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It was the beginning of October which meant that Halloween was rapidly approaching. And Jimin, Jeongguk and Taehyung had yet to find costumes or well… agree on a concept. They had wanted to get matching costumes but turns out it’s much easier to come up with couple costumes than with ‘triple costumes’.
“Okay, but what’s so wrong with Harry Potter? Even if we don’t do the Golden Trio there are still so many characters we can choose,” Jimin suggested, huffing when his boyfriends didn’t look very enthusiastic about the idea. “Oh, come on, I’d make a mean Draco Malfoy.”
“I just-“ Taehyung made a face. “It’s so stereotypical. No matter where we go, we’ll probably see so many Hogwarts students. I mean, we won’t come up with something extremely unique but…” He shrugged and Jimin sighed.
“How about Alvin and the Chipmunks?” Jeongguk asked from where he was munching nachos on the sofa. Jimin and Taehyung shared a look.
“Who of us would be the fat one?” Taehyung asked him.
“There’s no- You wouldn’t be the ‘fat one’ just the one in the green hoodie,” Jeongguk replied quickly.
Jimin raised an eyebrow. “So you’re saying one of us would be the fat one? Which one is it? Which one of us is fat?”
When Jeongguk struggled to find a reply, Taehyung laughed quietly. “You can’t win this argument, Gguk.”
“But I didn’t mean that you guys are fat, you know I don’t think that.” Jeongguk looked at them with a painful expression on his face. Jimin sighed and leaned down to peck him on the lips.
“I know, baby, I’m sorry I blew up like that. Let’s decide on a costume concept some other time.” Both Taehyung and Jimin sat down on either side of Jeongguk as he opened Netflix on their TV. “What are we gonna watch tonight?”
“Shutter Island?” Jeongguk asked, pouting at his boyfriends.
“Didn’t we watch that a few weeks back?”
“Yeah, but it gets better the more often you watch it.” With big eyes, he first looked at Jimin and then Taehyung. “Pretty please?”
Taehyung sighed, cuddling into Jeongguk’s side. “Alright, Shutter Island it is then.”
✦
It took the three boys a few days of suggesting costume ideas until they were able to agree on a concept.
“Powerpuff Girls?” Taehyung raised an eyebrow at Jimin, as he considered the elder’s idea.
“We wouldn’t wear dresses but we’d keep the colour schemes - pink, blue and green. And we could make it spooky with some blood or something,” Jimin eagerly explained, grinning at his boyfriends. He was immensely proud of the idea.
“That sounds really cool, honestly,” Jeongguk said, before shoving a spoonful of rice into his mouth. “I call dibs on Buttercup, though.”
“Of course, you do.” Jimin laughed and put another piece of meat into Jeongguk’s bowl, before doing the same for Taehyung. “Sunshine, would you mind if I call dibs on Bubbles?”
Taehyung smiled at his boyfriend. “Nah, I like Blossom best anyway.”
“Honestly, I think it’s gonna be too stressful if we try to find matching outfits,” Jeongguk said. “Can’t we all look for an outfit in our colour and then surprise each other? We can still do each other’s makeup and stuff because I’m shit at wounds or blood.”
“Oh my god, I’d love that,” Taehyung replied, cooing before kissing Jeongguk’s cheek. “We can all make ourselves pretty and surprise each other.”
“Where are we planning to go anyway? Have we decided on a party yet?” Jimin looked at his boyfriends questioningly. Jeongguk just shrugged.
“I don’t think we have a party yet,” Taehyung said, before getting his phone out of his pocket. “But Jin hyung messaged me and asked if we wanted to go ghost hunting with him and Joon hyung? Apparently, he found this haunted house on some website and told the owner he was a paranormal investigator or something.”
“Are you saying we can make our own version of Buzzfeed unsolved?” Jeongguk asked excitedly. “That’s so cool! I always wanted to go to a real haunted house.”
“I guess it could be fun,” Jimin agreed. “We could ask Hoseok hyung and Yoongi hyung to join? It’s been some time since we all hung out.”
✦
“Oh my god,” Taehyung gasped as he stepped out of his art studio where he put his costume on and looked at his boyfriends already waiting for him in the living room. “I really am the luckiest guy, huh?”
Grinning Jimin put his hands on his hips. “You kind of are.” Since Bubbles’ colour was blue, he had put on a light blue cropped hoodie and a pair of black leggings. He had also tried tying up his blonde hair into two pigtails even though it wasn’t nearly long enough for that.
“Well, you look amazing, kitten.” Taehyung kissed Jimin’s cheek before wrapping his arms around Jeongguk’s hips. The youngest was wearing a bright green t-shirt over a black longsleeved mesh shirt with his favourite pair of black cargo pants – it was also Taehyung and Jimin’s favourite pants on him. “You really made yourself pretty for us, baby.”
“Oh shut up.” Jeongguk laughed. “Look at yourself in your fancy shirt.” Taehyung had indeed put on a pink dress shirt and tucked it into a black pair of jeans. He was also wearing a hairband with a big red bow on it, so people would actually recognize him as Blossom.
“I’m cute, aren’t I?” Taehyung squished his own cheeks and pouted at his boyfriends.
Jimin rolled his eyes in amusement and pinched Taehyung’s side. “Yeah, yeah, now let’s get ourselves bloody.”
✦
“You’re late,” Seokjin said when the triple finally arrived where they had agreed to meet. The sun had already set, so the street in front of the house felt already just a tiny bit spooky.
“We’re not, you’re just early,” Taehyung replied laughing and kissed his brother’s cheek. Seokjin had dressed up as a vampire (like he did almost every Halloween) while his boyfriend Namjoon seemed to be some kind of zombie Harry Potter. The three boyfriends greeted them as well as their best friends Hoseok, dressed up as the devil, and Yoongi, the matching angel, before Taehyung clapped his hands together. “So, hyung, how did you even get the keys to this haunted house thing?”
Seokjin grinned mischievously. “Well, I was looking for places to go to on Halloween and I felt like these typical places where people scare you… they just seemed too boring. So Namjoon came up with the idea that we could visit actual haunted places.”
“Because ghosts don’t exist,” Namjoon added, shaking his head.
The elder rolled his eyes. “Whatever. So I googled around and I found this place! I met up with the owner and I told her we were paranormal investigators and we just wanted to experience the activity in that house.”
Jimin frowned in confusion. “And she just? Gave you the keys? Isn’t she afraid we’ll burn the place down or something?”
“Listen, no one even dares to step inside this house anymore. She’d be thankful if it finally burns down.”
“Oh, wow I can't wait to get in then,” Hoseok mumbled, his arms already wrapping around Yoongi from behind.
“Yes, let’s go.” Excited Seokjin grinned at the others and started walking towards the front door of the house to unlock it. The rest followed him, some more apprehensive than the others.
With big eyes, everyone looked around as they stepped into the small foyer of the house. It seemed so normal. It was still furnished and even though no one had lived here for ages, it looked very lively. The only difference was that it was cold and dark inside.
“I brought a few flashlights for everyone,” Namjoon said and handed the flashlights out. Hoseok’s grip on his seemed to be a little tighter.
“And now?” Jeongguk raised an eyebrow, looking at his friends expectantly.
“How about we go sit down in the living room and I’ll tell you about what happened here?” It was phrased as a suggestion but Seokjin was already entering the living room and sitting down on the carpet, so it seemed like they didn’t have much of a choice.
“Here we go,” Jimin mumbled quietly and leaned against Jeongguk’s side, as Seokjin dramatically cleared his throat.
“This house was built at some point during the 19th century and ever since then, weird stuff has been happening here. The first family to mention the paranormal activity was the Son family. They had a little boy who was around seven years old and who had told his parents that he oftentimes saw a little girl playing in his room at night. Now you may think, he's young and kids sometimes have imaginary friends. But one night the mother woke up in the middle of the night to a young girl standing next to the bed, staring at her. She had long braided hair and wore a frilly dress with ribbons. The next morning she asked her son to describe the girl he’s been seeing and he described exactly the same girl. He had never before talked about what she looked like and his mother hadn’t mentioned anything beforehand. After they both kept seeing that little girl, the family was so freaked out that they decided to move out.” Seokjin made a dramatic pause. “But after that everything just got a tad bit more mysterious. A perfectly healthy young woman was found dead right where we are sitting right now. During the weeks before, she had mentioned that it felt like someone was watching her in the house and that it seemed like someone was breathing down her neck. Doctors say she died of a heart attack but…”
“Oh God, the little girl killed her,” Jimin gasped, eyes wide. Jeongguk next to him snorted quietly and nudged his boyfriend.
“You scared now?” He asked teasingly and kissed the elder’s cheek when he started sputtering. “Didn’t you say at home that you don’t believe in ghosts?”
“Well-“
“Technically,” Seokjin interrupted the two of them. “Since there is no record of a little girl dying on this property, it is more likely that this is the work of a demon. Demons often times choose to show themselves in a form that’s not threatening but more innocent, for example, a child.”
Namjoon rolled his eyes at his boyfriend while Hoseok whined quietly. “Demons, great,” the dancer huffed. “Why did I ever agree to this? We’re gonna make this demon angry and then it’s gonna kill us.”
Taehyung laughed. “As if. Hyung, continue the story please.”
“As I said the little girl was most probably a demon but there is a chance we might encounter the ghosts of that young woman and the ghosts of two little boys who fell upstairs out of a window. Both times the parents were sure that the kids must’ve been pushed or pulled outside by a force.”
“God, this is so spooky, I love it,” Taehyung giggled and leaned against Jimin, who was still holding onto Jeongguk.
“The last family who lived here experienced something a little different, though. One night the mother of the family was laying on her bed with her dog on top of her when suddenly the dog was being lifted and thrown against a wall. That obviously spooked the hell out of them but just a few weeks later they brought their baby to bed and when they came back upstairs after an hour, someone or something had switched on the light again. And get this, the baby’s stuffed animals had all been arranged in a circle in the middle of the room. No one but the parents and the baby had been at home. The windows were closed and the front door locked. No one could’ve come in and moved the stuffed animals.”
Everyone stayed quiet for a few moments, taking in the atmosphere of this obviously strange house. When Seokjin got bored with the silence, he clapped in his hands, making Hoseok, Jimin and Yoongi jump slightly.
“Listen, I know some of you don’t want to but it’s time to speak to this demon. I’m too lazy to do a proper séance with candles and shit, but honestly, it seems like the demons and ghosts are so present here that we don’t need to.”
“Demon! Demoooon!” Jeongguk shouted into the room, trying not to choke on his laughter. “Show yourself!”
“Shut up,” Jimin laughed and hit his arm while Taehyung couldn’t stop giggling.
“No, I just wanna talk to the demon-“
“Demon, come and get me!” Taehyung joined in on Jeongguk’s shouts. Seokjin laughed along as he turned his flashlight off and laid it in the middle of their circle.
“I saw this on Buzzfeed Unsolved,” he explained. “Demons can't really talk to us but maybe they can manipulate our surroundings. So. Demon, if you’re here with us, give us a sign, turn on this flashlight.”
Yoongi snorted. “Yeah, sure, demon, go ahead.”
“Jin, do you really think something will happen? How on earth would a demon be able to turn on a flashlight?” Namjoon raised his eyebrows and shook his head.
“Hey, don’t underestimate our dear demon! They threw a dog and moved stuffed animals,” Jimin replied, somehow feeling less scared right now. Yes, the story Seokjin had told had somehow creeped him a little out but he really didn’t believe in ghosts, so he didn’t have anything to be scared about.
“Demooon, if you’re here please turn on the light,” Jeongguk said, grinning at Namjoon as if to challenge him.
“Maybe we’re annoying them.” Jimin giggled. “Turn on the light if you want us gone.” Jimin’s laughter died in his throat and turned into a scream when suddenly the flashlight switched on. Hoseok who was sitting in the beam of light immediately started crawling backwards, shouting curses.
“Fuck!” He let out a low whine. “Fuck, fuck, what was that? Oh my god, someone please have a rational explanation for this.”
“Umm,” Seokjin said, his voice wavering for just a second before he caught himself again. “I guess the demon wants us gone?”
“Hey demon, turn off the light if you want to kill us,” Jeongguk said but before anything could even happen, Yoongi grabbed for the flashlight and turned it off himself.
“I think that’s enough,” he said calmly. “I’m pretty sure, Hoseok pissed his pants.”
“Thanks, hyung, I love you too,” Hoseok mumbled sarcastically and pressed his forehead against Yoongi’s shoulder.
“You guys wanna see the basement?” Seokjin as he already got up from where he had been kneeling on the ground.
“Why what’s there?” Taehyung asked while everyone stood up.
Seokjin winked at him. “A surprise.”
“It’s a corpse, right?” Hoseok said as they walked down the stairs to the basement. He was holding onto Jimin instead of his boyfriend since the two of them seemed to be the only ones truly spooked out. “There’s gonna be a fucking corpse or skeleton down there and I’m gonna be traumatised forever.”
“I sure hope not,” Jimin mumbled to himself but squeezed Hoseok’s hand in his. Taehyung and Jeongguk let out excited shouts from where they had already arrived in the basement. Jimin sighed. “I think I need a pair of new boyfriends.”
Hoseok laughed, even if it sounded a little forced. “I think-“
“Kitten, look,” Taehyung shouted and reached for his boyfriend. “A pentagram! Isn't that cool?”
“Ha, yeah,” Jimin mumbled not very amused over the fact that there was a freaking pentagram on the basement floor – it seemed as if it was burned into the ground.
“The owner told me that it suddenly appeared out of nowhere and that no one had been able to erase it,” Seokjin explained, proud like a father.
Laughing Taehyung stepped right in the middle of the pentagram, his hands cupped around his mouth. “Hey there demons, it’s me, ya boi!”
“Taehyung-“ Jimin protested, but Jeongguk was already pushing their boyfriend out of the pentagram.
“I have a better idea,” the youngest giggled and laid himself down right on the sign.
Jimin buried his face in Hoseok’s neck. “I think I’m gonna throw up.”
Jeongguk turned his flashlight off and put it down next to him. “Here we go! Rock and Roll, buckaroo!”
“Oh my god, stop, you’re out of your mind,” Jimin said, really not enjoying this anymore.
“If you wanna… eat my heart, just turn the light on,” Jeongguk continued, his voice totally serious. “If you wanna eat Jimin and Taehyung’s hearts-“
“Stop,” Jimin immediately complained. “Don’t pull us into-“
“I and my dear boyfriends are a packaged deal, so if you-“ Before Jeongguk could continue his taunting, the light next to him turned on, shining right into Jimin’s face.
That was when the elder lost it. He started screaming, stumbling backwards until he was curled into a corner, pulling Hoseok with him. The two of them were so lost in their own fear that they didn’t even notice Seokjin screaming along.
“Oh my god, hyung, are you scared?” Taehyung asked his brother, his laughter shaking his whole body.
Seokjin snorted and straightened his back. “As if. I was just… practising my screams.”
“Oh come on, even Namjoon and Yoongi are creeped out.” They looked at Namjoon and Yoongi who stared back at them with their eyebrows raised. “I saw them jump, anyway.”
“Well, maybe you should rather pay attention to your boyfriend because I’m sure he’s very close to dumping your asses right now,” Yoongi replied, motioning at Jimin and Hoseok who were still curled up in the corner.
When his boyfriends glanced at him, Jimin frowned right back at them. “I hate you guys.
Jeongguk noticed the tears shining in Jimin’s eyes and immediately sat up. “Hey, kitten, you know I’d never let the demon actually eat your heart.”
“Oh, shut up,” Jimin grumbled and got up. “I’m so done with you both. Are we finished here soon?”
“Well,” Seokjin hesitated. “I actually still wanted to investigate the second floor, if that’s okay?”
Jimin sighed. “Yeah, alright.” He pointed at his boyfriends. “You two will behave, okay? You’re gonna sleep on the couch if you don’t.”
“Yessir,” Taehyung grinned and went to wrap his arms around Jimin’s form. “Sorry for taunting the demon.” He kissed Jimin’s forehead gently.
Together the group of friends went up the stairs again and halted in front of the staircase leading up to the second floor.
“Let’s go up separately, yeah?” Seokjin suggested. “Maybe not alone, but maybe everyone with their boyfriend?”
Jimin softly glared at Jeongguk. “I swear to god if you pull the ‘eat my heart’ shit again, I will murder you.”
The younger laughed quietly. “I won’t. I’d rather cuddle you tonight.”
“You better,” Jimin huffed.
“Let’s go first then, shall we?” Taehyung looked questioningly at his boyfriends. When Jimin hesitated, he smiled gently. “If we go first you won't have to dread it while the others are upstairs.”
“That’s true.” Jimin sighed. “Okay, let’s get this over with.” The three boys walked slowly up the stairs but when they arrived in the hallway upstairs, Jimin stopped his fingers clawing into his boyfriends’ arms.
“What’s wrong?”
“Listen.” Jimin took a deep breath, trying not to look at their surroundings. “I know this is fun for you guys but I am legitimately scared. So I really need you to not make fun of me or anything.”
“Yeah, of course,” Jeongguk mumbled.
“And I really don’t wanna be here. Spirits or not, people have died here and that freaks me out so could we just- God, I don’t even know.”
“How about-“ Taehyung wrapped his arms around Jimin from behind and pulled him against his chest. “I hold you like this and then you can grab Jeongguk the same way. His heart is already being eaten, so he can walk in front.” Jeongguk voluntarily took Jimin’s arms in his hands and wrapped them around himself.
As Jimin pressed his face against Jeongguk’s back he had to laugh a little. “How are we gonna walk?”
“Like this.” Jeongguk and Taehyung continued to take tiny steps forward, so they ended up moving at a very slow pace. “And just like this, we’ll go through the rooms.”
“I know you don’t want me saying this but it is kinda cool,” Jeongguk said amused as they stepped into the first room (one of the bedrooms). One of his hands was placed over Jimin’s while the other one was still holding the flashlight.
“I hate this, I hate this, I hate this,” Jimin mumbled over and over like a mantra. He had his eyes closed and was honestly just hanging onto Jeongguk following him blindly but it was the best he could do.
“I don’t mean to make fun of you, I’m really not,” Jeongguk started off. “But, kitten, nothing is happening. I know the thing with the flashlight was a little spooky but apart from that, it’s really just… a house. It can’t do anything to you. Open your eyes and look around. This is just as spooky as our own apartment in the dark.”
Jimin hesitantly opened his eyes looking around the room, glancing over the bed and the dressers. He smiled against Jeongguk’s back. “Our apartment is probably spookier. Here I’m not in danger of stumbling over your pants.”
“That was one time,” the youngest immediately complained.
“Baby, my foot got caught in the chain on the pants. I almost broke all my bones.”
“Well, it wasn’t my fault that they were laying in the living room.”
“Mine either.” Laughing Jimin looked at Taehyung who busied himself studying the pictures hanging on the wall. The student simply mumbled something along the lines of ‘you should’ve seen him’, before softly kissing Jimin’s nape.
“Sooo,” Jeongguk said quietly. “I think we’re done here. How about we go scare the others?”
“Really?” Jimin huffed quietly. “I’d rather not.”
“Oh come on, it’d be fun,” Taehyung laughed, squeezing Jimin’s waist.
“Let’s just walk to the stairs as quietly as we can and then run down screaming bloody murder,” Jeongguk suggested, already feeling giddy. “Please, I wanna see their faces.”
“Alright,” Jimin mumbled. The three of them let go of each other and quietly snacked to the top of the staircase. They could hear the guys talking to each other quietly. Jeongguk counted to three almost inaudibly before they stormed down the stairs, screaming as if they were being murdered (Jeongguk and Taehyung more so than Jimin).
The reaction was priceless.
While Seokjin immediately started screaming and dived to hide behind his boyfriend, Namjoon too started stumbling backwards, looking around as if he was searching for a weapon to protect himself with.
Even funnier though was probably Hoseok who fell backwards curling into a ball while screaming even louder than Jeongguk and Taehyung had. Yoongi too had let out a scream, though he had raised his fists, ready to punch the demon in the face.
When Hoseok saw that it was only the three boys messing with them, he narrowed his eyes at them. “I hate you guys so much right now.”
✦
“So,” Jeongguk said as he pulled his shirt over his head. “Tonight was fun, huh?”
“Honestly going to Minho’s party after the demons was a little waste of time,” Taehyung said while unbuttoning his shirt. They had already taken their makeup off and brushed their teeth, so they were almost ready for bed. “We had like one drink and danced to maybe two songs?”
“If you thought I’d be able to go back home after that weird-ass house, you’re very delusional, sunshine,” Jimin replied from where he was already laying in their bed, curled up into a ball. “I needed that one drink to forget everything I saw.”
Jeongguk finished taking off his clothes before he crawled into their bed, laying himself over his boyfriend. “You’re not angry at us, are you?”
Jimin huffed as Jeongguk peppered kisses all over his neck and shoulder. “Not any angrier than I am when you leave pants lying around.”
“For what it’s worth, we didn’t mean to upset you,” Taehyung said while putting on his pyjamas. “We didn’t think you’d be so… well, upset.”
“Me neither,” Jimin mumbled and reached out to pull Taehyung into bed as well. “Just… yeah, the flashlights were really scaring me.”
“Well, you don’t have to worry about anything happening to you,” Jeongguk said softly. “I think demons would rather kill Tae and me.”
“You’re saying that as if you dying isn't scary to me.”
“Aw, is that you’re way of telling us, you love us?” Taehyung teased and wrapped his arms around Jimin as well.
The eldest rolled his eyes. “You know I love you both so much.”
Taehyung hummed, kissing Jimin’s temple. “We know. We love you too.”
That night they let Jimin sleep in the middle, all three of them holding onto the others and not letting go. And yeah, maybe Jimin was a little scared of flashlights for the following weeks but in the end, he knew that they’d go on another ghost hunt again the next year. But he didn’t mind. He had two brave boyfriends ready to fight all the demons for him. (and maybe he’d even fight the demons for them too.)