real, Jin knew that much, but what was worse after some time he started meeting people who looked like his friends. Sometimes they looked exactly identical to the real people and Jin could only tell they were not by the vague sense of wrongness he felt while looking at them. It was like his heart knew they were not real even when his brain failed to spot the difference. Other times they were deformed creatures wearing the faces of his loved ones.

He would never forget the first time he encountered a creature like that. It had Jimin’s face but that was where the similarities ended. Its body was distorted, bent at weird angles, it moved with the sound of bones breaking, joints popping, like it was not meant to move at all. Green sludge leaked out of its eyes in a horrid imitation of tears. When he saw it Jin did the only logical thing he could. He ran. He kept running until he was pulled out of that world. Yet the creature never left his nightmares.

Right now though Jin needed to focus on what was on front of him, on the current world he was in. He didn’t lose hope that maybe this time he would be able to find his friends. But just as Jin looked up, he heard the doves distressed coo. Immediately after the bird was hit by an arrow.

‘No! No, no, no!’ Jin screamed as he rushed forward trying to catch the falling animal. He was too slow and it hit the ground before him with a wet crack. Jin fell to his knees and reached for the dove, his hands trembling. It was dead. The arrow went straight through its heart and now hot, red blood stained its feathers.

Jin gently placed the bird on the grass. He had no idea what to do now. Without the guide he was lost. But he refused to give up. He couldn’t. His friends needed him and Jin refused to let them down. He clenched his fists in the grass ripping some of it out before he looked up from the ground determined. He would do it himself with or without help. He had to.

Jin looked around trying to decide where he should go next. He had not realized it before too focused on the dove but he had gotten much closer to the forest that previously loomed on the horizon. And as Jin looked closely he could barely make out some shapes lying around right before the trees started. So Jin decided that’s where he would start. He got up and headed for the forest.

Nothing he saw in all the previous worlds prepared him for what he found there. When Jin reached the tree line he could finally tell what the shapes were.

They were bodies.

Dead people lay all around him, their blood made the ground muddy and slick. It looked like the middle of a gruesome battlefield. Not that Jin had ever seen one before outside of a movie. The bodies looked fresh, not showing signs of decay. Some of the wounds were still oozing blood although more sluggishly now than when they were first inflicted judging by the red splashes on the grass.

Jin stood there fighting nausea. He wanted to get away from it all but his legs were frozen in place and he could not move even an inch. His own body betrayed him, making him stay and bear witness to the horrible scene before him.

Jin managed to move only after a sitting figure, leaning against a tree caught his attention. He felt his stomach tighten in knots, there was something scarily familiar about it. Jin managed to take one shaky step forward, then the next. When he finally reached it he felt all air leave his lungs. Jin’s legs gave out from under him and he fell to his knees landing face to face with Jungkook’s dead eyes.

‘No, no, no please’ Jin managed to whisper reaching to cradle Jungkook’s body in his arms. The younger was a dead weight against him, his body still warm, though much colder than it should have been. Jin could not stop the tears that came even if he tried. He buried his face in Jungkook’s hair. It didn’t matter that it was bloody and matted it still smelled like him. Jin rocked them both back and forth as if the younger was a baby he was trying to soothe, whispering softly: ‘Hyung’s here. It’s gonna be ok. Just… just wake up please. For me. Jungkookie open your eyes, Hyung’s here’ he repeated it over and over again. Praying the younger would look at him, smile, laugh, whatever to stop his body growing more cold by the second.

Jin did not move until he was pulled back to his Vestibule. Only then when he found himself back in his safe room with Jungkook’s body nowhere in sight did he manage to get to his feet.

Jin made his way over to his mattress slowly both terrified and hopeful. He could not stop his hands from shaking as he pulled the photo of them on the beach from under his pillow. He needed to know if what he had just seen was real. He was both impatient and hesitant to get a confirmation.

Jin did not recognize the sound that left his mouth when he saw the picture. They were still there, all of them. Jungkook was there, he was ok. What Jin saw was not real.

Exhausted from all the emotions Jin let himself fall onto the mattress already feeling sleep pulling at his mind. He fell asleep clutching the photo to his chest. His friends were still fine. At least for now.

This time Jin found himself in an empty room. It was so dark he couldn’t even see the floor he was standing on. All that was there was pitch darkness.

Suddenly a row of lights came on as if someone lit up a stage. Now Jin could see a closed white door and behind it a simple grey couch. Without much thought he moved forward. His first instinct was to try the door but he wasn’t too surprised when he found it to be locked. He was slowly getting used to the universes working against him.

Next he tried to simply pass by the door but as soon as he tried he bumped into an invisible wall. Jin tried to the left and then to the right of the door, yet the result was the same. The wall was invisible, smooth and cool to the touch. It was as if he was looking through a large window into the room on the other side.

A quiet pained whine pulled Jin’s attention away from examining the wall. He made his way back to the door and took a closer look at what was behind it.

There on the gray couch laid a person.

He was dressed all in gray matching the color of the couch so well that the only part of him that stood out was his dark hair. For a long moment nothing happened and then the figure moved as if they were trying to get up with another pained groan. They succeeded after another try and now Jin could see their face clearly.

‘Yoongi’ Jin whispered in disbelief. He couldn’t be sure that it was the real him, but he looked so much like the real Yoongi that Jin almost forgot all about it. ‘Yoongi!’ he yelled louder trying to get his attention.

Yoongi lifted his head, swaying on his feet. He looked like he was in pain, he was barely standing. Jin wasn’t sure if Yoongi could see him. He never once looked him in the eyes, but he could hear him as he clearly reacted to his voice. He took a shaky step forward almost falling down in the process and Jin could see him grit his teeth against the pain.

Suddenly the distance between him and the door seemed like too much. Yoongi would never be able to cross it in the state he was in. So Jin grabbed the door handle and tried to open the door with all his might. But the door was unmovable. It must have been closed from the inside and Jin had absolutely no way of opening it.

He left the door alone and did the next best thing he could. He rested his hands on the wall separating him from Yoongi and tried to encourage him.

‘Yoongi! It’s me, Jin. I’m here. Hyung’s here’ he said watching as Yoongi focused on his voice and took another painful step forward. ‘The door is locked. You need to open it. You can do it Yoongi. C’mon’ Jin tried not to show the nervousness he felt every time Yoongi swayed. He kept his voice calm and encouraging. He knew he was babbling at this point, but just hearing his voice seemed to spur Yoongi forward, so he kept going. The younger was doing so good. He was almost halfway to the door and now Jin could see how pale he was, how every step made him grimace in pain, cold sweat glistening on his forehead.

Then suddenly Yoongi’s knees buckled and he fell to the floor.

Jin felt panic surge through him as he dropped to his knees following Yoongi. This time he could not keep the fear and urgency out of his voice.

‘Please Yoongi’ he begged. ‘Just a little bit more. You can do it. Please Yoongi get up.’

It was painful to watch Yoongi lift his head unable to hold back a whine of pain as he pushed his body crawling forward. His legs dragged limp behind him like a dead weight and Jin wanted nothing more than to get to the other side and help.

He watched Yoongi struggle and felt tears of frustration fill his eyes. Yoongi was suffering, pushing himself well past the limit and Jin could do nothing but watch. He was absolutely useless. Oh how he hated that feeling. He hated everything about it. But most of all he felt an overwhelming sadness.

That was what scared him the most. Because if he was sad that meant that he had already given up. That he believed Yoongi wouldn’t make it and he couldn’t have that. He could not afford to stop fighting now.

Spurred by the new found determination and that primal fear of giving up Jin got to his feet again. He was at the door a second later, trying to open it with all his might again. He tried everything he could think of yet the simple white door stayed unmoved by his struggles and remained closed.

Jin gave up only after he heard a small thud and his eyes landed back on Yoongi. He was nearly at the door now, just barely out of reach. Jin watched as he stretched his hand as far as he could trying to reach the door before he went completely limp. He didn’t move after that.

Jin fell to his knees again, as close to Yoongi as he possibly could.

‘No, no, no. Yoonie please get up’ Jin hadn’t even noticed the nickname slip out. He banged his fists on the wall as he felt tears finally fall down his cheeks.

He begged and begged but Yoongi didn’t move again. They stayed like that until Jin was pulled back to the Vestibule. He was alone again. Yoongi was left behind.

Jin was getting tired.

No matter how hard he tried, no matter what he did, nothing worked. He traveled through different worlds, did the best he could, but he never seemed to be able to make any difference. He was supposed to save his friends, but he was getting absolutely nowhere.

He was slowly loosing hope and the world he found himself in this time only made everything worse.

Jin woke up in a nicely decorated room. It was a pleasant change from the usual dark and unwelcoming places he ended up most often than not. But this place was different, it felt almost homey. All the soft touches and light colors only adding to that atmosphere.

Jin regarded the room with open suspicion. He had learned the hard way not to trust anything he saw at face value. No matter how nice the place looked Jin didn’t trust it.

His worries were proven to be correct when he noticed a large window on one of the walls. It lead to another room almost identical to the one Jin was in. The only difference was that the room on the other side wasn’t empty.

Jin felt his breath stuck in his throat as he took in the sight before him. On the other side of the glass were his friends. All six of them. Jimin and Yoongi were sitting on a coach leaning against each other. Yoongi had headphones on, his eyes closed in bliss as he listened to music. Jimin was laughing at something Jungkook had said, his head thrown back, his laughter chiming like bells in the wind. The youngest was sitting at a table with Namjoon. There was a game placed between them, one that Jin couldn’t recognize, but that didn’t matter. What was important were the brilliant smiles on their faces. Hoseok stood behind Namjoon pointing at the game board, clearly trying to help, while Taehyung sat on the floor watching them fondly.

Jin could not stop the hope from blooming in his chest. They were all there. They were fine. If only he could get to them then they could all escape and leave this fucked up situation behind.

He had not realized he moved until his outstretched hand touched the glass. He had to clear his voice a few times before he was able to call them.

‘Guys I’m here! Can you hear me?’ Jin yelled, his voice coming out louder that he intended because of the nerves and also excitement he felt. His throat was tight. After almost giving up the sudden hope he felt was overwhelming almost suffocating and he had to remind himself to keep taking one breath after the other.

At first none of them reacted, but that was not enough to deter Jin. They were all talking, laughing, they must have simply not heard him and so Jin tried again.

‘Guys!’ this time Jin was louder. He accented his shout by hitting his fist against the glass to gain their attention. He wasn’t sure what he expected more, for them to finally notice him or to be completely ignored.

At first he fought that the latter has happened and he started kicking himself for foolishly getting his hopes up until he saw Taehyung move. Jin’s voice seemed to break Tae free from whatever spell the guys were under as he lifted his head and looked straight at Jin.

Jin felt his heartbeat skyrocket. ‘Taehyung! Can you hear me?’ he shouted again. He didn’t know what it was but he just knew this was his Taehyung, the real Taehyung. It was not some kind of a cruel joke, this time Jin had finally found one of his friends. He couldn’t believe it.

Meanwhile Taehyung got up and moved to the other side of the window. Now they were face to face and Jin didn’t know if he should laugh or cry. He couldn’t believe it was really happening. He was finally getting somewhere.

Jin could not hear his voice when Taehyung spoke, but he understood him just fine. ‘Hyung?’

‘Yes! Yes, it’s me Tae. I’m here!’ Jin answered enthusiastically. ‘I’m here to get you out. Do you see a door anywhere?’ Even Taehyung shaking his head no couldn’t deter Jin, he had caught wind in his wings again and was fighting harder than ever before. ‘Ok that’s fine. We will manage somehow. Tae I can’t believe I finally found you! You have no idea how long I have been…’ Jin was interrupted by a loud cracking sound and suddenly black vines shout out from the walls behind them leaving them in a pile of rubble on the floor. Jin didn’t know what was happening until the vines grabbed both him and Taehyung and pulled them in opposite directions. The dimension was trying to separate them again.

‘No!’ Jin shouted as he was pulled back. He tried to grab Taehyung even though he knew he wouldn’t be able to reach him. He tried to hold onto something, to fight the vines pulling him farther and farther away from his friends but there was nothing he could do. The last thing Jin saw was Taehyung fighting just as desperately against the vines before he was pulled out of that world.

Jin was back in his Vestibule. Alone again. But this time he didn’t lose hope. Finally after all this time and meaningless suffering something changed. He found Tae, the real Taehyung. And even if Jin hadn’t managed to bring him back, he was sure he would be able to find him again. Next time he would not let anything keep him from his friends.

When Jimin opened his eyes he was alone. No one else was in the room with him and it just didn’t make any sense. Just a second ago they were all there. Sitting with him, laughing. Yoongi was leaning on the couch behind him, Jimin could still feel the phantom warmth of his touch, the sound of Hobi’s laughter still echoed in his ears. He could swear he had closed his eyes only for a moment, barely longer than a blink, but it was enough for the fragile illusion of happiness to shatter around him.

Jimin felt tears spring to his eyes. He blinked furiously to get rid of them. He had lost count how many times this exact thing has happened to him. He would be with his friends, talking, laughing, and then the next second he found himself alone. It was like they were never even there, nothing more than a figment of Jimin’s desperate imagination.

He felt like he was going crazy. He didn’t know what to believe anymore. Where they ever even there? Or was he finally losing it? Did his mind really break from missing them so much that he hallucinated those moments all together? How long has it been since he had last seen them? The real them, not some vague mirage Jimin couldn’t even be sure was real. He didn’t know. He couldn’t tell how long this has been going on. Or if there ever was anything before this.

Chapter Text

As Namjoon made his way through the city he marveled at how little it had changed since he last been there. To be perfectly honest he hoped to never come back. The whole place was a sorry sight, abandoned buildings falling apart, trash strewn all over, crashed and burned cars littering the streets. It looked like something from an apocalypse movie and it felt like that too.

Namjoon considered the city to be dangerous and not at all worth the resources he might find there. That’s why he chose to live in an abandoned train wagon left far outside of the city. He probably would have never returned if it wasn’t for Taehyung.

He had been adamant about staying inside the city’s borders and no matter how much Namjoon tried to convince him it was a bad idea he wouldn’t change his mind. That’s why they decided to part ways. Taehyung would stay and Namjoon left. They promised to still help each other if they could, the distance would not put an end to their friendship, but keeping in touch proved to be quite difficult in the world they lived in.

Finally they found an old phone booth next to Namjoon’s wagon that was connected to one in the city. This way they could contact each other in case of emergencies. It wasn’t much, but it had to be enough.

In all the time Namjoon had lived in the wagon he had never heard the phone ring once, which was good because it meant Taehyung was doing well. So he was glad Taehyung hadn’t called. Until that morning that is.

Namjoon awoke to the sound of a telephone. The persistent ringing made dread rise up in his chest. He knew something was wrong before he was even fully awake. He detangled himself from the sheets and made a beeline for the door, his bare feet thudding on the cold metal floor.

Namjoon didn’t waste time putting on shoes. The gravel dug painfully into his skin as he made his way to the small phone booth right behind his wagon. The cold air made him shiver so he wrapped his arms around himself to try and keep some of the warmth.

When he reached the phone booth the phone was still ringing but Namjoon’s heart sank. During the night someone had chained the doors shut. Namjoon had no way to get to the phone. He could go look for metal cutters but he didn’t have that much time. The phone would stop ringing soon.

He desperately yanked at the booth’s door, trying in vain to get it to open. When that didn’t work he tried breaking the padlock, but it was also no use. Frustrated he banged his fists on the walls until the ringing stopped.

Namjoon let out a defeated sigh, resting his head on the cold plastic of the wall. He felt the tears of frustration well up in his eyes. His friend needed help and Namjoon didn’t know what to do.

But right after the ringing stopped there was a soft click and then a voice message started playing.

‘Namjoon-hyung I messed up’ Namjoon’s head shot up, it was Taehyung’s voice. Even if it sounded mechanical and distorted Namjoon would recognize it anywhere. ‘Could you…’ he trailed off and Namjoon was worried he the call would disconnect, before he continued. ‘Could you come see me? I want to see you one more time’ he pleaded and with that the call was cut.

That was how Namjoon found himself back in the city he thought he would never see again. It wasn’t as if he hated the place. It was simply too dangerous. The city was ridden with gangs constantly fighting over territory, terrorizing everyone, harming innocent people or pressuring them to join their groups.

Namjoon wanted no part in that so he left, but Taehyung always found avoiding the gangs entertaining. He thrived on the constant thrill of the chase. Namjoon never understood that so they parted ways.
There was no telling what kind of trouble Taehyung has gotten himself into, so Namjoon had no idea what to expect. So far the city was suspiciously quiet. There was no cars patrolling the streets, no one getting beaten up or threatened. It made Namjoon more and more tense as he walked further into the city.

When he got closer to the city center his surroundings changed drastically. There were cars burning on the streets, people running each and every way, people screaming. None of it stopped Namjoon, he had a strong feeling that whatever was happening, Taehyung was in the middle of it all.

When Namjoon saw the first person with a gun, he jumped behind a nearby wall on pure instinct. But the gangster seemed completely uninterested in him, he just ran past as if Namjoon wasn’t even there.
Namjoon paused for a moment, thinking what to do next. As much as he wanted to it didn’t seem logical to run head first into danger. He had already encountered a gangster and he was bound to see more of them if he continued forward. He couldn’t just turn back however. He needed to find his friend.

When Namjoon peeked out from his hiding place again, he saw a familiar mop of black hair running in the exact direction the gangster had come from. In that moment all previous thoughts left his brain as he gave chase without hesitation.

‘Taehyung!’ Namjoon called, chasing after his friend, dodging burning cars and debris that lay in his way. Taehyung however didn’t seem to hear him as he continued running, not even looking back.
Namjoon gritted his teeth and ran faster, it seemed his only option was to catch up to the younger. So he ignored the people pushing past him, the shouts, the gunfire, focused solely on his friend before him, doing his absolute best not to lose him.

Then several things happened at once.

Taehyung ran inside a building, but before Namjoon could follow him, he saw something out of the corner of his eye. He watched terrified as a lit Molotov flew through the air, crashing through a window of the same building Taehyung had just entered. He watched as the flames started spreading faster than he thought possible.

Later Namjoon realized he started screaming, terrified, desperate. As if his cries could have stopped the fire. He couldn’t think. He needed to get Taehyung out of there. So he took off fully planning to run in after his friend, all the fire and danger be damned. But before he could reach the entrance someone slammed into him, knocking him to the ground. He felt the stranger cover him with his own body as the building, where Taehyung had just been erupted into flames.

Jin could feel the heat of the flames on his back as he did his best to shield Namjoon. He felt like his heart would beat right out of his chest. Both from relief and fear.

The moment he saw him, Jin immediately knew that this was the real Namjoon. It was as if his very soul recognized his friend. No matter how much the worlds tried to mess with him, they were not able to take that from him. Jin would always be able to recognize his friends. It was like they were all part of him, seeing Namjoon began to finally fill the void inside Jin, that was eating away at his heart every moment he spent without them.

The relief didn’t last long, as Jin realized that Namjoon was about to run straight into a burning building. Panic overcame him as he ran faster than ever before to get to him, to stop him.
When they collided the feeling of finding a missing piece of himself became even stronger and Jin thanked every god out there for getting to Namjoon in time.

Namjoon however didn’t seem to share Jin’s sentiment. As soon as he shook of the initial shock he started struggling, trying to push Jin away. He was fighting him with all his might trying to get free. He had not taken his eyes off of the flames for even a moment and Jin realized that if he let him be, Namjoon would run straight into the fire.

‘Namjoon! Stop, it’s me’ he tried to calm him down, reason with him somehow, anything to stop him from actively trying to run to his death. ‘It’s me. It’s Jin. Namjoon please, look at me!’

That got him to finally really see Jin. Namjoon blinked as if confused, but then the panic returned.

‘Jin-hyung?’ he asked like he could barely believe it. ‘Jin-hyung! Help, Taehyung is inside, we need to help him!’ he added urgently, grabbing at Jin’s shoulders.

Jin hugged him and just held onto him with all his might successfully keeping him in place. He didn’t have the words to explain. He didn’t know how to tell Namjoon that it wasn’t the real Taehyung. Because it couldn’t be. Because if it was, that would mean he died before Jin could save him. And he couldn’t. Not like this. Jin would have known. Surely he would have felt something. It must have been another duplicate created by this world to mess with them. It was the only possibility. Jin would not even entertain any other option. He couldn’t. Namjoon needed him. Jin couldn’t let the doubts and grief consume him. Not now. Not when he had finally found one of them.

‘What are you doing?’ Namjoon asked, his voice panicked. ‘Let me go Hyung! We need to…’ his voice broke as tears gathered in his eyes. Jin just squeezed him tighter.

‘Stop’ he whispered, his voice barely loud enough to be heard over the roaring of flames behind them. ‘Stop it Mon-ah. It’s too late. Please I can’t lose you.’ I can’t lose you too went unsaid. ‘Please, let’s just get out of here. Please’ Jin begged. He felt Namjoon go limp in his hold as he finally stopped fighting him. The meaning of Jin’s words didn’t go unnoticed and he felt Namjoon’s shoulders start shaking with silent sobs as the reality of the situation hit him with full force.

After a while the younger let Jin help him stand, he let him hold his hand and lead him away from the wreckage of the city. Namjoon’s eyes remained empty, silent tears running down his face the whole time.

Jin didn’t let go of his hand, didn’t stop walking until they were both taken back to the Vestibule. Once they got there Jin took out the picture.

Taehyung was still there.

Jin let out a relieved breath and rushed to show it to Namjoon. He couldn’t help but smile at his confused expression, feeling almost delirious with relief himself. Jin almost forgot that Namjoon didn’t know what the picture was. He took a deep breath to steady himself and sat both of them down on the bed. There was so much he needed to tell him.

Then Jin started explaining.

Jungkook wandered if the others would think he had completely lost it. For the past two days he had been following a butterfly. He couldn’t really explain why, he just saw it one day and felt the urge to go after it.

It was still flying just ahead of him, making turns and little twirls in the air as it lead him further and further. It did not stop even when a waterfall appeared before them. It deterred neither of them as Jungkook simply kept going even when water started filling his shoes. He was prepared to walk through the waterfall to see if there was maybe something behind it but as it turned out he didn’t have to.

Just as the butterfly reached the wall of water it parted in the middle revealing a concreate tunnel behind it. The walls grinded loudly on each other as the path forward opened.

Jungkook hesitated for a moment. It was different to wander aimlessly around the world after a butterfly, than to follow it into a poorly lit tunnel. But as he waited the butterfly didn’t stop, he could barely see its golden wings anymore.

So before he completely lost it, Jungkook followed the butterfly deep into the mysterious tunnel.

Jimin was drowning. He couldn’t breathe, he couldn’t break through the surface to reach air.

He was going to die.

Oh God, he was going to die.

He struggled against the hands holding him down with all his might, but it achieved nothing. He couldn’t stop himself. He screamed. Than he watched with morbid fascination as the bubbles of air escaped to the surface bringing him this much closer to suffocation.

He was completely helpless. The surface taunted him, so close yet still out of reach. There was nothing he could do. His vision started to fade around the edges and he realized he was almost out of time.

The hands holding him down did not relent even when violent shivers wracked his body. It was so cold. He couldn’t breathe. He needed to breathe.

It hurt. It hurt so much.

Finally Jimin lost the fight with his instincts and took a deep breath. Freezing cold water filled his lungs and with it came panic even sharper than before.

At that moment the hands holding him down disappeared. With his last conscious thought Jimin pulled himself up and out of the water.

He managed to heave himself out of the bathtub and collapse on the floor, his body hitting the tiles painfully. Then he started coughing, all the water leaving his lungs as he fought desperately to take a breath.

When his coughing finally stopped he had no strength left to move, he stayed lying down on the floor as his consciousness faded and he passed out from pure exhaustion.

Even after Jimin blacked out the water in the tub continued to sway with no sign of stopping.

----

Back at the safe Vestibule Jin and Namjoon watched in horror as Jimin started slowly fading from the photo as his life was draining out of him.

Namjoon lifted his head up as he heard the door open. He had been reading a book trying to entertain himself as he waited for Jin to come back. Namjoon had wanted to go with him but the older firmly refused saying that it was something he had to do alone.

So Namjoon stayed behind. He wasn’t sure why it was so easy to convince him. Maybe he agreed out of respect. Jin was older than him and Namjoon was taught to always respect his elders.

Maybe it was because he was a coward, afraid of getting stuck in another horrible world, of seeing the same horrors that Jin had seen. He never admitted it, but Namjoon had seen how much those past weeks affected him. He could see just how little Jin slept, how often he woke up from nightmares. He saw how much it took for him to repeat the same vicious cycle every day.

Namjoon could see it now. The anguish clear on Jin’s face as they stood looking at each other. Neither of them said anything for a long moment. They just stared, silence hanging heavily between them. They weren’t sure what words were appropriate at that moment.

Namjoon opened his mouth but no sound came out. He hadn’t found the right words. ‘Are you ok?’ he could ask, but that was such a pointless question. Jin was clearly everything but ok. ‘What happened?’ but Namjoon wasn’t sure he wanted to know. Maybe it made him a coward but whatever has put this expression on Jin’s face terrified him. ‘Can I help?’ but could he really? Was there anything he could do or say that would fix this?

So they just stood there silently looking at each other, waiting for something to break them out of the spell they were under. Namjoon decided to try again. He took a deep breath.

‘Jin?’ that was all that left his mouth, quite pathetic really. It didn’t seem like enough so Namjoon opened his mouth to speak again. But before he could Jin crouched down, curling in on himself. He hid his face in his knees, his hands flew up to tug sharply at his hair. Namjoon watched stunned not sure what was happening, how his simple question trigger such a reaction.

And then Jin broke.

He started sobbing. His whole body shook with the force of it, as he struggled to breathe through it. It was getting worse by the second. Jin was yanking harshly at his hair as if he wanted to rip it out as the tears soaked through his jeans.

Despite the shock Namjoon reacted almost immediately. He crossed the distance between them and fell to his knees in front of the older. Namjoon brought his hands around his slender frame holding tightly as if he was trying to prevent Jin from falling apart completely.

Jin gave no indication that he even noticed Namjoon had moved. He didn’t return the hug still curled in on himself as tight as he could. He was wailing at this point, his sobs never stopping for even a moment.

Namjoon didn’t know how to help. All he could do was to rock them gently back and forth as he muttered ‘Shhh it’s ok’ over and over again like a mantra. He let Jin cry and cry without a complaint. He would stay there as long as he needed.

Finally after what felt like eternity Jin’s wailing stopped. He was still crying, hiccupping occasionally but it wasn’t as bad as before. He returned Namjoon’s hug, sobbing quietly into his shoulder.

Namjoon felt some of the tension leave him. It was scary to see his happy Jin-hyung like that. They didn’t speak after Jin had stopped crying entirely, both too exhausted to have a conversation. Namjoon helped Jin wash his face and then they both got into bed. They laid side by side not ready to be too far from each other just yet, still too shaken up by what happened earlier.

Jin’s face was red and swollen. He had small bruises littering his face from where the blood vessels raptured when he cried too hard. They looked so out of place on his pale face, but even now all swollen and exhausted, Jin looked beautiful. Namjoon gently ran a finger over one of the bruises right under Jin’s eye, making him look like he hadn’t slept in ages.

‘Does it hurt?’ he asked quietly. He watched as Jin blinked a few times. He didn’t look back at him, instead he focused on a random spot on the ceiling.

‘Not really’ he said. ‘My head hurts, but the bruises don’t.’ He had seen them of course, Namjoon had to drag him away from the small mirror above the sink as he seemed to get lost in his reflection.

They laid in silence for a moment before Jin spoke again. ‘Every time I go there I see you dead’ he admitted and Namjoon felt his stomach drop. ‘I keep telling myself that it’s not true but… You didn’t see it Namjoon. I held your bodies in my arms. Begged you to come back’ he shook his head as if to get rid of the memories. ‘It feels so real Mon-ah, it’s so easy to get lost’ he admitted so quietly, that if Namjoon wasn’t listening so intently he might have missed it.

Namjoon steeled his resolve as he grabbed Jin’s hand.

‘You are not alone anymore Jin’ he squeezed his fingers in reassurance. ‘We’ll go together next time. We’ll remind each other what is real and what’s not’ he promised. Namjoon gave Jin the most reassuring smile he could when the older turned to look at him.

Namjoon made the promise and he meant it. He might be scared of what awaited them outside of the safe Vestibule, but there was nothing he wouldn’t do to help his friends. Jin needed him. He couldn’t continue to venture into the dimensions alone, so Namjoon would shove his fear, his uncertainty away and help him. Because at the end of the day that’s what really mattered, his friends, not his fears.

Chapter Text

Taehyung was stuck.

He was stuck and there was nothing he could do about it. It didn’t matter that he knew everything around him was fake. He was powerless to save himself.

You see, Taehyung was aware of what was happening. When the cult kidnapped him and his friends he woke up during the ritual. He heard them talking about the worlds and how they would slowly kill him and his friends.

It was terrifying but it also gave Taehyung an advantage. When he woke up next, he knew what to expect. He knew that only Jin could save them and he would do anything to help him. So Taehyung started gathering information.

He learned that they were hardly the first sacrifice the cult has made. There were countless others before them, each one trying and failing to get back to the real world. They left clues. Hidden snippets of information in hopes to help each other or those who would find themselves in the same situation.

Taehyung hunted for those clues. He gathered as much as he could and tried to find ways to relay them to the others, while still being careful enough not to alarm the worlds or the cult to the fact that he knew what was going on.

But he wasn’t careful enough.

Soon enough the cult has caught on to what Taehyung was doing and put a stop to it. That was how he found himself in the situation he was in. He was stuck in a loop. Living the same day over and over again, never able to break the cycle.

Every day he woke up in bed with a girl he didn’t know. But she apparently knew him. Every time he asked who she was, she insisted that she was his girlfriend and to stop acting silly. They would move through the motions together, brush their teeth, eat breakfast. Then they would go out.

They would visit all the same places every time. First they would walk in the park holding hands. They would talk, well she would, Taehyung didn’t have anything to say to her. It never seemed to bother her, as if she didn’t even notice his silence. Taehyung figured it was because she wasn’t real and since he knew that and the cult knew he knew, they stopped trying to make everything realistic. She was simply supposed to be a distraction, created solely for the purpose of keeping him occupied until the world would finally kill him. That was the goal.

Then they would take a bus and go shopping for a while. They never bought anything. Never even went inside any of the shops and at this point Taehyung was wandering if they were just hollow fronts with nothing inside once you entered. It seemed pretty plausible with how little effort was put into making this world seem real.

Finally at the end of the day, they would go to a diner and eat a simple meal. The scariest part was once they would leave Taehyung would be forced to go onto the street right as a car was driving past them. Every time he would hold his breath waiting for the impact only to feel the girl push him away so she would get hit instead.

Before Taehyung could even react, he would be back in bed with her and the day would start over. This exact thing happened every. Single. Time.

No matter how hard Taehyung tried, he couldn’t change anything. It didn’t matter if they went left or right when they left home, they would still arrive at the park. He tried his hardest to lose the girl, hoping maybe that would change something, but she managed to find him every time. If he tried to stay home she would drag him out kicking and screaming and would continue like this throughout the whole day.

Simply, there wasn’t anything Taehyung could do to change the time loop he was stuck in. It was discouraging, but he tried not to lose hope. He knew Jin was looking for him and Taehyung was sure he was going to find him soon. He just hoped it wouldn’t be too late.

In all honesty the repetitiveness of the whole thing was strangely putting him at ease. He knew what to expect and when. There were no new threats anywhere and it was more than he could say about all the previous worlds he had found himself in.

However the peace didn’t last long. It never did when it came to Taehyung.

The change was not big, but significant enough that Taehyung noticed something was different the second he opened his eyes.

For the first time in weeks? months maybe? he was alone. The girl that always accompanied him was nowhere to be found. It immediately put him on edge. Something was happening, but he couldn’t yet tell if it was a good thing.

He quickly realized that he had been foolish in thinking anything good could have happened in this twisted universe run by some strange cult.

Even though the girl was gone Taehyung was still forced to go through the same motions as any other day. It was as if he had no control of his own body. He still went out and headed to the park. It was there that he realized that now that he was alone there was no one to push him away from the car. He was going to die at the end of this day and the cycle would be over.

The worst part was that he was powerless. No matter how much he struggled he couldn’t stop. His body refused to listen to him. The day kept on playing in front of him, indifferent to his struggles.

He really needed Jin. He needed him right now. Because if he was too late, if Taehyung died none of them would be able to leave this place and, scratch that, Taehyung didn’t want to die.

Taehyung kept telling himself that Jin would make it. It was the only thing he could do to keep his sanity. Jin would make it. He had to.

But as the day kept going, more and more of that hope died. Taehyung felt like he was going to the slaughter. The cult had managed to strip him of any semblance of free will. He could struggle all he wanted, but ultimately it would not make any difference.

At the end of the day as Taehyung made his way out of the diner and onto the street he was close to hysterics. He trashed inside the prison that was his mind, trying to break free. He felt like his knees would give out from the sheer panic he was feeling, but his body was no longer his own and his steps never faltered.

With his heart beating out of his chest and dread filling all his thoughts Taehyung took the final step forward and stopped. He stood looking as the car approached him, it seemed to be going faster than ever before. As the headlights reached him Taehyung closed his eyes bracing for impact.

He felt himself falling backwards, heard the tires screeching on the asphalt as the car drove away. They didn’t even stop after hitting him.

Taehyung’s body collided painfully with the ground, but something soft shielded his head from the impact. The pain made him gasp, which in turn made him realize that he was still breathing.

He was still breathing! He was alive!

Taehyung opened his eyes to look around and realized another beautiful thing. Not only did he somehow survive the crash, he had control of his body again.

For a moment all he saw was the night sky, then Namjoon’s worried face came into view. A second later Jin joined them looking equally as worried.

Taehyung had to blink back tears as he stared at his friends. He sat up shakily, still not fully used to being able to move freely.

‘Namjoon-hyung, Jin-hyung I’m so glad you found me’ he grinned feeling the tears run down his face.

Jin felt his shoulders drop as he heard him. Taehyung was fine, they got to him in time. He sat back on the asphalt next to them as he watched Namjoon hug the shaking Taehyung to his chest.

He was so glad that it was Namjoon who reached Taehyung first. He really needed that. They never really talked about it but Jin knew how being unable to save the fake Taehyung from the fire haunted Namjoon. He hoped now it would be easier for them both.

When they first gotten to this world there was nothing waiting for Jin and Namjoon, no dove or butterfly to guide them. It worried Jin, he didn’t know which way to go without it. They would be going in blind without any idea if they were searching in the right place. But before the worry could truly settle over him Namjoon called him.

‘Let’s go this way Jin-hyung’ he couldn’t explain why he chose that direction when Jin asked. He just shrugged and said it felt right. Without any other option Jin had followed him and it turned out to be one of his best decisions. Namjoon had led them straight to Taehyung as if he was following some trail visible only to him.

Right now looking at them both alive and breathing, Jin had never been more happy to have trusted his friend.

‘I got you’ Namjoon whispered still clinging to the younger as if he would disappear the moment he let go. ‘I got you Tae.’

Jin watched as the words registered in Taehyung’s mind, the look of utter relief on his face. Then his shoulders started shaking as more and more tears fell down his face. Taehyung cried silently clinging to Namjoon just as desperately as he was holding him.

‘It was so scary Hyung’ he sobbed. ‘I couldn’t move. My body wouldn’t listen to me’ poor thing Jin thought he was absolutely terrified and who wouldn’t be if they could not control their own body, if they came this close to death. That thought made Jin shudder and he shuffled over to the two hugging and joined them. He needed to feel them close.

‘It’s over now. We got you’ Namjoon kept whispering trying to reassure both of them in equal measure. Jin hated to have to break this moment but it was not safe to stay in one place for too long. They never knew what this world would throw at them next. So he stood up and tried to think of how to explain everything to Taehyung.

It turned out he didn’t need to. Soon Taehyung lifted his head, his tears had stopped though there were still tear tracks visible on his face. He looked at Namjoon and then at Jin hopefully.
‘Can we get out of here?’ he asked. ‘I have been trying to find you guys for ages.’

As if triggered by Taehyung’s words Jin felt the pull that he came to associate with being taken back to the Vestibule. He didn’t say anything, but grabbed onto both of them, afraid that if he let go they would be left behind.

In the Vestibule they all settled on the mattress as it was the only comfortable place to sit other than the floor. They had a lot to talk about. They had to explain the situation to Taehyung and even though Jin had done it once before, he still didn’t know where to start.

Instead, while Jin was thinking how to best approach the subject, Taehyung spoke first.

‘I knew you guys would find me’ he said with a smile. That caught Jin’s attention.

‘You knew?’ he asked. ‘How?’ When he found Namjoon, he was clueless about their situation. It had taken Jin a great deal of explaining to convince him the world where he was trapped wasn’t the real one, that they needed to get out, that the Taehyung they saw die wasn’t real.

And now the real Taehyung was sitting in front of them, not acting surprised in the slightest.

‘Well it’s kinda a funny story’ Taehyung rubbed the back of his neck. ‘When the weird cult was preparing the ritual I woke up somehow, so I heard them talking. Then when I woke up again I knew nothing around me was real’ he finished.

‘So you knew from the very beginning’ Jin couldn’t believe this, it didn’t sound possible. ‘Then why didn’t you come looking for me?’ he asked unable to keep the hurt out of his voice.

‘Hyung’ Namjoon said in a warning tone. He gave Jin a disapproving look, but there was also pity in his eyes. Like he knew it was Jin’s pain talking, even if he logically knew he shouldn’t be feeling this way.

Jin knew he wasn’t being fair. None of this was Taehyung’s fault. But he couldn’t help but think that if the roles were reversed Jin would have done all he could to help his friends, to reach them somehow. If Taehyung searched for him as hard as Jin did maybe they could have found each other sooner, maybe Jin wouldn’t have had to go through so much alone.

Taehyung shrunk in on himself looking guilty, regret clear in his eyes.

‘I tried. I promise I did. You have to believe me’ he said, pleaded ‘But I couldn’t leave the world they put me in. Only you can move between the dimensions Hyung, the rest of us can’t. But I tried to help anyway!’ he added quickly, talking faster by the second. ‘Since the cult didn’t know I knew what was happening I started looking for information. Did you know we were not the first ones they sent here?’ he didn’t give them time to respond before he continued. ‘There were so many others before us and some of them would leave clues behind to help anyone else that the cult would trap here. I tried to relay what I found to you’ he said looking straight at Jin. There was a silent question in his eyes. Did it work? Did I manage to reach you?

For a moment Jin was frozen, but then he remembered.

‘The gold markings! The polaroid! That was you?!’ He shouted getting to his feet.

‘Yes! Yes!’ Taehyung jumped up grabbing Jin’s hands. ‘So you found them. Did they help?’ he asked looking so hopeful that his eyes almost sparkled.

‘They did. It was the only reason I even knew what was going on’ now Jin felt awful. Taehyung had been helping him all along. He had given Jin as much as he was able. Without him Jin would have been completely lost. Taehyung had done so much for him and Jin had the nerve to doubt him. To question if Taehyung was really trying to help.

Jin had gotten so wrapped up in his own hurt that he forgot that all of them were suffering. None of them had it easy, just because Jin played the main part in this whole mess didn’t mean the others were not trying just as hard as he was, all of them in their own way.

Taehyung seemed unaware of the internal struggle Jin was facing as a grin split his face in half.

‘I also sent guides to help you find us’ he said, unknowingly digging the dagger even deeper into Jin’s heart. That meant that Taehyung was the only reason Jin was able to find Namjoon. God, how could Jin had ever have blamed him for not doing enough.

Luckily Namjoon was always good at reading Jin. He got up from the mattress and joined them, gently taking Jin’s hands out of Taehyung’s grasp. He guided Jin to sit back down and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. He didn’t say anything, but he didn’t have to. When Jin looked, in his eyes he could see the reassurance. Namjoon understood and Taehyung did too, Jin saw it when he looked at him. No one blamed him for being hurt and finding their situation unfair. No one blamed him for lashing out.

‘Sorry’ Jin murmured, because even though they understood, Taehyung still deserved a proper apology and Jin would give him one. But the younger only waved him off.

‘It’s fine’ he said smiling. ‘I did kind of become useless after that one time we saw each other’ ah, Jin remembered how they met at opposite sides of a glass wall and how they were unable to reach each other, so close and yet so far. ‘I guess the cult realized that I knew too much, that’s why they sent me to that weird world you found me in. When I was there I wasn’t able to do anything useful.’

They spent the rest of the day just talking, recounting what happened to them since they had last saw each other, enjoying each other’s presence. Tomorrow they would keep looking and for the very first time Jin felt confident that they would all get out of this alive.

Yoongi was running for his life.

‘C’mon faster!’ he shouted over his shoulder, praying that Jungkook was still right behind him. They were making their way through a forest, never stopping even if they didn’t know where exactly they were going.

They needed to run. That was all that Yoongi knew in that moment. There was something chasing them and if it caught them they would be dead. Of that he was certain.

It didn’t matter that he had cuts and bruises all over, both from branches he didn’t have time to avoid and from what had happened before. They needed to keep going.

He heard a bloodcurdling scream far too close for comfort and he forced himself to run even faster, as his mind uselessly tried to comprehend what exactly was chasing them. It wasn’t human that’s for sure. But Yoongi didn’t have time to dwell on it. He needed to get himself and Jungkook out of there, find somewhere safe for them to hide, so that the monster wouldn’t find them.

‘Hyung’ he heard Jungkook’s voice behind him. He sounded breathless and he didn’t need to say anything more for Yoongi to understand that they wouldn’t be able to keep running much longer.

Suddenly, as if summoned by his desperate pleading, Yoongi saw a flash of light slightly to the left. He blindly reached behind himself and grabbed Jungkook’s hand dragging him in that direction.

It turned out that Yoongi saw the moon reflected in a glass window. When they reached it there wasn’t much time for thinking so Yoongi grabbed a nearby rock and chucked it at the glass. It shattered leaving a hole just big enough for Yoongi to fit his arm through and grab the window handle. It didn’t matter that the broken glass cut his skin painfully as he was finally able to get the window open.

‘Hurry’ he told Jungkook as he helped him climb up and through the window to safety. The monster was getting closer, they could hear it approaching quickly.

Just as Jungkook reached out to help Yoongi climb inside the monster burst through the trees. It was too dark to see clearly, all Yoongi could make out were the claws and teeth glinting in the moonlight.

With a panicked yelp Yoongi hauled himself up. With Jungkook’s help, he was able to tumble inside ungracefully. Jungkook closed the window behind him as he looked for something to block it with. He found an old wardrobe and with Jungkook’s help they were able to move it, locking them inside and the monster outside.

It didn’t seem pleased that it’s pray managed to escape. Yoongi could still hear it pacing and roaring just outside the window, but they were safe.

At least for now.

Chapter Text

Yoongi couldn’t tell how long they’ve been stuck here.

The only indicator of the time passing was their food supply depleting. It wasn’t very big to begin with but now they had almost no food left and soon they would have to decide between going outside and facing whatever awaited them there or staying and slowly dying of starvation.

The room where Yoongi and Jungkook found themselves was spacious. It had one window and one door but both of those were locked. The window by a wardrobe they pushed in front of it and the door by a lock that Jungkook clicked closed the second they entered.

Inside they found a cupboard with food, two beds and a sink that provided cold but drinkable water. It was almost as if someone prepared this hiding place specifically for them. It disturbed Yoongi on so many levels.

There was also an old brown piano pushed into a corner. It was a beautiful thing even if it has been neglected for years. From time to time Yoongi would sit in front of it and run his fingers along the keys. He never dared to play it. He was too afraid it would attract the monster outside, but he craved it desperately.

The cuts and bruises on Yoongi’s body were healing, another thing that helped them count the time passing. Although it wasn’t a very reliable indicator as his body healed slowly due to lack of food and the constant stress they were under. His injuries didn’t hurt much anymore. All the pain from before dulled to a slight ache that reminded Yoongi of itself whenever he moved too quickly.

Jungkook was in a similar state, even though he managed to avoid the cuts that Yoongi got from opening the window. The bruises were still clearly visible against his pale skin and even if he tried to hide it, Yoongi could see how he winced whenever he moved wrong and aggravated his injuries.

The monster that had chased them was still lurking outside. They could hear it pacing around and at night, when the whole world got quiet, the sound of it panting, like a wild animal, just outside of the window, made its way inside, invading their dreams.

So the window had to stay closed. They had barely managed to escape it last time, Yoongi didn’t dare try again.

On the other side of the room there was the door. It was white, the paint was falling off in some places. It seemed to be just as old, if not older, than the room itself. There was something weird about it. Yoongi felt drawn to it but every time he wanted to open it Jungkook would stop him.

‘We don’t know what’s outside Hyung’ he would say shaking his head. ‘Let’s wait a bit longer until the monster leaves.’

Yoongi would listen it wasn’t as if they were in a hurry to go anywhere. They could wait some more.

But now that they had almost no more food Yoongi brought the topic up again.

‘I really think we should try the door Jungkook-ah’ he said, his eyes darting between the younger man and the door. ‘We have to leave this place. The door might be our only option.’

‘What if there is something terrible there Hyung?’ Jungkook shot back. ‘With the window’ he looked in its direction as if he could see through the wardrobe and knew what was waiting for them outside. ‘With the window we at least know what to expect’ he continued. ‘I’m sure the monster will leave soon’ as if to crush that hope before it could really take root, they heard the monster outside roar. It started clawing at the walls. It had been doing that for the past few days without any result, but Yoongi dreaded the moment the walls would give way to its ginormous claws.

But Jungkook had a point. There could be something even worse beyond the door. They wouldn’t know until they checked and right now they could afford to wait some more, even if it would not be long before their food run out.

That night he dreamt of voices calling him from beyond the door. They were beaconing him to open it, to let them inside. ‘Yoongi!’ they called his name over and over until he caved and finally looked in their direction. ‘Come join us’ they seemed to say, ‘You have to let us in’. Yoongi woke up in cold sweat and spent the rest of the night watching the door closely, listening to the monster outside breathing just beyond the window.

The voices scared Yoongi. He didn’t know what to think about them. On one hand the whole situation was terrifying. Was he losing his mind? Was there really someone behind that door?

But Yoongi couldn’t fight the feeling that the voices were familiar, like he heard them before. Yet no matter how hard he tried he could not remember who they belonged to.

He decided not to tell Jungkook about them. He would wait until he figured out what it was all about. That was his plan, but his plans rarely went the way Yoongi wanted them to.

That day their food ran out.

They didn’t speak about it. Yoongi didn’t want to bring up the topic of the door yet, especially after the dream. So they spent the day near the window, watching, listening for any indication that the monster haunting them left.

It did not.

They could still hear it. Its growls and whines reached their ears and from time to time they could hear it clawing at the walls again.

It was only after the sun had started to set that Yoongi decided to bring it up. The hunger was sharper now. They hadn’t eaten the whole day, and the last meal they had was barely anything to begin with. They couldn’t ignore it any longer.

‘We have to go Jungkook’ Yoongi said gesturing to the door. ‘We can’t stay here and the monster isn’t going anywhere. We need to try.’

Jungkook looked hesitant and for a moment Yoongi thought he would agree but then his lips tightened into a thin line. Jungkook shook his head.

‘We can’t Hyung. It’s not safe.’

Maybe it was the hunger or the constant stress he was under. Or maybe being stuck in one place for so long made his patience fry at the edges but Yoongi found himself snapping.

‘Not safe?! Look around you!’ he gestured to the window and the room they were in. ‘Nothing is safe! If we stay here we die! We have to get out of here and I’m sure as fuck not trying my luck with that thing outside the window!’ he ran his hand through his hair in exasperation. They were out of options. They needed to do something.

‘Oh grow up Hyung!’ Jungkook snapped back crossing his arms and rolling his eyes at him. ‘It’s barely been a day and you want to give up already. We can wait a bit longer. I’m sure the monster will leave soon. It’s safer this way.’

‘You know what? Fine!’ Yoongi got closer and pushed an accusing finger in Jungkook’s face. ‘If you wanna die that much suit yourself but I’m leaving’ he said turning around. He started walking in the direction of the door.

‘No wait! You can’t!’ Jungkook shouted behind him but Yoongi ignored him.

He only stopped when he felt Jungkook’s hand on his shoulder. Yoongi let himself be turned getting ready to lay into the younger if he tried to protest again. Instead Yoongi felt a fist connecting with his jaw.

He was completely unprepared and for the first few moments he didn’t even register the pain blooming across his cheek.

The blow knocked him off balance and if it wasn’t for Jungkook still holding onto the shirt on his shoulder he surely would have fallen.

Before Yoongi could fully process what the fresh hell had just happened, Jungkook yanked him upright and punched him again. This time he let go of Yoongi’s shoulder letting him stumble away.

‘I’m not letting you leave’ he said as Yoongi was shaking his head in a vain attempt of clearing it.

Something was wrong. There was no way Jungkook would do this. No matter how angry or tired he wouldn’t have hit any of them. Something was very wrong.

But Yoongi had no time to dwell on that as Jungkook started in his direction. The look in his eyes was so far from anything Yoongi had ever seen on the younger’s face that it scared him for a moment.

Yoongi needed to act and fast. He didn’t want to hurt Jungkook but he was leaving him no choice.

Yoongi ran forward and wrapped his arms around Jungkook’s waist. He felt a few blows land on his back but he gritted his teeth at the pain and threw Jungkook across the room. He tried to hurt him as little as possible but he still winced when he saw Jungkook his the floor.

Yoongi just needed time. He needed to put as much distance between them as he could so he could reach the door before Jungkook could stop him.

He didn’t wait for the younger to get up, before he sprinted for the door. He fumbled with the lock for a moment, the panic making him clumsy. Distantly he thought he heard the voices from beyond the door calling for him just like they did in his dream, but he had no time to dwell on it.

After he managed to unlock the door Yoongi chanced a quick glance back to see what Jungkook was doing.

What he saw made him stop in his tracks.

Jungkook’s body was still where he left him, but it wasn’t Yoongi’s friend anymore. Yoongi watched terrified as he started changing. His legs grew longer, his back bent in an unnatural angle as black scales grew across his body. Yoongi caught a glance of sharp teeth and claws he recognized from when they were running from the monster, before he shook himself out of his shock.

Yoongi turned back to the door and yanked it open just as he heard the familiar growl of the monster behind him.

He didn’t wait, he all but flung himself out the door closing it behind himself. He rested his whole body weight on it, keeping it closed in case the monster tried to get it open. Only then did he look around.

Yoongi’s view was filled with Taehyung’s boxy grin as the boy wasted no time wrapping him up in a hug. Though still reeling from what had happened and absolutely stunned at seeing Taehyung there, Yoongi couldn’t help melting into the hug. He felt two more pairs of hands wrap around the two of them and saw both Jin and Namjoon join their hug. And just for a moment, when the four of them were together, everything was fine.

Oh thank God. It was all Jin could think when Yoongi suddenly burst through the door.

They had been stuck there, knowing Yoongi was on the other side of the door, unable to open it and get to him. They tried everything they could think of but the door wouldn’t budge. It seemed like Yoongi needed to open it from the inside. But even if they could hear him through the door, it didn’t seem to be the case for Yoongi.

No matter how they called for him, begged, pleaded he open the door, there was absolutely no reaction as if he simply couldn’t hear them. Jin realized it was very much possible.

He hated this. He had found himself in this situation before, so close to his friends but unable to reach them. It almost made him give up entirely.

It was different this time though. Namjoon and Taehyung were with him and it made everything much more bearable.

For starters they probably wouldn’t have been able to find Yoongi at all if it wasn’t for Taehyung. Now that he was no longer stuck in his own world, Taehyung couldn’t send any more guides for Jin, but it seemed they didn’t need them. The second they landed in this world Taehyung took the lead and led them straight here, to the white door and Yoongi.

Having Taehyung and Namjoon close reminded Jin that the situation wasn’t hopeless, it helped him to not get lost in his doubt. They found another one of their friends and they wouldn’t leave without him. The determination Jin could see on their faces helped calm his anxious mind.

And it turned out they were right as Yoongi was now with them. He had come to them, he found them just as much as they did him and Jin was so relieved he could cry. Finding his friends alive healed a part of his soul that had been damaged from all the grief of seeing them die, even if it wasn’t real. Jin could feel it every time he looked at them.

They were so happy to see Yoongi they almost forgot where they were, how dangerous the dimensions could be.

‘Yoongi-hyung!’ Taehyung exclaimed pulling away from the hug. ‘I’m so glad to see you’ he said smiling widely.

‘I’m happy to see you too Taehyung-ah’ Yoongi replied almost automatically. He seemed to have trouble grasping the situation. Jin couldn’t blame him. He knew the truth of what was going on from the beginning and still had a problem wrapping his head around it. He didn’t know what Yoongi went through behind the door, but it was no surprise he was confused.

Taehyung wasn’t deterred by it. His smile grew wider as he took a deep breath and Jin could already tell he was going to launch himself into a long monologue, an explanation that would leave Yoongi even more confused than he already was.

However Taehyung never got the chance to start as a familiar voice called out from behind the door.

‘Taehyung? Is that you?’ the voice made all four of them freeze. It sounded like Jungkook.

For a moment no one answered. Jin’s eyes darted to Yoongi. Did he know that Jungkook was also in there? Why did he leave alone then?

Jin couldn’t read anything from Yoongi’s expression. He still looked shocked and now also uncertain. Jin wasn’t sure what it was but something in Yoongi’s expression made him uneasy.

‘Jungkook-ah?’ Namjoon asked. He sounded hopeful, like he couldn’t believe they managed to find two of their friends at once. Taehyung didn’t wait, he moved the shocked Yoongi out of the way and grabbed the door handle.

‘Stop!’ both Jin and Yoongi shouted at the same time, stopping the younger in his tracks. Jin couldn’t really explain it but something felt wrong. His instincts were screaming at him not to open the door and judging by Yoongi’s reaction he was right.

‘What are you guys doing?’ Namjoon asked sounding hurt and confused that they would try to stop them.

‘Exactly! You heard him. Jungkookie is in there. We need to get him out as well!’ Taehyung insisted turning back towards the door. Luckily it broke Yoongi out of his stupor and he grabbed Taehyung’s hand before he could open the door.

‘Taehyung-ah listen’ he said urgently. ‘That’s not Jungkook. I know it sounds crazy but it’s really not him’ he said looking Taehyung in the eyes intently, willing him to understand. ‘If he was there do you really think I would leave him behind?’ Yoongi asked.

‘Isn’t that exactly what you did?’ came a question from beyond the door. It was still Jungkook’s voice but it sounded wrong, nothing like their friend. Yoongi visibly shuddered at the question, his expression changing into one of guilt.

Jin understood now. He had seen this before. Jungkook wasn’t there, just some replica created by the cult to try and get them killed. Just like the Taehyung in the world where he found Namjoon, just like that monster in one of the first worlds Jin visited that was wearing Jimin’s face.

‘Guys listen’ he said fear seeping into his voice. ‘Yoongi’s right. We have to leave.’

‘But Hyung’ Taehyung tried to argue but he looked uncertain now. Jin chanced a glance at Namjoon and found him looking back. Whatever he saw in Jin’s face made him press his lips into a thin line, then he nodded. Jin sighed relieved Namjoon understood, that he trusted him without question.

Then suddenly a black clawed hand burst through the door. It punched a hole right next to Taehyung’s face, the splinters cutting his cheek. He jumped back yelping in surprise.

‘Run!’ Yoongi shouted, Jin had never heard him sound so terrified. They broke into a sprint immediately following Yoongi who took the lead.

Behind them they could hear the sound of the door breaking down followed by and inhuman scream as the monster started chasing them.

Afterwards Jin couldn’t remember much. It was all a blur. He just remembered running after Yoongi, his lungs burning as the hungry howls of the monster followed them.

Yoongi led them, choosing the path without hesitation. Suddenly he turned sharply and the three of them struggled to follow as another white door came into view. It was weird. There was no house, no walls, just a door standing in the middle of the woods. Yoongi didn’t hesitate. The moment he reached the door he yanked it open and gestured for them to get in as he held it open.

There wasn’t time to think about it so Jin dove headfirst inside, Namjoon and Taehyung hot on his heals. Only when all of them were inside did Yoongi go in, closing the door behind himself a second before the monster’s claws reached him.

At first they just stood there breathing heavily before Jin looked around. They were back at the Vestibule. Yoongi somehow managed to lead them back. Jin was shocked to say the least. Never before had he managed to go back on his own.

His shock was broken by Taehyung jumping up and shouting happily. He danced around the room yelling ‘We got Yoongi-hyung back’ over and over again.

Jin couldn’t help but laugh at his enthusiasm and soon Namjoon joined him, holding his stomach form how hard he was laughing.

Yoongi joined in too even if he still looked confused as hell as to what was happening. The relief of finally being safe made them all giggle like maniacs. When they finally calmed down Jin whipped the tears from his eyes and turned to Yoongi. It seemed they had some explaining to do.

The sound of their laughter echoed around the otherwise empty hospital room as a pillow collided with Jimin’s head. He allowed himself to lose his balance and fall backwards onto the bed. When he looked up he saw Hobi smiling at him, clutching his stomach with one hand as he laughed, holding a pillow in his other hand.

‘Giving up already Jiminie?’ he teased through giggles. Jimin smiled back, ready to rise up to the challenge.

‘Never!’ he laughed as he swung his own pillow at Hobi. He nailed him straight in the head and the pillow ripped from the force of the impact, sending feathers flying everywhere.

Jimin looked around mesmerized, the pillow fight momentarily forgotten. It looked like snowflakes falling from the sky. How long has it been since he had last seen real snow, he wondered.

Jimin turned to Hobi, to see his reaction, but he was no longer there. Where his friend stood just a second ago, now was only an empty hospital bed, slowly getting covered by falling feathers.

‘Hobi?’ Jimin called, small and uncertain. He didn’t understand what just happened. Where did his friend go?

The hospital room lost all its warmth and Jimin shivered at the sight of the cold white walls. When Hobi didn’t answer Jimin made his way down the corridor to try and look for him. Around the corner he met a woman dressed in a nurse outfit. She smiled pleasantly at him, trying to reassure him when she noticed how lost he looked.

‘Can I help you?’ she asked, her voice perfectly polite and professional but devoid of any warmth Jimin craved so badly.

‘I’m looking for my friend. Hoseok’ he answered hoping she would be able to tell him where Hobi went.

‘I’m sorry’ she bowed, she didn’t look sorry in the slightest. ‘There is no Hoseok here. You are our only patient at the moment’ she bowed again and just left Jimin standing there.

Jimin was confused, hurt and oh so cold. How could there be nobody else here if he had just seen him. Why did Hobi leave him here? Why was he alone again?

It was unfair. Why did his friend s always leave him? Couldn’t they at least say goodbye? That way Jimin would know he hadn’t imagined it all.

Now he was left alone in the cold hospital room, wondering if his friends were ever real or if he made them up to fill the void inside his heart.

Chapter Text

Jungkook was ready to admit that following an admittedly pretty, but still random, butterfly might not have been the best idea. Now he found himself completely lost, in a labyrinth no less, without any idea how to get out.

He had been wandering the halls for who knows how long. It seemed no matter where he went he always ended up in the same place. It was a big room, completely empty, all white walls and absolutely nothing to help Jungkook figure out where he was.

He had this feeling that the big room was at the center of the labyrinth, but he had absolutely nothing to confirm it. A weird feeling is all that it was. However Jungkook learned to trust those, even if they didn’t always lead him to the best places. He wouldn’t have found himself in this situation if he hadn’t followed his instinct telling him to chase the butterfly.

Well whatever the case it was no use dwelling on it as it did nothing to help his situation. A situation that was quite dire if you asked him. You see the room wasn’t completely empty. Every time Jungkook came back he would find an easel standing in the middle of the empty space. It was old, covered in dried paint, visibly worn from use.

The painting on the easel was different each time. They were all abstract pieces, impossible to tell what they were supposed to represent, yet still easily distinguishable from one another. Jungkook never had to wonder if he had seen the painting before, the differences were too obvious. The colors changed, the shapes, even the size of the whole canvas would not match the previous versions.

The first time Jungkook had seen the canvas he was curious. He felt weirdly drawn to it, so he trusted his instincts and came closer. The painting was all grays and light blues, is seemed cold and lifeless, Jungkook shivered just looking at it. It reminded him of a stormy sea, cold and heartless, filled with dark clouds and water looking like liquid steel.

The weird pull Jungkook felt towards the painting seemed to get stronger the more he stared at it. He reached his hand out and brushed his fingers against the dried paint.

The second his hand made contact with the painting Jungkook was no longer in the empty room in the labyrinth. He found himself in a completely different place. The walls and floor were covered with white tiles, illuminated by sharp artificial light. The room felt cold just like the painting did.

Then Jungkook saw a bathtub, covered in the same tiles as the rest of the room. It stood in the center, slightly elevated, drawing all attention to itself. What Jungkook saw next made his blood run cold and it had nothing to do with the temperature of the room.

The water in the bathtub was sloshing furiously as someone fought to get out. It was Jimin. He was held underwater by several pairs of hands that didn’t budge no matter how hard he struggled. Jungkook could faintly hear him screaming, he saw the air bubbles rise up to the surface.

If it continued Jimin was going to drown. Spurred on by that realization Jungkook moved forward to help, get him out of there somehow, but the second he took the first step he found himself back in the labyrinth.

Still reeling from what he just saw Jungkook made his way through the maze again until he found himself back at its center. There, as if waiting for him, a new painting was placed on the easel.

Jungkook approached it carefully mindful of what happened last time and studied it from up close. This one was also mostly gray but it had specks of reds and oranges splattered here and there. Gone was the feeling of cold that the previous painting brought, instead Jungkook felt like he was choking.

Drawn by the same feeling as before, almost against his will, Jungkook brushed his fingers against the painting.

This time he found himself in a city. He could hear gunfire and people screaming all around him. Suddenly he saw a flaming bottle fly across the night sky and set fire to the building it landed in. The air was instantly filled with smoke and Jungkook started choking on it. He coughed and coughed and through tears. Then he saw someone running towards him.

He blinked a few times to clear his vision and realized that it was Namjoon. Jungkook tried to call for him, let him know that he was there, but the smoke made it impossible, it stole his voice away from him and all Jungkook managed were a few weak coughs.

He was forced to watch as Namjoon ran straight into the burning building and feel the heat of the explosion as it all went down in flames. Only after that he was taken back to the labyrinth.

The next painting was devoid of any color other than various shades of gray. The same cycle repeated with this one as the two before it. Jungkook was running through a forest. The trees were bare, leaves had fallen from them long ago and the sky was covered in gray clouds heavy with rain.

Before him Jungkook saw Yoongi, he looked like he was trying to get away from something, but before Jungkook could call for him, let him know he was there, he heard a shrill howl. The next second a monster, covered in black scales, with sharp teeth and claws glinting in the dim light, leapt into the air and landed directly in front of them.

Neither had time to scream before the monster sank its teeth into Yoongi’s neck. It clawed at his body as if determined to rip him to pieces. Jungkook was in too much shock to do anything other than stand there and watch Yoongi go limp in the monster’s jaw.

When he blinked Jungkook was once again back in the labyrinth. He couldn’t even process what had just happened before he was stumbling towards a wall, leaning his weight on it as he threw up all the contents of his stomach. After he was done, Jungkook stood up and on shaky legs and made his way through the maze again.

It happened like that three more times. There were dots of green added to the painting, Jungkook saw Jin get shot by an arow right in front of him. A completely black canvas took him to see Taehyung get hit by a car. An off white piece showed Hobi, the sunshine, dead on a metal table in a hospital morgue.

Every time Jungkook came back to the center he was forced to watch another version of his friends dying. There was only so much Jungkook could take and now he felt like he had reached his limit. He had seen all his closest friends meet their end and Jungkook dreaded who the painting would show him this time.

He made his way through the labyrinth slowly and approached the easel hesitantly. There must have been something to help him get out of there, he just needed to find it. That’s why he kept coming back.

This time the canvas was blank. Jungkook furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. He found it hard to believe it was over. It seemed to easy. Well he was still stuck, but no more visions meant no more chances to find some sort of clue to help him get out. Jungkook gently, carefully brought his hand up and touched the blank canvas.

At first glance nothing had changed. He was still in the same room standing in front of the now empty easel. Jungkook looked around and felt his breath get caught in his throat. There, propped against a wall, was a body. Despite himself Jungkook made his way over and crouched in front of it. He could barely breathe when he looked into his own dead eyes.

There in front of him was his own dead body. It looked fresh, showing no signs of a fight. It seemed he had simply starved to death forever trapped in the maze. Jungkook couldn’t take his eyes off of it. It was terrifying to see yourself dead, but something stopped him from looking away. Instinctively he knew, that’s how he would end up if he didn’t manage to get out of the labyrinth.

Suddenly, without warning, the corpse’s eyes snapped open. It lounged itself forward, fingers reaching, grabbing at what was in front of it. Jungkook threw himself backwards, trying to crawl away as fast as possible, to get out of the corpse’s reach. The next second he blinked his body was gone and he was once again alone in the room.

It was too much. Jungkook couldn’t take it anymore. Seeing himself dead was what broke the camel’s back. He needed to get out. So he did the only thing he could. He took a deep breath and as loud as he could Jungkook called for help.

‘HYUNG!’

‘HYUNG!’

Hobi lifted his head startled and looked around. He could have sworn he heard someone yelling, but no one else in the common room seemed to have heard it. He turned back to Jiwoon to see his reaction, but he was still engrossed in their game of chess.

Hobi couldn’t shake of the feeling that the voice he heard was familiar somehow. He couldn’t place it, didn’t know who it belonged to but he knew that voice.

‘Did you hear that?’ Hoseok asked, making Jiwoon look up from the board. The other man leveled him with an unimpressed look.

‘Are you hearing voices again?’ he shook his head as if annoyed at their game being disturbed. Before Hobi could answer or try to explain himself somehow, one of the nurses came up to their table.

‘Is everything alright here?’ she asked, her voice calm even though she was watching the two of them cautiously.

‘Hoseok is hearing voices again’ Jiwoon answered immediately, the snitch. The nurse’s gaze shifted to Hobi assessing him from head to toe. It made his hackles rise up despite himself.

‘Someone was shouting. Did you really not hear it?’ he asked defensively. The nurse’s and Jiwoon’s attention on him made him uncomfortable, he felt as if they were staring straight into his soul. He had to fight the urge to cover himself somehow.

The nurse looked at her watch before she addressed him again.

‘It’s time for your medication. I’ll go get it.’

She didn’t say it, but the meaning behind her words was obvious. There was no voice calling for help, it was all in Hoseok’s head. But even so, even under the heavy daze of his medication Hobi couldn’t get the voice calling for him out of his head.

‘HYUNG!’

Both Jimin and Yoongi lifted their heads when they heard Jungkook calling for help. His voice was quiet, faraway and the thick carpet and plush walls only served to make it sound even more faint.

Jimin wanted to help but hesitated. His eyes darted to Yoongi uncertainly, trying to gauge his reaction. His Hyung’s face remained blank as his eyes return to Jimin. In his hands was a black piece of cloth, smooth and elegant, perfectly matching the dark room around them.

‘Should we go help?’ Jimin asked, his voice small. He had learned the hard way to ask if he was allowed to do something before doing it. Still he hated how small his voice sounded. He hated how powerless he felt.

Yoongi’s face didn’t change, his voice cold as death as he asked:

‘Do you want to end up in the bathtub again?’

Jimin couldn’t help but shudder at the thought. He shrank back onto himself shaking his head furiously. No, anything but the bathtub, he couldn’t do it again, he was sure that this time it would kill him. Unconsciously he brought his hands around himself, the phantom feeling of freezing water enveloping him whole.

Yoongi tilted his head, his face illuminated only by the light from a rectangular window in the floor. Jimin could barely see the room below them, but the sight of familiar white tiles was enough to convince him that Yoongi’s threat wasn’t just empty words. No, if Jimin tried to leave, if he disobeyed in any way, he would make good on his promise.

‘Didn’t think so’ Yoongi said, his voice flat. Then he took a step forward lifting the cloth, the blindfold, towards him. Jimin didn’t move still reeling from Yoongi’s threat. He closed his eyes and waited for what would happen next.

Jin was worried. Or maybe frantic was a better word.

After finding Yoongi they planned continue their search the next day with high hopes. They were getting closer to escaping, they weren’t alone anymore. They understood more about the worlds and seemed to have more control of when and where they traveled. Things were looking up.

Until it was time to actually start searching again.

It started great. Jin was still a bit apprehensive but with his friends nearby it was hard to be anything but hopeful. So they went through the door out of the Vestibule laughing and talking, trying to guess which one of their friends they would find next. Everything seemed to be going smoothly as they found themselves in a vast field filled with flowers.

The sun was shining, the wind was blowing and nearby they could hear a river. The idyllic landscape took their breath away as they looked around marveling at the view. The calm atmosphere lulled them into an almost dream like state where they were content to just bask in the sun and enjoy the world around them.

Later Jin couldn’t tell how long did they spend just wandering around aimlessly before they remembered the reason they were there. It was as if the world around them was trying to distract them, lull them into a false sense of peace so that they wouldn’t be able to find anybody.

Yoongi was the first one to break out of their daze.

‘Ok so where do we go?’ he asked looking at the other three expectantly. Slowly the laughter died down as they realized they didn’t have an answer to that question.

Jin looked at Namjoon and Taehyung only to find them already looking back at him with the same expression he was sure was on his face. They didn’t know where to go.

Before when Jin was alone he had the guides Taehyung sent him, after that either Namjoon or Taehyung would lead them, but it seemed this time neither of them felt up to the task. Yoongi didn’t know what to do either. He wouldn’t have asked if he did. Which is how they found themselves at a loss.

There was nothing to help them here. They were on their own and for the first time they didn’t know where to go. They were losing time. It was only so long before they would be dragged back and if they didn’t find anybody in the meantime then who knows if they would ever get the chance again.

Jin thought back to how he found Namjoon and Taehyung and shivered. What if one of their friends needed help now? What if they couldn’t get to them in time because they went the wrong way?

Jin could feel himself start to panic.

Yoongi looked at them expectantly ‘Well?’ he asked again.

Only Namjoon had enough composure to answer.

‘We… don’t know’ he admitted rubbing the back of his neck.

‘What do you mean you don’t know?!’ Yoongi asked clearly getting angry with them. Jin wasn’t surprised, Yoongi always reacted with anger when he felt powerless.

‘Before Jin had the guides’ Namjoon explained and Jin nodded along. ‘And then one of us just somehow knew where to go’ he shook his head. ‘But I don’t know this time. I don’t feel anything.’

‘Me neither’ Taehyung piped up. ‘It felt like I was being pulled in a specific direction, but now I got nothing.’

Yoongi looked between the three of them in disbelief. They couldn’t have been serious. Did they really base their whole plan on a feeling? Because if so then they were fucked, completely and utterly fucked.

Before they could start arguing and Jin spiraled into a full blown panic attack a familiar voice echoed around the field.

‘HYUNG!’

Four heads snapped in the direction the voice came from in unison, but it was Yoongi who took off first. The others followed hot on his heels. Yoongi led them through the field and then to a waterfall. He didn’t stop even when they reached the edge of the water and instead went right in.

The other three halted at the shore unsure where to go from there but he didn’t wait for them. Taehyung yelped when Yoongi didn’t hesitate to go through the wall of falling water. Namjoon rushed forward, water splashing, to get to him, but before he could the waterfall opened. It parted in the middle revealing a concrete tunnel and in it a completely drenched Yoongi calling them over impatiently.

Even if Jin didn’t trust this place one bit he followed Yoongi into the tunnel without second thought. Jungkook needed them. Their maknae called for them and would do anything to get to him.

Yoongi was like a hound dog that caught scent. Ever since he heard Jungkook’s voice he pushed forward without hesitation, knowing exactly where to go. It didn’t matter that the tunnel soon turned into a maze. He never stopped to consider his options at crossroads. Yoongi seemed to be following a path only known to him.

Finally they reached a big white room. Stood in the middle of it was an empty easel and in the far corner, curled into a ball was Jungkook.

The second he spotted him Yoongi broke out into a sprint. The sound of his footsteps made Jungkook rise his head but he didn’t have time to do anything else before Yoongi reached him and dropped to his knees before him. He reached out, his hands hovering before he could touch the younger not sure if he was hurt and not wanting to make it worse.

Jungkook blinked once before he lunged himself at him, uncaring of the water still dripping from Yoongi’s clothes, wrapping his arms around his neck.

‘Yoongi-hyung oh thank god you’re ok’ he said his voice shaking almost as much as his body was. Yoongi was stunned for only a second before he hugged him back, gently petting his hair.

‘That’s my line Jungkook-ah’ he smiled feeling some of the guilt leave his heart.

Even if Yoongi logically knew that the Jungkook that was with him back in that room in the forest, wasn’t real, it did nothing to lessen the guilt of hitting him, leaving him behind. But now the real Jungkook was there, shaken but fine and Yoongi felt like he could breathe again. This time Yoongi managed to save him.

The others joined and Jungkook reached his hands out to them, calling them to join the hug, much like a child would. Jin didn’t know what had happened to him in this world but it must have been awful as Jungkook was trembling more and more by the second. He didn’t cry, he just shivered as if his whole body was trying to shake out whatever atrocities he was forced to witness before they found him.

Jungkook didn’t stop shaking even after he pulled back from the hug. His legs were so unstable that Taehyung and Yoongi had to support him as they made their way back.

Jin again had to thank every deity in existence that his friends were with him. Just like when he led them to Jungkook, Yoongi seemed to know the way back as well, without him they would have been completely lost. He guided them out of the maze without any problems and then he found a door that led them back to the Vestibule.

Only when they got back did Jin realize how exhausted he was. He wanted nothing more than to lay down and sleep. The others were no better and Jungkook was even worse for wear. He was still shaking like a leaf, clinging to the closest person to him like he feared they would disappear if he let go.

They agreed to talk in the morning and piled on the matters together. It was a tight fit but Jungkook needed them close. He needed all the comfort he could get. And even then, when all five of them were cuddled up together as close as they could be, Jungkook’s shaking only stopped after he finally fell asleep.

Chapter Text

Lately Hoseok’s days developed a quiet routine. It was repetitive, but peaceful and Hobi found himself enjoying how simple his life has become. It wasn’t perfect by any means, he still had to take his medicine, it still made him dizzy and disoriented, but he hadn’t heard any voices in a while. The visions were gone too. The doctors said that it was his treatment, that it was working. They were pleased with how he was reacting to the meds.

Hoseok chose to believe them. He tried to be happy about it and some days he was. But then came the moments when he felt like he was losing something really important, when he wondered if life would always be like this, stuck in a sterile room, never feeling fully like himself.

No one ever came to visit him, but it wasn’t surprising. Hobi didn’t remember anybody from before he woke up in the hospital. The doctors explained that his family had died in a car crash and his brain erased those memories to protect him. He believed them. He had no reason to doubt their words.

Hoseok never missed them. He had friends here. There was Jiwoon and the hospital was always crowded, people coming and going. There was always someone to talk to. Still it didn’t quell the strange longing inside his heart.

The staff was nice too. He befriended almost all the nurses and they would slip him treats from the staff room, that he technically wasn’t supposed to have. He was free to roam the hospital as long as he took his meds and didn’t leave the premises.

So when it happened the first time Hoseok went to his doctor immediately like he was supposed to. He had been brushing his teeth in the bathroom and when he lifted his head after rinsing his mouth his face wasn’t the only one he saw in the mirror. Hobi turned sharply, surprised and unsettled that someone had entered his bathroom, but there was no one there.

Cold sweat broke on Hoseok’s forehead. The visions were supposed to be gone. Something was wrong. He left the bathroom, slamming the door behind himself in his haste to get away from the mirror, from the vision. He didn’t care how late it was, he raced the corridors until he reached the doctor’s office and forced himself to knock gently instead of pounding on the door.

The door opened almost immediately revealing Doctor Kim’s tired face. He looked as if Hoseok had woken him up but Hobi couldn’t bring himself to care, too shaken by the vision. It must have shown on his face because the Doctor took one look at him and gently led him to one of the plush armchairs in his office. He was gentle but there was a quiet urgency to his actions. Hobi could see it as he sat behind his desk and intertwined his fingers, elbows resting on the desk before him. He looked at Hoseok as if scanning him from head to toe, then with a carefully blank expression, that Hobi assumed was supposed to be calming, the Doctor asked:

‘What brings you here at such a late hour?’ there was no judgement in his voice, no admonishment, just a simple question as if they were discussing the weather. And for some weird reason it worked. His pleasant voice had a calming effect and Hobi felt himself relaxing slightly.

‘I think I just had a vision’ he admitted clasping his hands together on his lap, holding so tight that his fingers turned white. ‘I saw a face in a mirror but when I turned nobody was there’ he finished looking down, suddenly felling self-conscientious, almost ashamed about barging in there without warning.

The Doctor didn’t seem to mind, he just nodded his head and wrote something down in a notebook he grabbed from his desk. When he spoke again it was in the same soothing tone as before.

‘I see’ he nodded once again. ‘And could you tell me if it was someone you recognized?’ he asked.

It honestly caught Hoseok a bit of guard. He didn’t understand what relevance it held if he knew the person in his vision or not, but he trusted his Doctor so he answered truthfully.

‘I’m… not sure’ he admitted. ‘I don’t think so’ that sounded more like a question than a statement even to him, but the Doctor simply wrote it down without a word then looked up at Hoseok again.

‘Here’s what we’ll do. I’ll up the dosage of your medicine to hopefully prevent any visions in the future, but’ he raised a hand when he saw Hoseok open his mouth to say something. It shut Hobi right up. ‘But’ the Doctor continued. ‘You have to tell me immediately if the visions come back. Just do exactly what you did today. Don’t wait. It doesn’t matter how small or insignificant you think the vision was. It’s crucial to your treatment that I know of those things’ he finished handing Hoseok a familiar pill he had grown so used to taking.

Hobi didn’t hesitate, he swallowed the pill dry and waited for the impending wave of dizziness that always followed. The Doctor looked at him sympathetically.

‘I’ll call the nurses to help you get back to your room. You should rest. But remember if it happens again come straight to me.’

----

Hobi hoped the pills would work. He really, really did.

They did not.

He kept seeing shadows in empty hallways, unknown faces in mirrors. What’s worse he started hearing voices as well.

At first he reported everything to the doctor, but all that got him was increasingly frustrated looks and a dose of his medicine so high he was basically comatose after taking it.

Yet no matter how bad it got with the medicine that alone would probably not be enough for Hoseok to disobey the doctors.

What pushed him over the edge were the voices. They kept calling, begging him to listen, to come back. He didn’t know where he was supposed to come back to.

Even so he couldn’t shake the feeling that he recognized them. No matter how hard he tried to deny it, the voices were familiar. He knew them somehow.

So Hobi started listening. He skipped his pills as often as he could get away with it. If the doctors knew what he was doing they would stop him.

So Hobi hid. He pretended nothing changed, that he was still the same obedient patient he was before, that he didn’t see the harm the medicine was doing to him.

He couldn’t get a solid answer from the voices. They never told him who they were or if they were real, but they kept insisting that he needed to leave with them and with each passing day Hoseok was more inclined to listen to them.

Because even without clear answers to his questions, the voices did give him something. They told stories of their friend Hobi. They told him stories about him from before, what he was like before the pills dulled him into a shadow of his former self.

He listened and even though it didn’t bring back his memories he made sure to remember everything they told him. Because it was more than the doctors had given him. He had no way of knowing if what he heard was true, but with each word, each vision Hobi felt like he was becoming more himself.

He knew that he was playing a dangerous game and he would be found out sooner rather than later. He just hoped he would be able to get back to his former self before that happened and that whatever treatment he would be subjected to afterwards would not kill him.

That night after his shower he was already prepared. He wiped the steam from the mirror and came face to face with the vision. It was the same man every time. Brown hair, full lips, features so perfect he almost didn’t seem real.

‘Quickly.’ Hobi urged. ‘We don’t have much time.’

At first the man said nothing. His lips moved but no sound came out. At least nothing that Hoseok was able to hear. He tried to read his lips, but he never had a reason to do it before so all his efforts were fruitless. In the end Hobi only managed to catch bits and pieces before it was time to leave.

‘…out of time…’ the man had told him. ‘East wing. Tomorrow… last chance.’ It wasn’t even a full sentence but Hobi didn’t miss the urgency in the voice. He understood well enough that whatever the voice wanted from him, whatever he tried to tell him, make him understand, had to be said tomorrow. Their time had run out.

When Hobi left his room the next day he already had a headache. It had started shortly after the encounter in the bathroom yesterday and had only been getting worse ever since. He didn’t dare take anything for the pain. He feared the pills would dull his senses, prevent him from finding out the truth about the voices. He skipped the medication that stopped the visions as well. He needed to see what the strange man wanted. He needed to keep his head clear.

As Hobi made his way through the hospital the pain worsened. The closer he got to the east wing, the sharper the pounding in his head became. He had deliberately chosen a long and roundabout way, so that no one would be able to easily tell where he was going. He tried to act as if everything was normal to avoid alerting the nurses to his plans, but it became increasingly harder as the pain grew with each step.

In the end it worked in his favour. The nurses expected him to be disoriented, not fully present. He was supposed to be dosed with so many pills that it was a miracle he was still even at all coherent.

When Hobi crossed the door to the east wing the pain became almost unbearable. He could barely see, his vison clouded both by tears and by the sheer agony he felt. He had to use the wall as a support so that he wouldn’t fall.

The voice didn’t give him any clear instructions where in the east wing he needed to go, but somehow Hobi knew. He made his way on unstable legs towards a rarely used fire escape stairs at the back of the building. When he got there he started climbing up until the pain had gotten so bad that he couldn’t take another step.

Hobi looked up and blinked away the tears. Then suddenly the man from his visions appeared before him. It happened between one blink and the next. One second the stairwell was empty then a man was standing in front of him like he had been there the whole time.

The same feeling of familiarity washed over Hoseok and right along with it a fresh wave of pain. He had to grip the railing to stay upward.

The man reach out his hands as if he wanted to help him, catch him if he fell. His lips were moving again but Hoseok couldn’t hear him.

However all of that, it didn’t matter. For the first time in weeks Hobi felt like he was right where he was supposed to be, like this was the thing he had been searching for. Always so close yet out of reach.

Hobi knew this man, this shadow that followed him throughout the day, this face that looked at him from the mirrors, this figure he always caught out of the corner of his eye, never able to see him straight on. He knew him and not just from the visions either. He had known him before that, before the hospital, before the pills, the condescending glances, the lies. This was his friend. This was what he was missing.

He couldn’t remember who he was. He didn’t suddenly gain his memories back, but he could feel their connection.

In that moment a word broke through the fog enveloping Hobi’s mind. A singular word nothing more. A name.

‘Jin?’ Hobi asked.

‘Jin?’

‘Yes Hoba! Yes!’ Jin cried out laughing from sheer relief. ‘It’s me! It’s Jin!’

They had been in this world for quite a while. For the first time they didn’t get pulled back to the Vestibule when the dimensions deemed it appropriate. It seemed they needed to find their own way back.

Taehyung thought it meant they were gaining control. That with each one of them they found they gained power to travel as they pleased. Jin wasn’t so sure but he didn’t want to dampen the spirits when the others seemed so happy with that revelation.

They found Hoseok rather quickly. Jungkook pointed them in the direction of the psychiatric hospital and from there it was a walk in a park.

There was a different problem though.

The first time they found him, Hobi didn’t see them. He just stared through them as if they weren’t there and ignored their calls for him as if he couldn’t hear them. He didn’t seem to be aware of their presence at all.

They soon figured out that this was exactly the case. Their friend didn’t ignore them, he simply couldn’t see them. Then they saw him take the meds and it wasn’t hard to put two and two together after that.

This hospital, this world was making their friend forget them with the pills they were dosing him with.

With no other choice Jin and the others hid. They couldn’t risk anybody finding them. They needed to keep this world unaware that they were there to get Hoseok out or everything would turn against them, try to stop them. They spent their time in hiding, sneaking from room to room, sleeping in empty storages and desperately trying to break the haze of the medication Hobi was under.

At first it didn’t seem to work, but finally today they managed to get through.

Now Hobi was looking at Jin, brows furrowed as if he was trying to make sense in his head of what he was seeing.

‘I know you’ he stated, as if testing the sound of that thought. ‘But I don’t remember you.’

It broke Jin’s heart a little, but he would deal with that later. They needed to get Hobi out of there and hopefully back at the Vestibule his memories would return. And if they didn’t Jin would spend the rest of his life retelling them back to him one story at the time.

Hoseok looked around. His eyes landed on Namjoon, who watched them with bated breath then on Yoongi, who kept a safe distance just in case.

‘Namjoon. Yoongi’ Hobi said trying out their names, there was recognition in his eyes, but he shook his head when he met their hopeful gaze. He didn’t remember them either. But that was fine. Jin was not going to panic about it. First they needed to get Hobi out of here, to safety, then they would work on restoring his memories. It shouldn’t be that hard since Hobi recognized them even though he couldn’t remember them. Jin just hoped he remembered enough to trust them.

Taehyung rounded the corner, making Jin turn his attention to their surroundings. Tae was supposed to keep watch, if he was here it meant someone was coming.

‘Hobi-hyung!’ Taehyung exclaimed but before he could jump in and bring Hoseok into a hug Yoongi’s voice stopped him in his tracks.

‘He doesn’t remember us’ it was a cold statement, but they didn’t have time to dwell on the implications. It reminded Taehyung of their situation and his expression immediately turned serious.

‘Someone is coming’ he said urgently. ‘We need to go.’

Jin turned to Hoseok to see if he would protest. He hoped to God he wouldn’t, they didn’t have time to argue, but Hobi just nodded his head.

‘Lead the way’ he said. They didn’t wait anymore and Yoongi started towards the underground garage. Jin noticed Hobi squint his eyebrows as if he was in pain but he didn’t have time to ask about it as they bumped into a frantic Jungkook.

‘We need to go NOW’ he didn’t bother explaining and the rest didn’t question it. They abandoned caution and simply ran down the stairs. Jin could hear the hospital staff and security chasing them.

They finally reached the garage door and Namjoon held it open until all of them were through, then he closed and locked the entrance.

‘It will buy us some time but not much’ he turned to Yoongi and nodded.

Yoongi didn’t need more prompting than that. He started towards one of the cars at the other side of the garage near the entrance. When they were about halfway through they heard banging on the entrance door.

Yoongi finally reached the car and threw the driver’s door open. Namjoon took the other front seat and the rest of them piled in the back. They had barely closed the doors before Yoongi started the engine.

They of course have planned this. While Jin was trying to snap Hoseok out from his trance, Yoongi was in charge of securing their escape route. Jin almost laughed when he realized that from an outsider’s perspective this whole operation looked a lot like a plot of a bad action movie.

Yoongi slammed the gas and the car leapt out of its parking spot, at the same moment the doors to the garage gave way and a wave of security guards poured into the garage. Yoongi didn’t wait and sped towards the exit, but the guards were armed. They took out their guns and started shooting.

The first few shots broke the back window. Jin yelped and ducked down dragging Taehyung next to him down with him. He saw Jungkook and Hobi get down as well.

The car swarmed before Yoongi regained control and ran straight through the garage barrier.

Just like that they were on the streets. But the chase didn’t end there. Almost immediately Jin heard sirens, soon there were several police cars chasing them.

When Jin thought it couldn’t get any worse Hobi screamed.

They all turned to him startled, concerned as to what was wrong. Hoseok was clutching his head as if to shield himself from the pain and screaming like he was in agony.

‘What’s wrong?!’ Yoongi shouted he hadn’t taken his eyes off the road for even a second. He sounded panicked, as if it took every ounce of his willpower to stay focused on the road and not check on his friend.

‘I don’t know’ Taehyung shouted back looking Hobi over frantically. ‘Did they shoot him?!’ he asked horrified.

Jin knew he needed to keep his head level. They couldn’t all panic. So he swallowed his fear, his anger at how unfair this all was and tried to calmly assess the situation.

‘He’s not bleeding’ he noticed. ‘They didn’t shoot him’ he was interrupted by Hobi screaming again clutching his head tighter. Hearing that Jungkook shrank even further into his seat. He had moved aside so that Jin and Taehyung could see what was wrong and now he looked pale as a ghost, trying to make himself as small as possible as if to escape Hoseok’s horrible screams.

‘I think it’s his head!’ Jin realized. ‘Yoongi we need to get him out of here now!’ Jin wasn’t sure what was happening but he knew that staying would not solve it. They needed to get back to the safety of their Vestibule and hopefully that would be enough.

Yoongi didn’t respond but he did speed up. He wasn’t paying much attention to any traffic laws before but now he was driving as if hell itself was chasing him. He turned sharply, tires screeching, sending everybody in the back flying until they hit one of the doors, then he slammed the breaks.

‘Here’ he panted, clearly driving like that had taken a lot out of him. But Yoongi was right, there, across a small field from where their car was parked, was a white door connected to nothing. It was their way back. They almost made it.

They got out of the car. Hobi was curled in on himself whimpering weakly, clearly in pain. Yoongi and Namjoon helped him get out and started practically dragging him towards the door. Jungkook and Taehyung went ahead, checking, scanning their surroundings looking for any more potential threats.

Jin closed their small procession, constantly looking over his shoulder to check if the police had caught up to them.

Taehyung reached the door first. He opened it and ushered Jungkook, who was right behind him, inside. It seemed impossibly long before Namjoon, Yoongi and Hobi made it to the door as well. Jin breathed a sigh of relief but before they could go through, Hobi broke away from them, fell to his knees and vomited from the pain. It startled them so much that for a moment nobody moved, then Jin looked back.

The police hadn’t found them yet. That was good. Namjoon and Yoongi lifted Hoseok, who was still heaving and practically dragged him through the door. Jin joined them soon after and Taehyung closed the door behind them.

They made it. They were back. They got Hobi back.

Before that relief could really sink in Hoseok screamed again.

This time he didn’t stop. He kept screaming as he stumbled his way towards the bathroom and fell to his knees there. Jin was too stunned to move but Yoongi was already there. He caught Hobi before he could crack his head open on the tiles and then turned to the others.

Jin had never seen such an impression on Yoongi’s face. He was terrified. He looked at them helplessly, he looked at Jin, the only one older than him, helplessly as if he waited for him to tell him what to do.

‘He’s burning up’ at this point Hoseok’s screaming quieted down to small whimpers but he was still clutching his head as if it would explode in a moment.

Before any of them could move Hobi suddenly shot up. He barely managed to get to the toilet before he started throwing up.

It shook Namjoon out of his stupor.

‘Jungkook go wet some towels, we’re going to make a cold compress’ he commanded and the youngest darted out of the room to get them. ‘Yoongi you stay with Hobi. Jin, Taehyung out. It won’t help if you hover over here’ with that Namjoon ushered everybody out of the bathroom.

Hoseok’s fever kept rising and he hasn’t stopped throwing up even when it didn’t seem physically possible that there was anything left to get rid of. Yoongi explained it when Namjoon switched with him.

‘It’s the pills’ he said grimly. ‘He’s throwing up the pills.'

At that moment Jin realized how close they were to losing Hobi. With others there was always something dramatic, a monster, a fire, you name it. But for the most part it didn’t seem like his dimension was trying to actively kill Hoseok. They were trying to make him forget his friends but Jin didn’t think his life was in danger. Oh how wrong that was. Hobi was being slowly poisoned for weeks and now even though he should be safe at the Vestibule with them, they could still lose him. If the medicine proved too much, if his body couldn’t handle it, Hobi would die and there was nothing they could do.

At this point Hobi was so exhausted that they needed to keep his head upright, yet his body kept revolting against him. During the small breaks he got Hoseok sobbed quietly too tired to do anything else.

It continued like that the whole night. Only after the sun has risen did something change. They gave up on giving Hobi his space too anxious to stay in another room, so they were all crowded in the bathroom. All except Jungkook who was getting sick just by listening to the sound of Hobi retching into the toilet. He went to make the bed instead, to do something to feel useful.

Yoongi was holding Hobi up again, they took turns to make it easier on everybody. At one point Yoongi looked up at them hopefully.

‘I think his fever is getting down’ he said. There was flicker of hope in his eyes. Small and hesitant as if he couldn’t believe it yet but wanted to. Then after a few more minutes everything stopped.

Hobi slumped boneless against a wall, his eyes closed, looking every bit as exhausted as he no doubt felt. Yoongi checked his temperature again and nodded looking at Namjoon with a smile. He was too choked up to say anything but they understood. The fever was gone. A sigh of relief echoed across the room. It was over. Hobi was going to be fine.

Lured in by the silence Jungkook came back to the bathroom to check on them. The sound of the door opening made Hobi open his eyes a little even if he struggled with keeping them open.

‘JK’ he murmured making his voice purposefully low and drawn out. It was an inside joke of theirs, one that never failed to pull a smile out of them.

‘J-Hope’ Jungkook answered in the same fashion despite the tears in his eyes. Hobi closed his eyes again, a small, tired but pleased smile on his lips.

Jin felt tear of his own fill his eyes, because it meant that Hobi remembered. He remembered them. Everything was going to be ok.

They needed to carry Hobi to bed. He was too exhausted to walk and he passed out even before they laid him down. All of them followed suit.

Right now they needed rest and tomorrow they would go out again to search for Jimin and when they found him, they would finally be able to go back home.

The Seventh Brother ran into the First Brother’s office without knocking. He wouldn’t have dared to do it if the situation wasn’t so dire.

The First Brother levelled him with an unimpressed look as he waited for him to catch his breath. The Seventh Brother panted as he rested his hands on his knees trying desperately to make his leader understand that he had urgent information with only his eyes.

When he finally managed to get his breathing under control he rushed to get the words out.

‘My Prophet. My Guide’ he tried to make up for his rudeness. ‘I bring grave news’ he stopped to lower himself to the ground in hopes it would prevent the leader from taking his displeasure out on him. ‘They have found another one. There is only one left before they can escape the dimensions’ he pressed his forehead into the floor. No one had ever made it this far. No one had ever managed to escape before. The Seventh Brother dreaded the consequences, both from the First and from their Lord, if his sacrifices got out.

He couldn’t see his leader’s reaction as he kept his face low and waited for a response. He didn’t know if the First Brother was angry, scared, disappointed? In any case it didn’t bode well for the lowest member of their convent.

‘You may rise’ the leader’s voice rang out. It was devoid of any emotion and the Seventh couldn’t tell what it meant. He obeyed still keeping his head low. ‘Don’t show your lack of faith’ the First continued. ‘The sacrifice will be completed.’

‘What?’ the Seventh’s head shot up, eyes landing on his leader who still didn’t move from behind his desk. ‘But how? They almost…’

‘They won’t get out’ the First cut him off sharply. Then he leaned forward resting his chin on his hands. ‘Because no matter how hard they try, how much they struggle, they will never be able to get the last one out’ he finished, his lips spreading into the grimace that the Seventh came to associate with his leader being pleased. He beckoned his underling closer with his hand. ‘Look’ he offered.

The Seventh Brother didn’t hesitate, didn’t resist. He let the vision was over him. When he blinked he found himself in a different room. It was dark, the walls were covered in emerald plush material, that seemed to swallow all sounds, leaving the room eerily quiet.

In the far corner was a person. He was dressed in black and the only thing that made him stand out in the dark room was his blond hair. He was curled in on himself, his head resting against the wall. His eyes were covered by a black satin blindfold connected to a hook in a wall. The man was trapped and even though it would have been very easy for him to get free, he didn’t. He just sat there without moving.

Without warning the Seventh Brother was brought back to the leader’s office.

‘See’ the First Brother smiled. ‘They’re too late. They will never be able to get him out. He is ours now. And without him all their efforts will be for nothing.’

Chapter Text

Jimin was alone again.

He couldn’t tell when, but Yoongi left. Jimin didn’t hear his footsteps, the carpeted floor and plush walls kept those quiet. Yet somehow he could just tell there was no one in the room with him anymore.

They left him.

Again.

He still couldn’t see anything, his vision blocked by the piece of satin Yoongi had tied around his head. Even though Jimin’s hands were free the thought of removing the blindfold didn’t even cross his mind. He was told not to take it off and all the defiance has been beaten out of him long ago. With every shift of his head, when the silk brushed against his skin Yoongi’s threat echoed in his mind.

Do you want to end up in the bathtub again?

Jimin knew he was at his limit. He wouldn’t survive the bathtub again. He couldn’t do it anymore. He didn’t want to die. Drowning terrified him. The mere thought of the sloshing water made him break out in cold sweat.

Jimin just wanted it all to end. No more visions of his ‘friends’, if he could still call them that, to plague him. No more tasks he was bound to fail, only to be punished by almost drowning.

He couldn’t even trust his own head. Too many times did he see a familiar face only to be betrayed. Yoongi blindfolding and threatening him was hardly the first time something like this had happened. He had seen his ‘friends’ watching him as he struggled for breath in the bathtub. He called for help, but they did nothing. He had followed them when they promised him escape, only to be lead back, straight to his own personal nightmare.

He couldn’t trust his own brain, because it told him that the people hurting him were his friends.

When it started Jimin tried to resist, but it only got him more cold water filling his lungs. He tried not to lose hope, he tried to escape, but all that got him was more punishment.

Now Jimin didn’t try to escape anymore, didn’t hope anymore. His best and only option was to obey, otherwise he would die.

That’s why, when he heard familiar voices approaching, he didn’t move. They didn’t like it when he spoke without permission. It was best to just sit quietly and wait.

He heard a door open then a shout.

‘Jimin!’ that voice was familiar. Jimin’s mind said friend, but he knew better. In here Taehyung wasn’t his friend, not anymore.

Jimin still didn’t move, didn’t even turn his head in the direction of the voice. He waited for instructions, carefully controlling his breath so that it wouldn’t become too loud.

He only moved when he heard the footsteps get louder. The sound changed, whoever was in the room was now standing on the glass. They were getting closer. Jimin couldn’t help it, he flinched back.

The footsteps stopped and Jimin mentally kicked himself. His breathing picked up, as he closed his eyes as tight as he could. Why did he flinch?! Why did he give them a reason to hurt him? Couldn’t he just stay still?! Idiot!

He waited and waited. He became lightheaded from how fast and shallow his breaths were but for a long moment nothing happened. Then a careful voice broke the silence.

‘Jiminie?’ it was still Taehyung. He sounded less happy now, more concerned, but all Jimin could think was that he clearly expected a response, but Jimin didn’t know what he wanted him to say. So he stayed quiet. Maybe he could lie later and say he didn’t hear him? Maybe this way he could escape the punishment.

‘Ok, let’s start by taking off his blindfold’ came Namjoon’s calm yet uncertain voice.

After hearing that Jimin pressed himself even closer to the wall, frantically trying to escape them. They couldn’t take the blindfold! Jimin wouldn’t be tricked this time. He knew what would happen if he let them, if he took it off.

When he heard footsteps again he couldn’t stop himself.

‘NO!’ he shouted covering his head with his hands in a vain attempt to block them from reaching him.

That made the footsteps stop.

‘Ok’ came Jin’s voice. He was speaking calmly, sounding like he was trying to soothe a wounded animal. ‘Ok, we won’t touch it’ he repeated and only then did Jimin realize he started shaking. Another mistake. ‘Can you tell us why though?’ Jin asked still in the same comforting tone.

Jimin breathed a sigh of relief. That was a question he could answer. Finally the situation was getting back under control.

‘He told me not to. Told me what would happen if I took it off’ he said feeling himself lower his hands, straightening his back and getting back into the position Yoongi left him in.

‘Who did Jiminie?’ Yoongi asked. He sounded angry, that wasn’t good. Maybe it was some kind of a test and Jimin was failing? ‘Who did this to you?’

‘You did’ Jimin answered simply. He didn’t dare lie. Lying only ever got him back into the bathtub.

There were startled gasps around the room. They sounded horrified. Jimin thought he heard Yoongi take a step back and murmur something like No, I wouldn’t. It all was so confusing. Jimin couldn’t understand what was going on. It made him uneasy. The situation was getting out of control, out of the familiar territory where Jimin knew what to do to avoid punishment. Was this a new trick of theirs? Was this a new way of making sure he slipped and earned a punishment? If so then Jimin had already lost. He felt anger rise in his chest at his own helplessness, at their cruelty.

‘Why are you here?’ he spat. ‘What do you want this time? I won’t let you trick me again!’ the more he was losing control of the situation the more agitated he became. He started lashing out to bring the situation back on a track he was familiar with. He was going to argue and be punished, at least this way he knew what to expect. ‘Why don’t you just leave like always?’ Jimin was so tired of it all. Maybe it really would be better if he didn’t survive his next punishment. At least that way it would be over. No more playing with his heart. No more dangling his friends right in front of him, only to take them away again.

‘Jimin’ that was Hobi. He sounded more serious, more urgent than Jimin had ever heard him before. Maybe that’s why Jimin shut his mouth and turned to listen to him. ‘I don’t know what you went through here, but I know what’s it like not to know what’s real and what’s not’ Jimin was so confused, his head was beginning to hurt from it all. ‘I know what it’s like not to know who you are’ Hobi continued. The others were quiet, but Jimin knew they were still there. He learnt to tell how many people were around even if he couldn’t see them. ‘I can imagine what you are feeling right now Jiminie. You are afraid of what will happen if you break the rules I get that, but you can trust us. We won’t let you get hurt.’

Hobi sounded so certain. His voice was warm and familiar. He never sounded like this, when Jimin met him lately. It was as if Jimin was at war with himself. One part of him wanted to believe him, but the other still remembered the hurt such trust had brought him.

‘That’s not true’ Jimin scoffed, but his voice sounded weak, his uncertainty bleeding into his words. ‘You have hurt me so many times before. I won’t fall for it again.’

Despite his words the hesitance must have shown on his face because Hobi kept pushing.

‘You know what’s real and what’s not. Deep down you know who to trust. They can’t take that away from you no matter how hard they try. So if we’re fake, you would be able to tell. And we both know that your real friends would never do anything to hurt you. We just want to help.’ Hobi took a deep breath before continuing. ‘So look inside yourself and tell me what you feel and if you decide you don’t trust us, we will leave. It’s your choice Jiminie.’

That got the others to protest loudly, arguing with Hobi, but it was quickly silenced. Jimin could barely hear it in any case. His head was pounding. Was it really different than before? Would they really leave him alone if he asked? Did he want them to? He couldn’t tell. He never had a reason to question if everything around him was real or not. Was he really able to tell who to trust?

‘Jimin?’ this sounded more like a question. Jimin could imagine Jungkook looking at him with those big, pleading eyes of his.

He tried to do what Hobi told him. He tried to look inside himself but all he found was chaos. He spent so much time learning how to survive, trust was something he couldn’t afford to give. Yet it felt like his whole being was begging him to trust them, like his heart wanted to reach to them even when his mind hesitated.

‘C’mon Jiminie’ Taehyung encouraged, pleaded and even though he couldn’t see him, Jimin knew that Taehyung was looking at him with a sad smile, that he was blinking tears away, trying to stay strong for him.

A memory flashed before Jimin’s eyes. A summer, their trip, the beach. He remembered how they slept all curled up on the bed of the truck, he remembered running together on the beach, splashing water on each other. He remembered how happy he was, how safe he felt.

‘You’re safe now’ Namjoon promised and Jimin wanted nothing more than to believe him. There was also nothing that scared him more. What if when he opened his eyes, when he took the blindfold off, they would be gone. He couldn’t take that. Not again.

Jimin’s head was spinning, he felt as if something was being dragged out of his head. It didn’t want to leave, it kept clawing at his mind, trying to hold on or to destroy everything in his wake. It was losing control over him and it didn’t like it.

‘We’re here Jimin’ Jin called, another familiar voice. Safe Jimin’s heart screamed. ‘We won’t leave you. You’re not alone anymore. You can trust us I promise. Just listen to what Hoba said.’

It made something break inside him. The hesitance and fear vanished, whatever influence this world had on Jimin vanished completely. He let himself fall head first into the longing in his heart and if it killed him, well, there were much worse ways to die.

‘Hobi-hyung?’ Jimin asked, his voice small and wet from the tears that gathered in his eyes.

‘Yes Jiminie, it’s me’ Hobi answered gently, but Jimin could hear the smile, the relief in his voice.

‘Can I take the blindfold off Jiminie?’ Yoongi asked and Jimin could only nod too choked up to say anything.

Jimin couldn’t help but flinch when he felt hands touch his face, but Yoongi shushed him softly. Jimin breathed deeply and nodded again. When the blindfold came off he needed to blink a few times to adjust his vision. Luckily the room was dark so he didn’t need to worry about getting used to the light.

Jimin came face to face with Yoongi. He was smiling even though he looked really worried. That broke some kind of restraint inside Jimin, made him abandon all caution and weariness. He couldn’t help it and all but flung himself forward into Yoongi’s open arms. By the time the rest of his friends joined the hug Jimin was sobbing. He was crying from the sheer relief he was feeling but also everything he had been through had finally caught up to him. His friends held him through it and this time, when he opened his eyes they were still there.

They didn’t disappear.

Jimin was crying in Yoongi’s arms and Jin could feel his sobs even through Hobi’s back from his place in the group hug. The sound was so mournful yet full of relief that Jin felt his heart break. He could only guess what Jimin went through before they found him but he vowed to himself to never let anything like this happen to any of his friends again. They were going to get out of this alive. Jin would make sure of it.

The first thought that crossed Jin’s mind when they arrived in this world was that it was suspiciously quiet. It felt heavy like the whole world had just given up on fighting them and just waited to see them give up as well. It made Jin feel uneasy, but it was nothing new. No matter if the world they entered was loud, full of people or eerily void and quiet, it put him on edge nonetheless. Afterall nothing good waited for them there.

They moved through dark, empty rooms, the sound of their footsteps swallowed by the plush carpets and walls. The atmosphere was heavy and no one spoke a word as if afraid to disturb the quiet around them. It seemed to affect them all as even Taehyung, who usually filled the space with jokes, didn’t dare open his mouth.

It seemed too easy. There was nothing trying to stop them, nothing to distract them form where they were going, just a straightforward path that led them deeper and deeper into the depths of this dimension.

The uneasy feeling didn’t leave Jin even after they found Jimin. He was sitting in a corner on the other side of a spacious room they had just entered. The room looked almost exactly like all the others they walked through, the only exception being that it was much larger. There was also a window in the middle of the floor. It showed a tiled room with a bathtub in the center beneath them. That sight made Jin shiver. He had never seen the room before, but Jungkook had told them about the visions and even without seeing his reaction to the sight, Jungkook had clearly recognized the room beneath them, Jin knew that it was the room Jimin almost drowned in.

Jimin’s eyes were covered by a blindfold and even though his hands were free he did nothing to take it off. He didn’t move when they entered. Didn’t acknowledge them in any way even when Taehyung called him. Only when he heard their footsteps on the glass window getting closer, did he react.

Jimin flinched back.

That got them to stop in their tracks.

It was a jerk of his whole body as if he wanted to run away. He quickly stilled again and resumed the position they found him in. It looked practiced, as if he had learned to control his reaction and even if it looked natural, his position was clearly intentional.

Jimin was scared. He was scared of them. Jin could see how his shoulders rose and fell with each shallow breath as if he waited for something terrible to happen.

‘Jiminie?’ Taehyung asked and Jin’s heart broke. Taehyung sounded so small, so hurt, he couldn’t understand why his best friend acted this way. All the joy of finding him vanished, replaced by the visceral pain of Jimin not trusting them.

When Jimin still didn’t answer Namjoon tried to get the situation back under control.

‘Ok, let’s start by taking off his blindfold’ he sounded calm, but Jin could see how shaken he was. Nevertheless he was grateful that Namjoon was able to step in and take action when Jin himself was too shocked to.

However after hearing what Namjoon had said Jimin pressed himself even further into the wall, clearly trying to get away from them. When he heard Namjoon’s footsteps approaching panic flashed across his face and he shouted:

‘NO!’ Jimin shrieked. He covered himself with his hands as if they were going to hurt him. Namjoon stopped terrified not knowing what was wrong. He raised his hands in surrender even though Jimin couldn’t see him.

‘Ok’ Jin jumped in trying to control the damage. He tried his best to speak calmly, tried to soothe Jimin with his voice alone, when he refused to let them get close. ‘Ok, we won’t touch it’ he reassured and that seemed to work as Jimin’s shoulders relaxed slightly even if his whole frame was shaking with fear.

They needed to figure out a way to get Jimin to let them help. Jin looked around. Jungkook was standing back looking at the scene before him with wide eyes, his lips slightly parted as if he couldn’t quite believe what was happening. Taehyung looked close to tears as he still recoiled from Jimin’s reaction. Namjoon hadn’t lowered his hands looking shocked. Hobi seemed deep in thought, his brows furrowed and Yoongi looked like he wanted to murder whoever made Jimin so afraid.

Jin swallowed his own fear and hurt. They needed him. Jimin needed him. But they didn’t need to worry, their Hyung was here, he would take care of them. Even if he wasn’t entirely sure how to.

First things first Jin decided he needed to figure out why Jimin was so against removing the blindfold and then he would decide how to move on from there.

‘Can you tell us why though?’ Jin asked still in the same comforting tone as before.

That made Jimin relax, it seemed that clear, direct questions or instructions were the way to go. He straightened his back more before responding.

‘He told me not to. Told me what would happen if I took it off’ he finally lowered his hands, some of the tension leaving his frame. Jin felt quite the opposite, his whole body tensed up. He logically knew that somebody had to have done this to Jimin, he didn’t put the blindfold on by himself that would be ridiculous, but hearing it from Jimin himself was different. Someone had deliberately put him there. Someone had hurt him so much that he was afraid of them, he was terrified even when all his friends were finally there to help him. Someone had done something horrible enough that it still haunted Jimin even if that person wasn’t there anymore. It made a weird mix of anger and fear swirl inside Jin’s chest. The casual way Jimin had said it only made the situation more twisted and Jin felt himself almost choke on it all.

‘Who did Jiminie?’ Yoongi asked. His voice was quiet, level, filled with so much fury that it made Jin shiver. He could see how Yoongi was clenching his fists so hard his arms were shaking. ‘Who did this to you?’

The answer came almost immediately.

‘You did’ Jimin said and some bitterness slipped into his voice.

Yoongi stumbled backwards as if Jimin had struck him, the words landing like a physical blow. His hands were still shaking, but his anger had all but vanished. Blood drained from his face and for a moment Jin worried his knees were going to give out.

‘No’ Yoongi almost whispered his voice trembling. ‘I wouldn’t…’ he didn’t finish and instead snapped his mouth shut. Before any of them recovered from the shock Jimin spoke again.

‘Why are you here?’ Jimin spat. ‘What do you want this time? I won’t let you trick me again!’ The whole room seemed to shake with Jimin’s anger as if the world itself was reacting to his emotions. Hobi who took a few steps forward, then stopped suddenly and placed his hands on an invisible wall that now separated them from Jimin. They would not be able to get to him unless he himself allowed it.

The sudden change of demeanor almost gave Jin a whiplash. A second ago Jimin looked utterly hopeless, broken down and now he was snapping at them, his fury so palpable Jin could feel it in his voice.

Despite everything it gave Jin a strange, fragile sense of hope. Because Jimin was fighting, he wasn’t completely resigned, the fire inside him still burned brightly even after countless attempts to extinguish it. And if Jimin wasn’t completely gone then they could get him out of there, they could go home. They just needed to figure out how to convince him to trust them again.

That’s when it hit Jin. This was the cult’s plan to prevent them from leaving. They used their replicas of Jin and his friends to hurt and betray Jimin, to break his trust in them. They used their friendship against them. At this point Jin had lost count of how long they had been stuck in there. That meant that Jimin was tormented by people wearing their faces for weeks. It had been drilled into his head not to trust them and Jin had no idea what to do, how to fix this and get Jimin to trust them again.

Again Jin couldn’t be thankful enough that he didn’t have to do it alone, that his friends were with him. Because at that moment, for the first time since they entered this world Hobi spoke up.

‘Jimin’ he said, his voice serious. His face was a mix of seriousness and hurt. It looked like he was both laser focused on Jimin and somewhere far away at the same time. Jimin must have sensed the urgency in his voice or maybe there was something else compelling him to listen, because that got his anger to die down some. ‘I don’t know what you went through here, but I know what’s it like not to know what’s real and what’s not’ Hobi continued and Jin realized that he was thinking back to the world he had been stuck in. He hadn’t been hurt by his friends but he was told he was crazy for remembering them. He understood what it was like for everything around him to contradict what he knew in his heart to be true. His words seemed to be working as the invisible barrier moved a little allowing them to come a bit closer. ‘I know what it’s like to not know who you are’ Hobi continued. The others barely dared to breathe worried that if they did the moment would shatter and the progress Hobi was making would be gone. ‘I can imagine what you are feeling right now Jiminie. You are afraid of what will happen if you break the rules, I get that, but you can trust us. We won’t let you get hurt.’

It hurt that Hobi even had to say that. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that they would much rather die themselves than let anything happen to Jimin. Yet Jin couldn’t agree more. He would reassure Jimin as many times as he needed, he would prove it over and over again until he believed them.

‘That’s not true’ Jimin scoffed, but his voice sounded weak, his uncertainty bleeding into his words. ‘You have hurt me so many times before. I won’t fall for it again.’

But even as he said it the wall moved closer again and Hobi took another step forward. Encouraged he kept pushing.

‘You know what’s real and what’s not. Deep down you know who to trust. They can’t take that away from you no matter how hard they try. So if we’re fake, you would be able to tell. And we both know that your real friends would never do anything to hurt you. We just want to help.’ Hobi took a deep breath before continuing. ‘So look inside yourself and tell me what you feel and if you decide you don’t trust us, we will leave. It’s your choice Jiminie.’

Everyone started protesting as soon as they heard that. There was no way, They wouldn’t leave Jimin here no matter what. They wouldn’t let him get hurt anymore. That was out of the question. Jin was outraged that Hobi had even suggested that.

Hoseok didn’t budge even in the face of their protests. He kept his eyes on Jimin and raised a hand to silence them.

‘Just trust me’ he muttered. Jin wasn’t convinced but he shut his mouth even though he wasn’t happy about it. Hobi had a plan and Jin trusted him. The rest followed suit, especially after the wall moved again.

They watched how the internal struggle played out on Jimin’s face. He looked lost, conflicted like he didn’t know what to do. Jin had seen something similar before. It was when they found Hobi, he looked the same right before he was finally able to see them. It meant that Jimin was fighting the influence that this world held over him.

Seeing this Jungkook stepped forward and placed his hands on the wall separating them from Jimin. He looked determined, his steps sure.

‘Jimin?’ he asked gently as if he was trying to coax Jimin into seeing the truth. Like he hoped his voice would encourage him to remember them as they really were.

The wall moved closer.

Seeing that one by one they came up to the wall, each one offering encouragement or pleas for Jimin to keep fighting, to come back to them.

‘C’mon Jiminie’ Taehyung encouraged, pleaded. He had tears in his eyes but refused to let them fall, trying to stay strong for his best friend.

A step closer.

‘You’re safe now’ Namjoon promised and Jin could see just how much those words affected Jimin. Longing flashed across his face, so deep that Jin felt his heart break in his chest. The wall moved much further than any other time before.

‘We’re here Jimin’ Jin called, adding his own piece to the others, creating a picture that was purely their own. He leaned his forehead on the wall, closed his eyes and continued. ‘We won’t leave you. You’re not alone anymore. You can trust us I promise. Just listen to what Hoba said.’

For a moment nothing happened, then suddenly the wall before them disappeared completely and they were free to go to Jimin.

‘Hobi-hyung?’ Jimin asked, his voice small and wet from the tears that gathered in his eyes.

‘Yes Jiminie, it’s me’ Hobi answered gently, a smile slowly blooming on his face as he breathed a sigh of relief. They made it. Their Jimin was back.

‘Can I take the blindfold off Jiminie?’ Yoongi asked. He had moved over to Jimin as soon as he could. He looked like he wanted to reach out to him, touch him, make sure he was alright, that he was really there, but he didn’t dare do anything without permission. Jimin nodded and Jin let out a relieved sigh. He could see just how much Yoongi wanted to do something to fix what his copy had done to Jimin. It was clear in the way he hovered nearby as if he was itching to help somehow but terrified of making everything worse.

Yoongi lifted his hands to the blindfold over Jimin’s eyes causing him to flinch. For a moment Yoongi froze terrified he had hurt him somehow, but almost immediately his face softened again and he said something quietly that made Jimin relax and nod again. With that Yoongi lifted the blindfold from his eyes and tossed the offending material as far away as he could.

Jimin blinked a few times before his eyes adjusted to the light and his gaze landed on Yoongi. They stared at each other for a moment neither moving or saying anything, then Jimin broke down crying and launched himself into Yoongi’s already waiting arms.

That broke the spell that the room seemed to be under. Jin moved forward almost at the same time the others did. Taehyung was already crying by the time he reached them and joined the hug and the others were not far behind. They stayed like that, letting Jimin get everything out. He was the one who had been alone the longest. He had gone through something terrible, but they were all together now. Everything would be just fine.

Jin had finally found them.

It took a long time for Jimin to finally stop crying and feel steady enough to get up. They still needed to get back to the Vestibule and Jin worried what would happen if they were to stay in this world too long, how else would it try to stop them from leaving. They moved as a group, huddled close together, not willing to separate just yet after finally finding each other.

Jimin was walking between Taehyung and Yoongi. He was smiling, talking softly with Tae and that sight healed something inside Jin he hadn’t even realize was broken. Because no matter how battered and bruised they were, no matter what horrible things they had to go through, he found them and as long as they were together they would be able to deal with anything coming their way.

They had almost made it to the door when Jin heard a distant rumble. It sounded like an oncoming storm and it was getting closer.

Suddenly the window in the floor shattered into million pieces as several black vines burst through the glass.

They shot towards the group and before they could react three vines wrapped around Jimin and yanked him backwards, sending him to the floor and dragging him away from his friends, towards the window that led to the room with the bathtub.

Yoongi moved first and the others followed chasing after him. Jimin was in hysterics. He scrambled to find something to hold on to, not caring about the shards of glass that cut his hands, but the carpet offered nothing. He was crying as the vines dragged him across the floor.

‘NO! NO PLEASE!’ he cried. ‘I’ll stay. I’ll stay. Just please don’t make me go back there!’ he begged and begged ready to offer anything if it meant he wouldn’t have to see the bathtub again. But the vines were deaf to his pleas and his screams accomplished nothing.

Finaly Yoongi managed to catch up to Jimin and grabbed his hand trying to pull him away from the window. Taehyung was there only a second later. Together they managed to stop Jimin from going through the window but it wasn’t enough to break him free form the vines.

Jin, Namjoon and Hobi joined this twisted tug of war trying desperately to help their friend without hurting him.

Jimin was no longer screaming, he just kept crying, begging softly under his breath not to be put through this again.

When they tried to pull harder to gain some ground, maybe free Jimin completely if they were lucky, Jimin yelled in pain as the vines tugged harder, wrapped tighter around his legs and middle. So they were stuck there. It was a battle of who would get tired first and Jin wasn’t optimistic about their chances.

At that moment Jungkook appeared out of nowhere. Jin had been so preoccupied with helping Jimin that he didn’t notice that the youngest wasn’t with them.

Jungkook didn’t join them, instead he grabbed a sharp piece of glass from the floor and went around them. He used a sleeve of his hoodie to protect his skin but it must have not been enough as Jin saw him grimace, but Jungkook never loosened his grip on his makeshift weapon.

He took hold of a vine wrapped around Jimin’s leg and cut through it with the glass. It wasn’t a clean cut, the glass shard was far from a perfect blade for the job, but it was good enough. Jungkook was methodical and soon Jimin was free.

They didn’t wait. Immediately after the last vine gave way Yoongi and Taehyung hauled Jimin upright and they started running towards the door. Behind them the rumble started again and when Jin looked over his shoulder he saw a black mass of vines chase after them.

But it was too late. Namjoon had already gotten to the door and was holding it open for them to go through. Before the vines could reach them, they made it through the door and closed it firmly behind them.

They tumbled onto the floor falling on each other in one big pile. Jin was the first one to get back on his feet looking around wildly, scanning the room for danger. He quickly realized that they were at the safe Vestibule.

They made it back.

All seven of them.

Chapter Text

Jin stood there stunned, not quite believing his eyes. He had found them. He brought them back. Now they were safe at the Vestibule and they could finally go home. Something rose up in Jin’s chest and he wasn’t quite sure if he wanted to laugh or cry. It was finally over.

He stood back and watched as his friends got to their feet and slowly realized the same thing Jin did.

They could leave.

Namjoon turned to Jin first. A brilliant smile on his face, eyes shining with tears. They had fought together to get their friends back the longest and now… now they've won.

‘You should do the honors Hyung’ Taehyung suggested looking at Jin. There seemed to be a silent agreement that Jin should be the one to lead them back home. He was the one who saved them after all.

Jin was too choked up to respond. He just nodded and made his way over to the second door in the Vestibule, the one that led back home.

All this time this door was a source of both hope and anguish for Jin. It was there reminding him every day that there was a way home, that all his efforts weren’t in vain. It taunted and mocked him in wmoments of doubt. Escape so close yet still out of reach.

Now Jin stood in front of the simple white door and he couldn’t quite believe it was happening. They were really leaving. He laughed breathlessly and placed his hand on the doorknob. His friends were behind him, offering quiet reassurance. They understood how important this moment was, to Jin, who had been fighting for it from the very beginning. Jin looked back at them over his shoulder. Namjoon offered an encouraging nod and Jin turned back to the door. He took a deep breath and pushed the doorknob.

Nothing happened.

Jin tried again, his brain refusing to acknowledge what had just happened. Still nothing. The door didn’t budge.

It was still locked.

‘No I don’t understand...’ Jin mumbled as he took an unsteady step back. He was looking at the door with wide eyes as he stumbled backwards as if he wanted to put some distance between himself and the harsh reality.

‘It won’t open’ Namjoon whispered when he realized what was happening.

‘What do you mean it won’t open?!’ Yoongi asked loudly his voice laced with anger that did nothing to mask the fear seeping in. ‘It was supposed to open after we found everyone!’

‘Maybe it needs time?’ Jungkook asked.

‘No that’s not it’ Taehyung answered his brows furrowed as he was trying to remember if he had read anything that could help them now. ‘Maybe if we can get back to the world I was stuck in before the cult found me, we could get some information from the library there?’ he asked no one in particular, simply thinking out loud.

Just then a voice echoed through the room. It was deep, clearly inhuman. It sounded ancient. The Vestibule seemed to shake with it.

‘The sacrifice must be completed.’

And just like that the voice vanished, leaving the room silent for a moment. The boys were shocked but almost immediately broke into a discussion about what that meant and what to do next.

Jin could barely hear them through the ringing in his ears. His eyes zeroed in on the door, that was still closed and he couldn’t tear his gaze away no matter how hard he tried.

He took another shaky step back. This couldn’t be happening. Not after everything they went through. After all they suffered. They were supposed to go home. They were supposed to leave. Not this… this couldn’t be happening.

Jin felt himself start gasping for breath as air suddenly became a scarce supply. All this time he had kept himself together, the only exception being that one time after he found Namjoon. He kept himself from breaking by focusing on his task. He had to find his friends to open the door to go back home. Whenever he felt like everything was too much, like the weight of his new twisted reality was too heavy, like he would crack, he thought back to that door. He focused only on getting it open.

He didn’t dare dream about going home, about what he would do when he got back. All he hoped for was to survive long enough to see that door open.

Someone had to keep them together and Jin knew it had to be him. He held his friends through every nightmare, every doubt. Whenever they lost hope he was there to reassure them, to offer a smile or a shoulder to cry on. Throughout it all Jin stayed strong, refusing to break. He couldn’t, his friends needed him.

Now he had found his friends. He had faced countless obstacles and against all odds managed to keep himself and his friends alive, but the door wouldn’t open.

Jin felt as if someone had ripped the ground from underneath him, like he was falling into a black abyss. The only thing keeping him afloat had vanished right before his eyes and Jin couldn’t do it. He couldn’t take it anymore.

Now under all this pressure Jin broke.

He still couldn’t breathe and his vision was getting cloudy both from tears that started running down his face with no sign of stopping and the lack of oxygen. He took a few more steps back until his back hit the wall and then he slid down to the ground. He didn’t make a sound, only gasping breaths left his lips as his world crumbled before him.

Namjoon was the first to notice.

‘Jin-hyung?!’ he asked panicked before falling to his knees before him. But Jin couldn’t hear him, he was dead to the world around him. ‘Jin-hyung say something!’ Namjoon begged grabbing Jin’s shoulders and shaking him to bring him back. The others alarmed by Namjoon gathered around them not quite sure what to do now.

Jin couldn’t hear them. All he saw was the door that was still closed. Only when Namjoon moved and blocked it from his view did Jin realize they had come closer.

His eyes flickered up to Namjoon’s face and a choked sob ripped from his throat. Once it started there was no stopping it. The sobs were too violent, came too fast, Jin still couldn’t breathe.

‘It won’t open’ he managed to choke out between sobs, his eyes flicking back and forth, as if searching for the door again to torture himself more with the sight.

‘No, no, no, hey’ Namjoon called him, arms gripping Jin’s shoulders tightly. ‘No, Jin look at me. You need to breathe.’

Jin tried but it just wouldn’t stop. The tears, the panic, it was overwhelming him and he couldn’t even fight it.

‘It’s still closed’ he repeated. He couldn’t focus on anything else. They were stuck. There was no way back home. They were going to die here. Maybe he was already dying. He felt like it. His head was spinning. The image of the closed door still clear before his eyes even though Namjoon tried to shield him from the view.

‘Jin!’ Namjoon called again, but his voice was coming from somewhere far away. His face was blurry before Jin’s eyes. ‘Jin focus on me, please…’ he was saying something else but Jin couldn’t hear him anymore.

There wasn’t enough air around him but it didn’t stop the scream that ripped out of Jin's throat.

It hurt. Everything hurt, his head, his throat, his lungs. He couldn’t take it anymore. It was too much. His vision went completely black and Jin passed out.

Jin had spent the rest of that night awake.

After he had passed out his friends moved him to the bed. That’s where he woke up hours later. By that time it was night and all the plans they made were moved to the morning.

After waking up Jin had no energy to panic anymore. He just felt hollow, not even sad. Reality weighed heavily on his shoulders but he couldn’t bring himself to care. He was exhausted.

He watched as his friends moved about but refused to answer when they spoke to him. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to talk to them. It was just that opening his mouth and forming words seemed like an impossible effort and Jin was too tired to even try.

After his friends settled for the night he kept his vigil. He watched them sleep at first. The sight of all of them together brought a small sense of comfort to him.

The youngest three were sharing the mattress. They somehow managed to all squeeze on it with Jimin lying on top of Jungkook and Tae, who in turn clung to each other to save space. Namjoon had fallen asleep while sitting in a chair, his head now resting on the table before him as his back rose and fell with each breath. Yoongi and Hobi were on the floor, using the only blanket to make themselves more comfortable. Hobi was sprawled out on his back, his limbs stretching in different directions, while Yoongi was curled up in a ball, his head resting on Hobi’s arm.

Jin watched them and for a moment he felt like he could breathe a little easier.

But mostly he watched the door. He couldn’t tell if he wanted to torture himself with the sight or if he hoped that if he looked long enough it would all turn out to be a cruel joke. He was aware that it was probably unhealthy, that he should stop, but he couldn’t turn his gaze away.

He became a quiet sentry, keeping watch. It was his new purpose. If he couldn’t bring his friends home then he would watch over them here and keep them safe.

He spent the night that way and didn’t move even when his friends started waking up.

He watched as they moved about and tried to think of what to do now. He didn’t join in, content to just watch them and the door. At first they tried to talk to him but Jin didn’t feel like speaking yet so they soon left him alone, understanding he needed space. Only Namjoon was occasionally glancing at him, clearly worried for his Hyung. But even then he didn’t say anything.

That’s why Jin was the first one to notice when something changed.

The doorknob moved.

Jin had been watching the door that lead back home, listening to his friends conversation when the doorknob moved.

He rose up to his feet alarmed, not quite believing his eyes and called his friends.

‘Guys’ he said loud enough for them to hear over their conversation. His voice sounded rough from disuse, after he had screamed himself hoarse the night before. When they heard him, they stopped mid-sentence to look at him questioningly. He just pointed towards the door that was slowly opening.

They all watched mesmerized as the door moved until a figure wearing a red robe, hood drawn up, stepped through. They were quickly followed by six more and soon the whole seven was there.

The cult had found them. They were inside Jin’s safe Vestibule.

The cult wasn’t supposed to be able to get into the safe pocket dimension Jin claimed as his own. They were supposed to be safe there.

Jin moved backwards, never taking his eyes off the cult. His friends followed him, crowding on the opposite side of the Vestibule than the cult that was now blocking their only way back.

All of them moved besides Yoongi. He stood in front of his friends, arms spread protectively as if he was trying to shield them.

The tallest cultist, the leader, moved forward. He stepped before his followers and opened his arms as if he was going to give some grand speech about their god or some other fucked up idea the cult had. But before he could speak Yoongi stepped forward as well. He didn’t wait, didn’t hesitate.

Yoongi punched the cult leader straight in the face.

He quickly turned to his friends and yelled:

‘RUN!’

Jin was stunned for a moment as he watched the cultist stagger backwards, loosing balance before his followers caught him. But the others didn’t wait. They listened to Yoongi. The only problem was there was nowhere to run. The Vestibule had only two exits and the cult was blocking one of them.

Hobi didn’t hesitate. He threw open the door leading back to the dimensions and went right through. The others quickly followed after him.

Jin was the last one to leave. He stopped just before he could step through the door. He didn’t want to go back there. He hoped he wouldn’t have to do it ever again. But no matter how badly he didn’t want to go staying wasn’t an option. Whatever waited for them on the other side of the door couldn’t be as bad as what the cult would do to him if he stayed.

So Jin swallowed his fear, his hesitance, shoved it all away, as far from his mind as he could and stepped through the door once again.

When he landed in the dimension Jin lost his balance, but Namjoon caught him before he fell.

They were in an empty hallway. It looked familiar but Jin couldn’t quite tell where he had seen it before.

‘We need to go’ Taehyung urged grabbing Jimin’s hand. ‘The cult will be here soon.’

‘This way’ Hobi said taking the lead. He looked worried, his brows furrowed like he knew something the rest did not, but didn’t quite want to believe it yet.

As they moved deeper Jin understood what it was about. They were in a hospital. They went back to the world they saved Hobi from.

Hoseok led them through the corridors steadily despite the clear discomfort of being brought back to this place. Jin marveled at how composed he was, his steps never faltered, he knew exactly where he was going.

‘We need to lose the cult’ Hobi said, his voice sure. ‘I know a place we can hide. Maybe it will be enough.’

So they followed after him.

It seemed that not much had changed since they left. The hospital functioned as before, people were walking around. For the most part nobody paid attention to them, only some nurses shot them confused glances, but nobody tried to stop them. It was going smoothly until…

‘Hoseok?’ somebody asked and Hobi froze. In front of them stood a patient roughly their age. He looked absolutely stunned.

‘Jiwoon’ Hobi whispered eyes glued to the man before them. For a moment they stood like that before Jiwoon spoke again.

‘What are you doing here?’ he asked. ‘The doctors said you were kidnapped. What’s going on?’ when Hobi didn’t answer he added. ‘I’ll call the doctor.’ At that moment they heard shouting behind them. The cult had almost caught up to them.

‘We need to go’ Yoongi barked breaking Hobi out of his stupor. He physically moved Jiwoon out of their way and started running down the corridor.

‘My old room is just up ahead’ Hobi said. ‘It has a lock, we should be safe there.’

They didn’t argue. Soon they reached a door and stopped so that Hobi could open it.

At that moment the cult rounded the corner. They rushed towards them knocking both confused patients and nurses calling for them to stop aside in their haste to catch them.

The cult didn’t bother with concealing their presence from the people in the dimensions, they didn’t care for any disturbance they caused. They just rushed forward with one goal in mind, uncaring about the damage they left behind.

Just then Jin heard a ping, a soft click, followed by Hobi shouting triumphantly. The door to his room opened and they made their way inside. Moments before the cult reached them Jin managed to close the door, automatically locking them inside and the cult outside.

But when Jin looked around they were not in a hospital room but rather a familiar, white corridor. Somehow they had found themselves back in the maze they saved Jungkook from.

Jin’s eyes darted to the youngest, both wondering which way to go and trying to gauge his reaction, wanting to see how he was handling being back here.

Jungkook’s hands were shaking again as he took in his surroundings, his lips slightly parted in shock. He quickly shook it all off and clenched his fists to stop them from trembling.

‘We need to keep going’ he said loudly, his voice leaving no room for arguments, no room for his friends to offer him some comfort. ‘The cult will be here any moment.’

With that Jungkook started forward, leading his friends through the corridors. They had barely turned twice before they heard the cult looking for them, screaming angrily at them as well as each other.

‘Shit’ Jungkook cursed under his breath and took off running. Jin followed with the rest of their friends. It was a whirlwind of turns and corridors each one looking exactly like the last. Jin was completely lost. If someone asked him where to go or where they came from, he would have absolutely no clue.

Luckily Jungkook had spent a lot of time in the labyrinth and was able to navigate it. Despite that they could still hear the cult hot on their heels.

Finally the corridor opened to a big room, the same one where they found Jungkook.

‘I’m sorry’ the youngest started, panting for breath from the mad dash they made to get there. ‘I only knew the way to the center…’ before he could finish Jimin pointed at something on the other side of the room.

‘Look!’ he shouted. And he was right. There, on the opposite wall was a door. It was white and blended in seamlessly with the walls, but it was still there.

They didn’t wait for the cult to catch up to them. They ran to the door and as soon as Taehyung opened it they made their way through.

Jin had barely managed to catch his balance when he heard Taehyung shout.

‘Watch out!’ he yelled pulling Jungkook, who was at the front of their group, backwards with him. A second later a car zoomed past them. If Taehyung had not moved him, the car would have hit the youngest.

It was over before Jin could even react and he was so glad for Taehyung’s quick thinking.

Jin looked around. It was nighttime and it looked like they had tumbled out of an entrance of a diner. A familiar diner. The same one where they found Taehyung. They were back in yet another familiar world and Jin was beginning to see a pattern.

‘I know where to go’ Taehyung piped up, his enthusiasm shining through in the way he was slightly bouncing on his feet. He started leading them straight away. ‘I think I know what’s going on’ he continued. ‘We are going backwards. We start in the last place we were in each world and we need to make our way back to where we began.’

Hearing that was absolutely amazing. That was a plan. They had a plan. They knew what they were doing, at least to some extent and maybe, just maybe for the first time they were the ones who had the advantage. They knew the worlds. They lived through them, the cult didn’t. Jin had to hope it would be enough to escape them.

The walk through this world was a quick but surprisingly calm one given the circumstances. They walked as fast as they could without breaking into a sprint to conserve their energy and avoided the streets that seemed to be riddled with cars whose only purpose was hitting unsuspecting civilians.

Other than that, under different circumstances the city could be considered beautiful. The park especially, but maybe Taehyung’s excitement, that was growing with every step contributed to that feeling.

‘We’re almost there’ Taehyung beamed when they excited the park.

True to his words they reached his old apartment only a few minutes later. There was still no sign of the cult anywhere and Jin was starting to hope that they really managed to lose them or at the very least put some distance between them and the cult.

‘Well, shall we?’ Namjoon asked. He looked around at his friends and once they all nodded, he opened the door.

They had absolutely no time to get their bearings when they stepped through the door, before smoke, shouts and gunfire surrounded them.

‘This way!’ Namjoon shouted, but Jin had already lost him. The smoke made its way into his eyes, into his lungs, burning him from the inside. He coughed trying to get some air, he tried to blink away the tears but his vision was still blurry.

Jin couldn’t see him. He couldn’t see anything. He couldn’t see. Couldn’t breathe. He couldn’t…

Someone grabbed Jin by the arm and pulled him behind a wall. The movement only sent him into another coughing fit but as he was gasping for breath he realized he could actually get some air into his lungs.

‘Breathe Hyung’ said a familiar voice as a hand softly patted him on the back. ‘Just breathe.’

Finally after what seemed like eternity Jin was able to lift his head and look around. Jin’s friends stared at him worried, but they were all there, no one had gotten lost in the smoke.

Jin could still hear the gunfire and shouting but here in this small back alley it was a little quieter, the air was a bit cleaner.

Hobi was patting him on the back soothingly. Yoongi and the youngest three were standing huddled together while Namjoon was at the mouth of the alley keeping watch. He looked back when he heard Jin stop coughing and called out.

‘We need to move’ he said checking the area once more. ‘It’s clear, c’mon quickly!’

Namjoon led their group through the city. They had to duck into alleys every time they saw anybody coming their way. Namjoon was very careful. It didn’t matter if the approaching person was armed, if it was only one person or a group, he made them avoid them regardless.

No one dared to object. Their faces were tight and they stuck close together. The constant sound of gunfire was putting everybody on edge.

It seemed like forever before they reached the border of the city, Only then did the tension bleed out of Namjoon’s shoulders. He breathed a sigh of relief but still made their group stick close together. They jumped at every sound and Jin could feel the tension chip away at them.

There was no way to tell if the cult was still hot on their heels, the gunfire and shouts from the city covered all other sounds.

Finally they reached an old railway and saw an abandoned wagon in the distance.

‘It’s still here’ Namjoon breathed.

They made their way over and walked inside.

This time Jin could tell where he was right away. The sound of water splashing on the tiles and the frigid cold that froze them to the bone in seconds gave it away immediately.

This was the room with the bathtub where Jimin almost drowned. Jin’s eyes quickly darted to the younger.

Jimin threw himself backwards so violently that his back hit the wall with a dull thud. His eyes were glued to the bathtub like he couldn’t look away even if he wanted to. All blood drained from his face, his breathing was shallow and uneven.

‘Shit Jimin’ Yoongi murmured as he realized where they were as well. He turned to him but Jimin didn’t react. He didn’t even seem to have seen Yoongi move at all. He was unaware of anything happening around him but the water sloshing slowly in the bathtub. He was working himself into a panic attack and fast.

Namjoon, who had been looking around, still on high alert scanning their surroundings, spoke suddenly.

‘Look’ he said pointing to the other side of the room. There, behind the bathtub was a door, their way out, they just had to go past the bathtub to get to it.

That seemed almost impossible at that moment. Jin had no clue how to get Jimin to move even an inch closer to it. He looked back at the younger wracking his brain for what to do.

Yoongi and Taehyung had crowded Jimin, shielding him slightly from the room. They didn’t touch him respecting his space but providing their comforting company all the same.

Yoongi had looked over his shoulder to see what the others were talking about. Jin watched as he clocked in the door, the bathtub, how they would have to go past it to get out. Their eyes met and Jin saw the realization click in Yoongi’s brain. He steeled his features and nodded at Jin, then he turned back to Jimin.

Yoongi moved closer blocking the younger’s view of the bathtub completely.

‘Jimin’ he called sternly yet still there was a gentleness in his voice reserved only for the younger. ‘Jimin look at me’ he said again when Jimin didn’t react. Yoongi placed his hands on his shoulders not moving him, not shaking, just gently resting his palms, providing a steady point of contact.

It was enough and Jimin slowly lifted his gaze up to look Yoongi in the eyes. He still looked haunted, like he was somewhere far away, but he tried to get his vision to focus on the older.

Taehyung caught on to what Yoongi was doing and also moved closer. He was practically glued to Jimin’s side providing the physical comfort that Jimin thrived on.

‘Jiminie’ Yoongi called again and he blinked slowly at him. ‘We need to go Jiminie. The cult will be here any second’ Jimin blinked again, nodding slightly in understanding. His movements were sluggish, his responses delayed, it was like he was moving underwater. Yoongi wasn’t discouraged, he waited for the confirmation that Jimin had heard him before continuing. ‘The door is on the other side, we need to get there. Can you do that Jiminie?’

Hearing that Jimin pressed himself even further into the wall. He closed his eyes tightly, shaking his head furiously.

‘Jimin listen to me’ Yoongi called again, voice still gentle but taking on a more pressing note. ‘We have to get out of here’ he emphasized, looking at his face intently.

‘We’re here Jimin-ah’ Taehyung added gently, moving to stand in front of him. ‘We won’t let you get hurt’ he coaxed gently. ‘You’re not alone anymore. We will be with you the whole time.’

They gave him time to decide, time they didn’t have, after all the cult could catch up to them any second. But they all understood how hard it was for Jimin.

Jin would have preferred it if the younger never had to see this room again, but now that they were here no one would force him to do anything he didn’t want to unless absolutely necessary. Jimin had been stripped of the right to make his own choices for so long. They wouldn’t do that to him again.

After a long moment Jimin spoke.

‘Ok’ he muttered quietly, his eyes still closed. ‘Ok’ he repeated quietly, more to himself than his friends. ‘But we need to stay close. I don’t want any of you…’ his voice broke as if he couldn’t finish that thought. He took a deep breath ‘And I can’t look at it or else I won’t be able to do it.’

‘We can do that’ Taehyung smiled. ‘We’ve got you Jiminie.’

So they gathered around Jimin who remained glued to the wall and slowly started making their way through the room.

They formed a sort of a half circle shielding Jimin from the room. Taehyung and Yoongi remained by his side, Tae was walking backwards in front of him, holding his hands and leading him as Jimin refused to look up. Yoongi had positioned himself so that was always between Jimin and the bathtub.

They were moving slowly but surely towards the door. Jin was itching to rush his friends, he kept looking over his shoulder anxiously convinced the cult would find them any second. But he kept his mouth shut so that he wouldn’t ruin the progress they were making.

When they were about halfway through the room, they heard a distant rumble. The water in the bathtub began moving violently, splashing on the floor, almost flooding the room.

Hearing that Jimin flinched and gripped Taehyung’s hands tighter, but they kept going. When the water reached their shoes however, Jimin froze. He sucked in a harsh breath and before they could stop him, his eyes darted to the bathtub.

Jin could see the physical reaction Jimin had to the sight. He tensed up immediately, took half a step back, then froze again. When another wave of water reached their feet his whole body shuddered.

‘I can’t do it! I can’t!’ he muttered shutting his eyes tightly before he broke free from their group and darted to the door. He looked like hell was chasing him, he moved so fast that he almost tripped over his own two feet.

Jimin collided with the wall and reached for the door blindly.

That’s when the rest caught up to him. Jin reached his hand towards the door, that Jimin was mindlessly pushing at, trying in vain to get it to open. The move startled the younger and he looked at Jin with wild eyes and tears streaming down his face.

‘I got it Jimin-ah’ Jin said gently, moving him away from the door so that he could pull it open. Jimin let him do it with a broken noise leaving his lips.

The second the door was open Jin took Jimin’s hand and pulled him through to get him out of that room as fast as possible.

The others followed close behind them.

Jin helped Jimin get up from the forest floor where he landed after falling into this dimension. He was shaking but the tears on his cheeks were drying slowly no longer replaced by fresh ones.

The rest of their friends tumbled in behind them and were now dusting themselves of. They looked around, but before any of them had the time to figure out where they were Yoongi spoke up.

‘We need to move’ he said already walking. ‘It’s dangerous here.’

That meant they were in Yoongi’s world. The one with the monster.

It was no wonder that Yoongi wanted them out of there as soon as possible, if not the cult then the monster could find and kill them at any given moment.

They moved through the forest quietly. No one dared to say anything lest they attract the monster. Yoongi took the lead, showing them the way without hesitation. The only sound following them was the leaves crunching under their feet and the wind howling in the treetops.

Suddenly they heard a familiar roar.

The monster had found them.

They didn’t have time to do or say anything to each other before the monster burst through the trees and ran straight into the middle of their group.

They scattered, everyone went in a different direction trying to avoid its claws and teeth, to get away.

‘I see it!’ Namjoon shouted suddenly, pointing in a seemingly random direction. Jin had to duck to avoid getting slashed by the monster’s claws before he could see what the other had found.

There, in the distance was a house. The same one where Yoongi had hid from the monster before. If the same pattern continued, that should be their way out of here. The only problem was the monster chasing them around, standing between them and freedom.

It was playing with them Jin realized. It kept herding them into groups and pushing them away from the house, only to suddenly change direction and run straight in the middle of their group scattering them around.

But there was still only so much it could do. It didn’t take long for Namjoon to slip through and reach the house. He stopped next to the window to wait for his friends.

Yoongi was the next one to make it through and he silently pointed to Namjoon to help him get the window open. It would be their way out.

Jungkook had made a run for it, but he didn’t time it right and the monster would have caught him if it wasn’t for Jimin and Taehyung who started yelling to get the monster’s attention. It gave both Jin and Jungkook the opening to reach the window as well.

Now however both Jimin and Tae were stuck. The monster kept guarding the way to the house and they had no way of getting to their friends. They kept running around trying to distract the monster, to outsmart it somehow, but all their efforts were in vain.

Jin watched with growing horror as the two of them started to get tired. They were running slower now, avoiding the teeth and claws more narrowly each time. The monster seemed to realize it too as it started purring in anticipation of its next meal.

Then out of nowhere a stick flew through the air and hit the monster straight in the head.

Everyone, even the monster froze for a moment before their eyes moved in the direction the stick had come from.

There, a small distance away stood Yoongi. Yoongi who was afraid of the monster the most, even if he would never admit it out loud. Yoongi who still woke up in the middle of the night plagued by nightmares about the creature that almost killed him, that pretended to be his friend and terrorized him for weeks, the same monster that now stood before him.

Jin didn’t even realize that Yoongi had broken away from their group. He was too focused on Jimin and Taehyung.

Yoongi threw another stick at the monster nailing it in the head again even though his hands were shaking.

‘I’m here you big bastard!’ he shouted. ‘Come and get me!’ he didn’t wait. He quickly turned on his heels and ran.

The monster followed after him, abandoning its previous post and allowing Jimin and Taehyung to reach the house as well.

‘We need to go’ Namjoon said ushering Jungkook to climb through the window. The younger hesitated and all eyes turned to Namjoon in disbelief. An unspoken question hung in the air.

What about Yoongi?

‘Yoongi-hyung knows what he’s doing’ Namjoon explained. ‘He has a plan, but for it to work we need to go through.’

Jungkook looked back at the rest of his friends looking for confirmation, when he caught Jin’s eyes he nodded, he trusted Namjoon and he trusted Yoongi.

That was everything Jungkook needed, with Namjoon’s help he climbed through the widow and disappeared. Hobi, Jimin and Taehyung followed after him and then it was just Namjoon and Jin left.

They looked at each other and there seemed to be a mutual understanding between them. The youngest ones were safe, but they would not leave without Yoongi. They were going to wait for him.

They heard a rustling, first it was far away but it kept getting closer. Both Namjoon and Jin braced themselves. If it was Yoongi coming back the monster was probably still hot on his heels.

But instead of Yoongi it was the cult that emerged from the trees. They had finally managed to catch up to them.

Jin froze when he saw them and he felt panic rising inside him when the leader pointed at them and said something to his followers. They started moving towards them but Jin stayed glued in one place. He didn’t know what to do. The cult was there, they needed to run, but they couldn’t leave without Yoongi.

He chanced a glance at Namjoon but he seemed to be just as torn as Jin was.

At that moment Yoongi burst through the threes with the monster right behind him.

‘GO!’ he shouted breaking Jin and Namjoon out of their stupor.

The cult on the other hand froze upon seeing the monster. They stopped in their tracks, but Jin and Namjoon didn’t wait.

Jin helped Namjoon climb through the window and he himself stayed perched on the windowsill ready to pull Yoongi through.

The moment Yoongi was close enough Jin reached his hand out and pulled them both through seconds before the monsters claws could catch them.

Jin and Yoongi fell through and tumbled to the floor back in the safe Vestibule. They made a whole circle. In seconds they were back on their feet surrounded by their friends.

‘We need to go’ Jin said. ‘The cult will be here any moment.’

‘Go where Hyung?’ Namjoon asked looking somewhat resigned. ‘You came through the door to the dimensions. The only way now is through the door back home, but it’s locked’ he said shaking his head.

Jin felt his heart drop. This couldn’t be happening. Not again. He was so sick and tired of being so close to making it out only to have it be ripped away from him. He felt anger rise inside him. He was not going to just sit and wait for the cult to catch them. He was not going to just sit here quietly and die.

‘We need to try’ he got out through gritted teeth before he made his way to the door back to the real world.

Later on Jin wasn’t sure what he expected to happen when he took hold of the door handle. He couldn’t explain what he was thinking, but at that moment he was so angry that he pushed the doorknob down with much more force than necessary.

He expected nothing to happen but at that moment the door opened. Jin looked at it stunned. He heard his friends’ startled gasps as they looked at the open path that led back home.

Slowly, almost reverently they gathered around the door and looked through. They couldn’t see what was on the other side, just a gentle light coming through. They looked at each other in disbelief, before they heard a sound behind them.

The door to the dimensions had opened behind them and one by one the cultists were making their way to the Vestibule.

‘Stop them!’ one of them shouted and that was all that Jin and his friends needed. They didn’t wait. Didn’t give the cult a chance to catch and stop them. One by one they made their way through the door.

Yoongi was the last one to go through and right before he did he turned around. He took in the sight of the cult reaching towards him in a vain attempt to stop him. He allowed himself that small moment of satisfaction.

His friends weren’t the type to hold grudges, but not Yoongi. He did. He remembered every small little thing, every bruise, every cut on his friends. He remembered every nightmare, every distant look as they relived the horrible things that happened to them here.

He remembered and late at night, when he couldn't sleep he wondered how to make the cult pay for all of them.

Yoongi took one last look at it all, at the Vestibule, the door leading back to the dimensions, at the cult and he dropped the lit lighter he stole from one of the worlds.

He watched for just a second as the floor caught on fire as if it was made out of paper, creating a barrier of flames between him and the cult and stepped backwards through the door.

When Yoongi opened his eyes they were back in the room where the cult had taken them for the ritual. Jin and his friends watched as the door leading to the Vestibule went up in flames forever closing the only entrance to the dimensions and trapping the cult in the world where they had put countless others, leaving them for dead.

At that moment Jin understood what the words The sacrifice must be completed meant. The worlds needed the sacrifice. They were promised seven souls by the cult and no one could leave until they had gotten them.

In the end it didn’t matter whose souls they were.

As Jin watched the flames go up and up he finally let himself relax. They made it. They were back.

It was finally over.

Jimin and Taehyung were running around, chasing and throwing wet sand at each other whenever they had the chance. They were laughing so much that they could barely catch their breath. Jungkook stood knee deep in the sea and was showing a cool seashell he found to Hobi who decided to build a sandcastle on the shore. Namjoon and Yoongi sat on the sand watching them and soaking in the last rays of the setting sun.

The scene was serene and Jin couldn’t help but marveled at how far they’ve come.

After they made it out of the cult’s hideout they thought that everything would just go back to normal, but life was never that easy. The dimensions left scars on them, both physical and mental and going back to normal life proved to be much more challenging than they thought.

The nightmares didn’t disappear immediately and the experience was so unbelievable that they couldn’t share it with anybody.

But they stuck through all the struggles together, helpinging each other however they could and slowly but surely life became good again.

They decided to go back to the seaside before the summer ended. They wanted to rewrite all the bad memories from last time and maybe finally put it all behind them.

It turned out to be an amazing idea. Seeing his friends so free, enjoying themselves, just playing around without a care in a world was all that Jin could ever ask for. He felt more content than he had in a long while.

At that moment he knew that they would be just fine.

So when Jimin turned to him and called him over he didn’t hesitate. Jin lowered his camera and ran to join his friends.