Chapter Text
“Hyung, don't you think you bought too many stuff?” a blond guy named Jungkook asks, walking beside his friend, who almost disappears behind the amount of shopping bags he's carrying. They stop in front of the elevator doors.
“Nope” Taehyung confidently answers, managing to press the call button for the elevator. Jungkook starts helping the brown-haired man with his bags, putting them on the floor as they wait “It's therapeutic, I'm saving thousands of wons for therapy sessions.”
“Look, as long as I can see, you're literally NOT saving money here” the blond snorts, pointing to the bags.
“Okay, okay, if this makes you feel better, next time I'll hold myself back, promise. Is Kookie happy now?”
”Mmmmm... Okay, I'll let it pass. And it's only because I like seeing you in such a good mood, hyung.”
Because the blond is well aware of his friend's bad luck in love. It's like the boy has a magnet for bastards, he always finds guys that cheat on him, or don't take care of him, or cheat on him, or are toxic, or cheat on him or... Or they cheat on him. So if his friend can do catharsis by squeezing all the money out of his credit card, he will not object.
“Thanks Kookie, you always support me” he awkwardly leans over the bags, to give the younger a quick hug.
The elevator doors open. Jungkook helps Taehyung to take the bags inside the elevator.
“Wanna stay? We can watch a movie” the brown haired guy asks, taking the last bags and entering the elevator.
“No hyungie, thanks. I had a workout session this morning, and now I rather go home and rest a little.”
“But you need a reward for dealing with my unbearable ass for two long hours” the man quickly glances over the bags, finds the one he is looking for, takes it and gives it to his friend “Here, I know this T-shirt will look much better on you.”
These friends smile to each other, Jungkook thanks him for the gift and waves just a second before the doors close in front of him.
A couple minutes after, the brown haired man is inside his apartment, sitting on the ground and checking the content in each and every bag, even though he knows perfectly what's inside every one of them.
He's so into it, until...
“The asparagus...” Tae jumps. It sound like a man “Spices... Put it on boiled wat... Omato sauce...”
He stands up carefully, trying to perceive where does that voice come from. He walks in a random direction, and the voice becomes clearer.
“Yes mom, but I don't like it, I rather put asparagus on it... Yeah... And now I have to...? Ohhhhh, yeah, yeah, after it boils, got it.”
The brown haired man freezes in the middle of his living room, listening.
“I think it's done, yeah. Thanks mom! Gotta go now, tell dad I said hi... Me too, a lot... Bye.”
Silence. That was definitely a guy having a phone call about cooking with his mom. Tae leans towards the kitchen, but he doesn't see anyone. Where does that voice came from then?
Suddenly, a brunette man appears like by magic, just some feet beside him. His first reaction is screaming, and the intruder screams too because he is surprised.
“Who are you?? What you doing in my apartment?? Thief! I'mma call the police” as he talks, Tae takes the broom with trembling hands, and he threatens the stranger with it.
“What? I was just about to ask you the same, because this is MY apartment.”
“You gotta be kidding me” he quickly puts his hand inside his pocket and takes out his keys, shaking them in front of him “If this ain't my apartment, then tell me why do I have this.”
“I have this too” the strange seems to lean over a table, and takes some keys, shaking them just like Tae did a moment ago “That doesn't prove a thing, boy.”
Tae doesn't answer. He is speechless because when the man leaned to take his keys, half of his body disappeared for a second. It's the most terrifying thing he has ever seen.
And things become scarier when he notices the stranger's body is kinda transparent.
“You are... A ghost?” the young man hugs the broom and grumbles “Ugh, I bought a haunted apartment, damn it!”
“I'm not a ghost, stop saying that, it's scary” suddenly the man stops talking and stares at Tae tilting his head “Hey, now that I watch carefully, you could be the ghost. I can see through your body.”
“It's exactly how I can see you” the brown-haired man is about to threaten the stranger again with the broom, but he realizes how ridiculous that would be. Whether the man is or isn't a ghost, the broom would probably pass through him. He puts it aside, eyes fixed in the stranger the whole time.
“I've read a theory a long time ago, and it says we don't notice the moment we die. We go on like nothing happened, until we realize people don't answer to us, as if we're not there.”
“I just talked to a friend in the lobby, I can't be dead.”
“And I talked to my mom on the phone. Okay, theory debunked” the man stops talking and looks around him with a confused face “You... Are you seeing what I see?”
And just then, Tae notices it. The walls seem to be alive, as if they were different strokes in a painting, and the strokes move backward or forward everytime he walks in the living room. At first he sees his brown walls, but when he steps towards the man, the color slowly changes into a pretty shade of blue, and some pictures and decorations he has never seen before appear too.
He takes one more step, and it feels like he teleported to that man's apartment.
“What is this?” Taehyung steps backward, scared. He stomps his back against the wall, finding again the familiar environment of his apartment.
“Wait, calm down, there's no reason to be scared” it's like instinctively the man detected the fear inside the brown-haired man, because his voice become soft, the kind of voice used with a baby or a toddler “I'm not gonna hurt you. You gonna hurt me?”
“N-no.”
“Then we'll figure out what's happening here. For now, I want to know your name if you're okay with it.”
The brown-haired man takes a deep breath. That voice really made him feel more relaxed.
“Kim Taehyung.”
“Kim Taehyung. Nice to meet you, I'm Kim Seokjin.”
Once they don't feel uncomfortable anymore in each other's presence, they decide to find out what's happening. They do a research on internet, and Tae quickly finds a specialist in esoterics named Jimin, who lives in the same city. He asks him to come over, and the man says he'll be there in about an hour, so Tae rushes to take all of the shopping bags to his bedroom.
“Oh you a shopaholic” Seokjin comments out of the blue.
“I'm not a shopaholic, it's just... I don't know, there were some nice things at the mall and... Hey, why do I have to explain anything to you? We met like twenty minutes ago.”
“Okay, okay, keep taking your little bags with you” Jin finished the topic, noticing how awkward was the man.
In a while, there are knocks at Tae's apartment door. The brown-haired man goes quickly to open it.
“Good afternoon, I'm Jimin” it's a man, a little shorter than him, brown-haired, dressed in synthetic clothes. It's about his same age.
“Thanks for coming so quickly, I'm Taehyung. Come in” Tae decides to talk informally to him, because they're the same generation. He closes the door and turn to the newcomer.
Jimin takes three steps and stops in his tracks, looking around him. Taehyung notices it.
“I know why you summoned me here” Jimin says “I can feel it, it's a pretty strong presence. Did you talk to him? Or did you see him?”
“Yes, I'm able to see him, and we talked a little too.”
“Did he say his name?”
“Seokjin” Tae answers “Kim Seokjin, that's what he told me his name is.”
The man takes gentle and slow steps around the place, feeling the energy, massaging his scalp for concentration, and getting closer and closer to the spot where Jin is.
“He is near me, isn't he? Like... Like over here?” Jimin waves his hand just in front of Jin's face. Jin steps back for instinct.
“Yeah, he's just right there. Are not you able to see him?”
“No, but that's normal. Your dimensions are intersected on this point, and just you two are able to see each other” Jimin explains.
“Ask him to explain again with more details” Seokjin says.
“Okay. Seokjin asks if you could explain that again with more details. Actually I need it too.”
“Of course. Uhmmm...” Jimin spots a marker pen and some papers on a shelf “Can I use this?”
“Yeah, sure” Tae allows.
Jimin takes one of the papers. He draws an arrow pointing to the right.
“The arrow represents your reality... Or Seokjin's reality, or a random third one. It doesn't matter, we're just using it as a reference.”
He starts drawing another arrows near the first one, all of them parallels, pointing to the right too.
“Around that one, there is an infinity of other realities, and they can be similar or very different from the first one, depending on how close they are to each other, even though all of them move in the same direction: forward. All of us live in that infinity of realities in a split way, but there is always one that is dominant.”
“I'm not getting the last part, sorry” Tae says, sitting on the floor.
“I didn't understand since the beggining though” Jin laughs, but only Tae is able to hear him.
“It's not that hard. Look, you live in all realities around yours, but on a tiny, little percentage. The dominant one is here, where you and I are talking. Tell me, have you heard about the 'Mandela effect' and the 'déjà vus'?”
“Yeah, I did” Tae answers, nodding.
“Well, that happens when you connect with a Taehyung from other dimension for an instant. No, actually you kinda transport to that reality for a split second, because that other Taehyung is still you.”
Tae and Jin nod in silence, starting to process the young man's words.
“The world is made up of something tangible and something intangible, that is, something that can be touched and something that can not be touched. The physical space is always the same, our bodies, this apartment, the building, the city, Korea, planet Earth, blablabla, that's tangible because it's matter. The realities are intangible. They are not matter, but energy, they're dynamic, they move, they change... Or they intersect too, like here and now.”
“And why does this happen?”
“Well, there are several reasons. Usually it happens when two realities are very, very close to each other. It looks like this spot between your living room and your kitchen is the point of connection with Seokjin's reality.”
Tae signals Jimin to stop talking for a moment, because Jin is frantically raising his hand, like a student in school.
“What happen?” Tae asks him.
“Please ask him if there's a Seokjin in your dimension and a Taehyung in mine” Jin says, and Tae nods.
“Seokjin says if there is a version of himself in my reality, and a version of myself in his reality.”
“Yes indeed. And you being able to see and listen to each other is not casuality. You two were meant to...”
Jimin stops in his tracks, and looks at Tae. He can also feel Seokjin's interest without being able to see him.
“I... I was... N-nevermind” he awkwardly laughs “Well, the spots interdimensionals are rare, but generally the don't last long before closing again. A lot of people lives their whole life having random contacts with other realities, so you'll be alright, just try to get along with him. The guy isn't bad, is he?”
Jimin is just asking because he wants to listen to Tae's answer. He can feel Seokjin's whole energy, and he knows the man is a good soul.
“No, not at all” actually Seokjin is the nicest guy he has ever met. And he can not deny he is also beyond handsome.
”Then everything will be okay. If this is a temporal connection, it will end sooner or later. For now, try to get along with your new roommate.”
“Thank you so, so much, Jimin-ssi, how much?” Tae asks, taking out his wallet.
“Oh, don't worry about money.”
“But... But you came here, you solved all of our doubts, letting you go now without a payment is not right.”
“I'm serious, don't worry, coming here was not big deal. I only get money from those insecure persons that come to my consulting room asking for a guide. I tell them exactly what they wanna hear, and I let them go with a new good energy and confidence, what I do is just a motivation, because the real power is inside of them, I really do nothing at all” Jimin smiles.
“Okay” the brown-haired chuckles “Again, thank you so much.”
“Anytime” Tae opens the door for him “Bye, Seokjin-ssi!”
“Bye” the black-haired says back, yet knowing he can not listen.
They're alone now. Taehyung walks slowly to Seokjin. He isn't afraid anymore, and instead he is full of curiosity.
He stands in front of him, in that spot where their realities kinda merge together. He raises his hand slowly and tries to touch Seokjin's face, but he steps back.
“Stay still, pabo. I can't hurt you, I don't even want to” Tae scolds, and tries to touch Jin's cheek again.
And just as expected, his fingers go through the young man's body. They feel little shivers for that 'contact'. Tae pulls his hand back.
“This is by far the weirdest thing that ever happened to me” Seokjin murmurs, staring deeply into that face in front of him. He is no doubt a handsome guy.
“What? Having a guy sticking his fingers in your face?” Taehyung jokes, making Seokjin laugh a little.
“Pabo” Jin says, still chuckling.