Chapter Text
Seoul , South Korea 10:42 Local Time, December 23th, 2017
Outside Hyochang Stadium.
There they were, the seven boys, known as BTS, aged 20 to 24, in a rare moment outside without security holding back their ARMYs. Taehung examines his surroundings, as the rest of them seem to be looking for somewhere to hide. Right, so, we were in our rooms, right? And then... what happened next? He ponders, assembling clues like a detective.
While he was lost in thought, the normal foot traffic of the city around him warped, as many people stopped to watch the pretty man standing right on the corner of the sidewalk, looking at all the signs around him, as if he was a literate newborn. It didn't take long for people to put their jaws back and get out their cellphones. As Taehung connected the dots, K-ARMYs were on their own case, trying to be the first to meet their bias on the street.
Tae ran out of time to think quite quickly, as a bunch of strange looking people came down the street, chanting his name. "Stand back! I don't want to be trampled to death!" He shouted, as they get closer. His heart pounds, scanning the area for a place where he could go to safety. But he found none in this strange place.
Fortunately, the crowd was able to contain their excitement enough to keep Tae from becoming a 2D ex-idol. He pants, trying to get his brain thinking right. "Now, I'll sign your stuff, take those selfies, but first I have a very, very important question." He stared down the fans, looking for something that would prove they heard and understood him. Another pause. "What is the name of this city?"
The ARMYs couldn't understand. They couldn't have prepared for that. One of them finally breaks the awkward silence. "Seoul, of course."
Tae had the shock of 25 people in one body. "Right, right, Uh..." He tried to hide the feeling, but it was simply impossible. "Does anyone have a marker on them, and can someone call the police for me? Thanks in advance."
Everyone had a marker on them, and was ready to hand it to him, and it was very, very clear to him why he's never done this before. He sighed, and tried to make good on his promise.
BTS residence, RM's studio
RM scrolled through Twitter, mind not ready to start concentrating on the 2018 album. But something was clearly wrong. All these photos of V doing a meetup, on a sidewalk, when that's clearly not possible. He opens a few tabs, each one a picture of this "Kim Taehung". Nothing looked edited at all, even the signature looked perfect. He took a sip of tea, as he tried to clarify where his intuition that something was wrong came from.
Then, it hit him. "That's not how you write the letter V, that's an L. There's also that part with his question about where he is, and that flash of light earlier..." He talked to himself. "... I think I have a hypothesis. I just..." He grabs his phone. "...Have to test it."
He dialed up his security contact, and waited, putting the last pieces into place.
"Hello, Big Hit Security, creeps again?" The voice on the other line asked.
"No. You know where the Taehung who's exploding on Twitter is? Send a van down, spare seating for 7, and pick him up and his pals, bring them to the dance studio." RM asked, confident.
The other end sounds baffled. "Aren't they just an imitator? And why 7 seats for one person?"
"It's not one person. Go quickly." RM urged. "Got it?"
"Yes sir." Then RM hung up. "This is going to be an interesting chat."
Outside Hyochang Stadium.
Tae's hand was getting tired. So many signatures. Suddenly, he hears the sound of a van, with Big Hit Entertainment written on it. Wait... That name... It's almost like our company, Chart Topper Studios. "ARMYs, back off. My ride has arrived." He said, almost sounding like something wasn't terribly wrong. "Everyone else, unhide yourselves."
The rest of BTS jumped the gate they were hiding behind, leading to an uproar from the fans that they want to do all that they were doing over again with each and every member. Tae held them back, however.
The van opened the doors, and the very confused driver tells them to get in, which Tae repeats to the rest of the members, who confusedly pile in. The doors close, and the van takes off, with everyone inside finding it hard to do more than stare.
Yoongi finally spoke. "Wait, why did we jump into a van with strangers? Where are we? What happened? Taehyung, would you mind explaining?"
Taehyung sighed. "You won't believe me yet. But it will soon be clear."
Namjoon clutched his head. "L, you're confusing me... why do you talk in riddles sometimes?"
Taehyung patted Namjoon on the back. "Don't worry. You'll get it soon enough."
Hoseok grumbled. "This is why you don't wake me before noon on weekends..."
Jimin rolled his eyes. "You're really J-Mope today, aren't you? Better that you woke up in your room rather than on the sidewalk."
Hoseok was too tired to show much emotion. "I wasn't given that name for no reason. Any idea how much longer?"
Tae was staring out the window. "Nope. I think it's probably not long enough to take a nap, though."
Jin seemed to more be staring at his reflection in the window. "I wonder who that 'worldwide handsome' person they were talking about was. Sounds almost like something I'd say."
The van came to a stop, but the doors don't open. The driver said "We're waiting for RM to show up."
Namjoon's eyes light up. "But I'm right here, and I'm DM... Oh, wait..."
Tae almost jumped. "Formerly known as Rap Monster? Real name Kim Namjoon?"
The driver didn't understand the excitement. "Uh... Yes?"
Tae smiled. "I think I understand what's happening now."
The doors opened, and the 7 men are brought up into the Big Hit dance practice room. Then, RM entered. "It looks like I'm right."
Tae walked over and held out his hand. "L. Real name Kim Taehyung. It looks like we both came to the same conclusion."
RM smiled, and got two folding chairs. "Mind if I call you L? I have another Kim Taehyung I know in my group, BTS. And... It looks like you have your own Kim Namjoon."
L shook his head. "No, It's fine." He sat down. "Your group is also called BTS? Behind the Scenes? 7 members, 4 rappers, 3 vocalists?"
RM sat down and shook his head. "No, I mean, it stands for many things, but not that. The closest is Beyond the Scene. And 3 rappers, 4 vocalists. Now, tell me, why were you in shock that you were in Seoul?"
Oops. That was all L could think as he heard the question. "Well, isn't that the capital of South Korea? The rogue nuclear state? This doesn't look a thing like that."
RM looked surprised, but not as much as you would expect. "Here, in this world, that's North Korea. So, I'm guessing as we're based out of Seoul, you're based out of Pyongyang?"
L nodded, confident he's getting somewhere. "Indeed. Just did a video for the city. We should all formally meet. Perhaps even stay over at your place?"
RM sighed, content. "Before that, quick question, what does L stand for?"
L smirked. "Leader, or Loser. I'm going to guess yours goes by V?"
"You're pretty smart, aren't you."
12:15, local time, BTS Residence, main lobby.
"So, we're supposed to wait here? Why would this be more important than the 2018 album?" Suga grumbled.
V held a smile. "It won't be long till Rapmon... I mean, RM, gets back."
And then, as L went through the door, V dropped the smile and his jaw. "Wait, what? Who are you?"
L looked his alternate universe counterpart all over. "You, but my stage name is L, and I'm also from another, quite different universe."
Jungkook (the one from our world, which I will call "Jung" from now on) was shook by this. And proceeded to become more shook when Kook (the one from the parallel universe) came in. "You look like me from 4 years ago." Kook says.
Eventually, RM and the rest of Behind the Scenes came in. RM and L sat everyone so that their alternate universe counterpart was sitting across from them, and then the leaders sat down.
Suga was particularly confused by his counterpart, Sugar. Sugar confused him, and reminded him of J-Hope, whereas J-Mope was thinking the same thing about his counterpart.
Everyone knew this was going to be a long day, and perhaps an even longer night.