Work Text:
Oh dear,
I stand before you,
Please listen to me,
Please listen to my heart,
The time has come,
It does its thing again,
But my dear,
Oh my dear
I stand before you,
Please wake up,
Please trust me,
This time is an illusion,
It's a bad memory,
It’s pain and agony,
My sweet dear,
Please understand,
Please speak to me,
I stand before you,
With my heart on my sleeves,
With my ache and my tears,
My lovely dear,
I stand before you,
Please look,
Please rouse,
I need you,
As much as you do,
My dear,
Oh my sweet dear,
I stand before you,
Please wake up,
Just please speak up,
Say something,
Even slurs,
That sounds honey from you,
Oh my dear,
What have I done?
I stand before you,
Please forgive me,
Please let me love you,
Because I can see the light,
Let me carry the torch for you,
My sweet dear,
I stand before you,
Please listen to me,
Please listen to my heart,
Oh my dear,
Please love me.
⋆⭒˚｡⋆
The night light burns by Jungkook’s bedside table. The crickets chirp, indicating its deep in the night. The night glimmers with stars, no moon to shine today. Their window stays closed, but the curtains remain ajar. It’s the kind of night that soothes one, yet for another it brings a sense of fear. A sense of longing and a sense of gloom. For Jungkook it’s none. For Jungkook it’s a misery, a curse, an unwanted feeling. For Jungkook nights have become something he has come to abhor. Night should never exist.
Jungkook stays awake, fully aware of what is going to happen. His eyes stay glued to the digital clock, it shows 03:31, just a couple of minutes until everything will go down. Just one twenty seconds and Jungkook will witness the agony of the night again. When it happens Jungkook knows it will kill him again, keep killing him until it doesn’t pass. He knows the feeling by heart now. As if whatever he feels in the day doesn’t even stand a chance to what he feels when the clock strikes those numbers until it passes.
He’s tired.
Rightfully so. But he has no idea how to stop it. He has no idea how to turn this agony into glee. To turn something so hurtful into a feeling that would only bring happiness. He has no idea how to undo this. How to go back. Or how to feel once it's done. He doesn’t know what he has to do in mere minutes when he sees what happens. Or how to be okay the next morning. Or how to count time again until it reaches that awful number.
Or, how to breathe again.
He has no idea.
He is numb, as he watches the clock strike the number, 03:32, he’s just a minute away from decaying. Just a minute away from drowning, the only problem is he can’t wander too far from the shore. Just a minute away from completely losing himself. Just a minute away from becoming nothing but just a small matter in this universe. Just a minute.
Just a minute until he dies.
Just a minute until his husband awakens.
Just a minute.
A single minute.
And their life turns to a living hell.
So, when the clock finally strikes 03:33, Jungkook’s tears fall. Because Taehyung gets up from where he is sleeping on the bed. Jungkook tries to hold his hand, to grab him back to sleep, to hold him until the time passes, to keep holding him for the next eleven minutes. But alas. None of it ever works.
Jungkook watches silently as Taehyung sits up, shoulders sagging, as he starts crying hysterically.
“Jungk-jungkook, please.” Taehyung cries. It’s always the same words. Same lines. Same feelings. Same tears. And the same cries.
“Please-please don’t go. Please.” Jungkook tries to put a hand on his shoulder as a relief, but none of it works. Nothing ever works.
“Please. Please please. Please.” Taehyung begs, and keeps begging. Jungkook is unable to do anything. Anything. So he just watches.
He watches quietly as his husband sobs on his death. As his husband cries until the clock strikes 03:44.
It happens again.
It happens daily.
Taehyung cries for his dead husband from 03:33 to 03:44.
And Jungkook just watches.
Because Jungkook can only watch.
⋆⭒˚｡⋆
Jungkook drags his suitcase through the door. Its wheels squeak lightly. Outside, the sun shines bright, making him squint at the light. Yet he walks ahead, loading the suitcase in their car. Their other things in the house are sealed in boxes and being loaded into two small trucks.
They’re finally moving back to the city.
After the dream, and after their talk, Jungkook and Taehyung sat down to talk about the dates to move out. To talk about how it will affect their jobs, and everything else. It took them almost a week to come to a proper conclusion, and another to pack things and finally move out.
They had asked their friends to help, so just as Jungkook is dragging another suitcase he hears a shrill voice, making him turn his ways to the direction of the noise.
“Jimin!” Taehyung shrieks. “You’re going to drench me.”
“Tae!” Jimin laughs behind him, a water hose in his hand. They both run in the huge garden area, “you’re moving out, and you guys never used this huge pool!”
“We did!” Taehyung laughs, water hitting his back, yet he doesn’t stop running, drenching the sunloungers. “But I don’t think you would want to hear about it!” Taehyung manages to say between ragged breaths, making Jungkook chuckle in amusement.
“You’re gross.” Jimin is about to aim the hose straight to Taehyung’s face when Yoongi turns off the water supply.
“Kids!” Yoongi calls out, “we need to hurry up, this isn’t a game.” He grumbles, voice hoarse because he just woke up (and didn’t really help them to pack as he promised he would).
“You’re the one to talk, you slept the whole day, hyung.” Taehyung complains, walking towards Jungkook, and side hugging him.
“Hey.” Jungkook mutters quietly, softly kissing Taehyung’s hair, “you okay?”
“Yes.” Taehyung smiles, “are you okay?”
“I am.” He looks back at the house, “it was a nice vacay.”
Taehyung laughs, kissing Jungkook on the cheek, “it really was.” He makes Jungkook turn around in his hold, softly kissing Jungkook’s lips, “thank you, Jungkook.”
“It’s not a problem, my love.”
Their soft moment is interrupted as Hoseok walks in, plates clattering loudly in his hold, “Hobi, you should fucking see where you’re going!” Namjoon calls out, probably proud he isn’t the clumsy one this time around.
“Listen.” Hoseok starts, “Sora has been training me for all this. The baby is set to arrive in two weeks–”
“It’s a baby, Hoseok-ah, they’ll be delivered not arrived, they are not on a vacation." Seokjin chimes from the other end of the garden, he lounges (poorly) on the wet sunlounger.
“Are you both crazy?” Yoongi chides, he’s done loading the last box in the first truck, “it’s a baby, they will be fucking born!”
“Oh really?” Hoseok bites back, one of the plates abandoned on the side of the pool, “how do you have more knowledge of pregnancy than me?”
“Books exist, you know?” Yoongi says, smug, before being shushed by a whining Jimin to stop fighting.
“Meow has been so so so tired with pregnancy recently, I keep forgetting things.” Hoseok says, picking up the plate, and then proceeding to drop the whole set ‘accidently’.
“Hyungs.” Jungkook chides, “we’ve got a whole set of furniture to load, please help.”
“Jungkook-ah.” Seokjin walks to them from where he has been standing, Namjoon snickering at him (no doubt he must’ve seen the wet patch on his ass–wtv), “why did you not hire helpers instead?”
“Why would we need them when we have you, hyung?” Taehyung chirps in, all smiley and giggling.
Jungkook had no idea this place was eating up Taehyung so much that his husband is enjoying leaving the place they stayed in for almost a month now. He leaves Taehyung’s side and walks to help Yoongi instead, who is the only one working now after taking a good nap.
“Why are you moving out, though?” Yoongi asks, gladly expecting Jungkook’s help in loading a two seater couch, one they had specially bought for this house.
“The air doesn’t suit him,” Jungkook points at Taehyung with his chin, both hands holding the sofa, “it doesn’t make him happy. And I don’t want to be in a place that makes him unhappy, hyung.”
“Good.” Yoongi says, heaving a sigh as they finally load the sofa in, moving to pick up some plastic chairs.
“Hoseok hyung!” Taehyung calls, and before the said person can reply he gets a call.
“Hold.” Hoseok holds up a hand, a puzzled expression painting his face, “hey, meow, everythi— oh?” Hoseok’s demeanor changes completely, as he shifts his weight on another leg, everyone stopping their respective works as they raise an eyebrow in his direction, “yeah? Yeah, now? But the due date? That’s still two weeks–, okay, yeah. I will be there.” Hoseok’s voice raises in concern and something akin to fear as the call ends.
Hoseok is already grabbing the jacket, still deep in his thoughts, “I need to leave.” He turns towards Jungkook, “the doctors think it might be early labor, they’re still monitoring her but–.”
“Hey, hey, hyung.” Jungkook comes by his side in an instant, hugging him lightly, “go hyung, we’ll finish here. Please take care.”
Hoseok only nods his head, and before anyone can manage a blink, he’s out of their sight, and soon they hear Hoseok’s car engine roar.
“Weird.” Seokjin comments quietly to himself, but Jungkook still hears it, and he snaps his head to his direction.
It really is fucking weird.
He remembers talking to Hoseok and Sora a few days ago, and the doctors had said the baby and the mother are completely fine, so where did early labor even come from.
Jungkook feels uneasy, his eyes moving to look at the clock that hangs above their back door. One that was always supposed to be there. The old owners loved it.
It read, 15:44.
And Jungkook feels a bile of panic rising in his stomach.
⋆⭒˚｡⋆
The apartment they move in is smaller compared to the house in the countryside, but somehow it feels bigger, brighter. It feels warm. Maybe because Taehyung seems to smile more often here after they moved. Taehyung is chirpier than usual. Taehyung dances a lot. And Jungkook really thinks this is the best decision they’ve made. The house was eating them up, and he berates himself for being so blind and never seeing the distress Taehyung faced in their previous house.
Their apartment has its own perks. They get direct sunlight in the morning as soon as they open the balcony door. ‘Lots of vitamin D’ Taehyung had said, and true to his words, Taehyung wakes up early in the morning just to get some sunlight. They decorated their living room in shades of green, and brown. Something about it giving forest-y vibes, one Taehyung adores. And when Taehyung hopped on their pale green couch, cheeks squished on the arm rest and hair fluffy, Jungkook couldn’t help but agree with this decision.
Their bedroom is adorned with fairy lights. And Taehyung always sets them to purple colour. Their bedroom window is decorated by Taehyung, with the drawing of a lady holding a candle in her hands, and if you look at it from certain angles it feels like the light is flickering. It’s a cute idea, but Jungkook scared himself off that one time when he saw it at midnight. And Taehyung had laughed at him mercilessly.
Right now, Jungkook walks in the kitchen, eyes glued to Taehyung’s frame who cooks efficiently.
“You’re staring, dear husband.” Taehyung says, eyes not leaving from the pot he stirs in.
“You’re cooking in my hoodie.” Jungkook speaks quietly, walking towards his husband, “that should be illegal.”
“Yeah?” Taehyung looks up, a faint smirk dancing on his lips, “you work-out shirtless daily, that should be illegal.”
Jungkook shrugs, back hugging Taehyung, “what are you cooking?”
“Curry.” Taehyung replies, tilting his head to peck Jungkook’s cheeks, “I made it less spicy though.”
“That’s okay, baby.” Jungkook smiles, holding the other tightly, “you settling well here?”
“The best, Jungkookie, best.”
“I’m glad.” Jungkook kisses his hair. “We got that dinner tomorrow, remember?”
They all had planned to meet at Hoseok’s. Sora gave birth to a girl, a small fluffball they named, Eun. Jung Eun. She was born healthy despite the early labor, and Hoseok had shared a cute photo of her, already being a proud dad for making it to the real world all healthy and not troubling her mother a lot. They had visited the hospital the other day, and Jungkook’s heart had swelled when he saw the little girl, she was sleeping soundly in her crib, and his heart did a summersault when Taehyung had tucked a blanket quietly on her whispering a ‘you’re safe now, little star.’
That's when he decided that this is all that had mattered. Not the huge house in the countryside. Not the company deal. Just Taehyung, smiling.
“Yeah.” Taehyung nods his head, turning off the stove. “You. Be back on time.”
“No promises.” Jungkook teases, giving a quick kiss to Taehyung on his cheeks as he walks out with an apple in his hand.
“Jungkook!” Taehyung whines, and Jungkook only laughs.
⋆⭒˚｡⋆
Jungkook wakes up with an uneasiness. There’s not a single sound in the room. It’s quiet. Too quiet for Jungkook’s liking. The room feels odd. Like it’s paused. He blinks at the ceiling, rubbing his sleepy eyes.
He’s about to get up when he feels it. The bed shifts beside him, and he quickly snaps his head towards his husband. “Taehyung?”
At first it’s too dark for Jungkook to make out what’s happening. Until he blinks, once, twice. And finally, he sees Taehyung sit upright, eyes closed, and a distraught expression on his face, “baby?” Jungkook calls again, but it feels as if Taehyung is lost in his own world when the latter takes a slow shallow breath. Tears forming his closed almond eyes.
“Taehyung, hey, baby,” Jungkook calls out, instantly sitting up, and to look at what time it is, he glances at the clock’s direction, only to see it read 03:33. His chest tightens at that, numbness spreading through his whole body, but he is quickly snapped out of it as he hears sobs from his husband.
“Hey.” Jungkook walks to his direction in panic, shaking the other a bit, to wake him up from whatever nightmare is making him sob like this. “Taehyung.” Jungkook calls out again, yet Taehyung only sobs. Inaudible words escaping his mouth.
“Baby.” Jungkook calls again, shaking him a little violently now, “wake up, Taehyung. It’s just a nightmare.” He tries, but everything is in vain. Jungkook panics a little. Having no idea what he should exactly do in such a situation.
He shakes his husband again, even almost making Taehyung stand on his own feet. Yet the other’s eyes stay closed. Mouth hanging open with words. And at first Jungkook is unable to hear any, but when he does hear them properly, a shiver runs down his spine.
“Please, please, don’t leave me, please. Jungkook, please please—.”
Before he knows it, Jungkook lightly hits Taehyung’s cheeks in a poor attempt to wake him up. And somehow it feels like it does its own magic as Taehyung wakes up, troubled, eyes wide with horror and mouth gasping for air.
“Fuck, Taehyung.” Jungkook quickly moves to the bedside to grab the glass of water, noticing the time, 03:44, it’s been ten fucking minutes since Taehyung has been dreaming that nightmare. Though he doesn’t give it as much thought, mind only working on calming Taehyung.
“Here.” Taehyung gulps the water in one go, asking for more, and Jungkook quickly pours him another glass.
“Are you okay?” Jungkook asks, once Taehyung drinks the other glass as well, breathing silently.
“Jungkook.” Taehyung hugs him, clutching the hoodie Jungkook wears tightly.
“I’m here, baby, hey.” Jungkook hugs him back, “what happened?”
“Jungkook, I saw you.” Taehyung cries, and Jungkook’s heart aches, “I saw you die, Jungkook, I sa-saw y-you, and-and,--.”
“Hey, hey.” Jungkook pulls him in tighter, “I’m here baby, I’m okay.”
Taehyung shakes his head, “y-you di-ed, you– that trip– Jungkookie.”
“Baby,” Jungkook rocks him back and forth, “it was just a nightmare, my love. I’m here now.”
“You promise?” Taehyung’s voice is extremely small, and it makes Jungkook wonder what exactly he dreamed of that he panicked this badly.
“I promise, love. I’m here.”
Taehyung sleeps in Jungkook’s arms that day. But the ugly feeling Jungkook got while moving houses is back, and this time Jungkook feels it stronger in his guts.
⋆⭒˚｡⋆
They all sit in the living room of Hoseok’s lavish apartment. Okay– not lavish, but it's bigger than Jungkook and Taehyung’s. They also have an extra room that they converted into a nursery for little Eun. Jokes flow in the air like rumors. And this time even Sora jumps in, adding on to her own and concluding how a great husband Hoseok is.
“He hasn’t let me enter the kitchen even once!” Sora complains, Eun sleeping peacefully in her arms.
“Well, Meow worked hard, she needs all the rest in the world.” Hoseok chimes in, receiving a playful glare from his wife.
“I’m so glad everything went smoothly, though.” Seokjin nods his head, “he scared us when he got the call.”
“Yeah,” Yoongi agrees, a champagne flute in his hand, “we were really worried.”
“It’s all okay now.” Sora agrees, “I was scared myself.”
They further talk about different things. Ranging from funny stories since their childhood, to some serious discussion about their careers.
“How are you both settling in though?” Sora asks, turning the baby monitor on. The child is too deep in sleep to wake up now, so the mother decided to put her in her crib.
“Never been happier.” Taehyung chirps, “I really like it here better than the country-side, it was lonely there.”
“Yeah, he was so excited, he almost finished unpacking in two days,” Jungkook chuckles, adding into the conversation when his eyes meet Hoseok’s.
“Jungkook.” Hoseok looks at him, a weird expression on his face, “will you help me bring some drinks from the fridge?”
Jungkook follows him inside the kitchen instantly, eyes raising at the odd behaviour. “Hyung, what’s up?” He asks, when they’re both away from the group.
“It’s a weird question,” Hoseok says, opening the fridge, and taking out the drinks, “but does your electricity get cut off at three in the night?”
Jungkook’s shiver rises. He can’t believe he’s been scared of such a thing when a few days ago he would’ve made fun of it and tried to find a logic. But after that specific dream, everything around him feels too real, too much.
“Why?” He asks instead, opening one of the beer cans, and taking a sip.
“Nothing, just.” Hoseok turns around, leaning against the counter as he heaves a huge sigh, “the baby monitor just went off at 03:33 yesterday, and, well, Sora says she– she has been seeing shadows.”
The numbers –specific– make him go crazy.
“Shadows?” Jungkook passes him the beer, Hoseok takes a quick sip.
“Yeah.” Hoseok nods, “moving and all that.”
“Do you think someone broke in, hyung?”
“It would’ve been easier if someone broke in, Jungkook.” Hoseok sighs, and Jungkook freezes in his spot. “The light was gone for ten minutes, mostly, it was hellish.”
And before Jungkook could reply, Namjoon walks in, asking if they're already done grabbing the drinks. Hoseok grabs a few beer cans, handing a champagne bottle to Namjoon, as he walks out, but not before throwing a pointed look at Jungkook.
Jungkook stays back for a minute as he watches them leave. If the light was gone for ten minutes that means it was gone from 03:33 to 03:44. He tilts his head in conclusion, same time as the nightmare Taehyung had.
Jungkook sighs, shaking his head in disbelief. This can’t be–, nope–.
The world around him sure does feel too real.
But something is definitely not.
⋆⭒˚｡⋆
When they both return back home, Jungkook can’t keep his mind away from thoughts that invade him wordlessly. Even as Taehyung sleeps beside him peacefully, Jungkook only rakes his fingers through his hair. Sleep suddenly feels like a foreign concept, yet he tries to hug his husband’s warm body closer to his, as he closes his eyes, trying to sleep.
But it’s short lived when he suddenly wakes up to the sound of loud sobs. He quickly turns on the bedside lamps, glancing at the time that says 03:33, before turning around and holding Taehyung tight in his arms.
“I’m here, baby. I’m here.” Jungkook says, rocking Taehyung’s body back and forth. The other only sobs loudly.
Crying out that his husband died and left him all alone.
“Jungkookie! Ju-Jungkook!” Taehyung sobs loudly, hands thrashing and Jungkook does his best to stop Taehyung so as to not hurt himself.
“Taehyung!” Jungkook calls again, it’s getting really difficult to stop Taehyung from moving around. His husband keeps crying, as he thrashes violently, he even hits a vase with his leg that’s on the bedside. “Taehyung, wake up! Please, please Tae.” Jungkook pleads, almost on the verge of crying.
He has never experienced anything in life like this, and it scares him to the core. He holds Taehyung’s hand in a death grip, glancing at the time that reads 03:42, just two minutes. Two minutes and everything will come to an end. Two minutes and Taehyung will wake up.
Just two minutes.
Till then, Jungkook uses all his force to keep Taehyung in place, to stop him from doing anything that will hurt him in return. He keeps whispering sweet nothings in Taehyung’s ears, hoping his husband would at least listen to his voice and understand whatever he’s seeing is not true. That it’s not real.
Two minutes feel like two decades as they pass. Waking Taehyung up from the nightmare, who clutches Jungkook again.
“Kookie.” Taehyung sobs, “yo-you said, you said you’re here! You pr-promised!”
“Baby.” Jungkook leaves the hug for a moment, to cradle Taehyung’s face and look into his eyes, “I’m really here, baby. Look at me.”
Taehyung nods his head, sobs dying down as tears run down his face, “I believe you.”
“Then that’s all that matters, my love.”
And so even that night, Taehyung only sleeps in Jungkook’s arms.
⋆⭒˚｡⋆
It’s a week later when they all sit together at Seokjin’s place for a small get together. The nightmare Taehyung has, has gradually increased and he has had four of those already this week. Jungkook is really worried about him, yet for some reason he can’t bring himself to talk to Taehyung about the issue.
“Shall we make a toast?” Seokjin announces, lifting up his glass, looking at everyone around.
“You just need an excuse to drink.” Yoongi says, rolling his eyes, yet raising his own glass to toast.
“Of course.” Jin smiles, “but also to friendship, love, peace and none of you calling me at two in the morning.”
Everyone laughs, as they all cheer in unison.
“Ah, Sora will be so pissed she missed this, but I promised her pictures later.” Hoseok sighs, removing his phone to capture their drinks.
“She’s doing well?” Taehyung asks, he leans against Jungkook.
“Yeah.” Hoseok nods, “Eunnie has been waking up almost every night now. Despite me telling her I can handle it and she should get some rest, Meow still stays up with me.”
“Motherhood.” Jimin says, and everyone agrees.
The conversation scatters to random things, from complaining about work, bit of teasing here and there, light banters and some weather forecasts– until Namjoon brings up a conversation about a horror movie Seokjin watched the other day.
“Oh yeah.” Yoongi looks at Seokjin, “you’re not past the mirror horror genre yet, hyung?” He teases, gummy smile fully visible.
“Oh I’m done.” Seokjin sighs, “I’m never watching this stuff again, it just plays with my head.”
“Plays with your head?” Taehyung asks, he keeps his glass aside, and now everyone is looking at Seokjin.
“Yeah.” Seokjin starts, “remember you came home late last night?” He points at Namjoon, sighing.
“Yeah? When you were watching that movie and then the electricity went off?” Namjoon smiles knowingly, “did you see something, baby?”
And everyone is about to tease Seokjin on it, laugh on it, but then the other stays quiet, heaving a huge sigh, keeping his own flute aside, “well..”
Seokjin looks at the time, it’s 01:15 right now. Plenty to spend, considering the night just started and it’s a Sunday anyway. He is watching a horror movie, one he saw in his recommendations the other day. Namjoon came home late today. So he had nothing better to do.
“You should sleep.” Namjoon voices, already on the bed, as he gets ready to sleep.
“Just this last one.” Seokjin mumbles, eyes not leaving the screen even for a bit. He’s too engrossed in the movie.
“Don’t stay up too long.” Namjoon mutters, pouting his lips to get a goodnight kiss from Seokjin, “you’ve been watching an awful amount of horror movies these days.”
“I like it.” Seokjin sits straight, back resting against the headboard, "it's not even as scary now.”
“Sure.” Namjoon laughs, as he closes his eyes, falling asleep quickly due to exhaustion.
03:32
Seokjin blinks. He swears it was only one in the morning. How did this much time pass?
He looks at Namjoon, who sleeps soundlessly beside him, one hand dangling down from the bed, making him laugh.
He smiles to himself, turning around to reach the remote to turn off the television, when he sees it.
A shadow.
Jin turns around in a haste to see who’s standing behind him, but sees no one there. Namjoon is still asleep. He looks back at the screen again and there’s no reflection. He sighs. “I must be really tired.”
He hums under his breath, as he gets ready for bed as well, when suddenly all the lights in the room flicker.
Seokjin stares in utter horror, as Namjoon beside him wakes up, “electricity?”
“Yeah.” He nods, and before he can say something else, something pulls his gaze. The mirror. One that’s kept perpendicular to their bed.
It’s empty.
There’s no bed reflecting in it, or them. It’s just empty.
“Namjoon.” He calls out, a little louder than before.
“What’s wrong?” Namjoon is fully awake now, sitting up straight.
“The mirr–.” But then it’s gone. The emptiness is gone, and the reflection is clearly visible.
“Hmm?” Namjoon asks, and Seokjin only shakes his head.
“Nothing. I am really tired.”
“Yeah, come, sleep.”
Seokjin nods his head, as he sleeps beside Namjoon, eyes flickering on to the clock that reads, 03:44.
“No reflections?” Taehyung asks, worry painting his face, and Jungkook holds his hand.
“Yeah, it happened somewhere around 03:33, weird numbers, honestly.” Seokjin says, voice heavy.
Hearing the words, Jungkook freezes in his spot, back hair rising. As he meets Hoseok’s eyes who sit just opposite, already looking at him with a knowing look.
⋆⭒˚｡⋆
It’s another night when it happens again. And Jungkook loses it. He smashes their clock, as it gets stuck on 03;33, and yet Taehyung doesn’t wake up. He never does in those ten minutes. Jungkook suffers the consequences till then. And once Taehyung is awake, he sleeps again in Jungkook's arms, clutching his hoodie tightly.
⋆⭒˚｡⋆
The night light burns by Jungkook’s bedside table. The crickets chirp, indicating its deep in the night. The night glimmers with stars, no moon to shine today. Their window stays closed, but the curtains remain ajar. It’s the kind of night that soothes one, yet for another it brings a sense of fear. A sense of longing and a sense of gloom. For Jungkook it’s none. For Jungkook it’s a misery, a curse, an unwanted feeling. For Jungkook nights have become something he has come to abhor. Night should never exist.
Jungkook stays awake, fully aware of what is going to happen. His eyes stay glued to the digital clock, it shows 03:31, just a couple of minutes until everything will go down. Just one twenty seconds and Jungkook will witness the agony of the night again. When it happens Jungkook knows it will kill him again, keep killing him until it doesn’t pass. He knows the feeling by heart now. As if whatever he feels in the day doesn’t even stand a chance to what he feels when the clock strikes those numbers until it passes.
He’s tired.
Rightfully so. But he has no idea how to stop it. He has no idea how to turn this agony into glee. To turn something so hurtful into a feeling that would only bring happiness. He has no idea how to undo this. How to go back. Or how to feel once it's done. He doesn’t know what he has to do in mere minutes when he sees what happens. Or how to be okay the next morning. Or how to count time again until it reaches that awful number.
Or, how to breathe again.
He has no idea.
He is numb, as he watches the clock strike the number, 03:32, he’s just a minute away from decaying. Just a minute away from drowning, the only problem is he can’t wander too far from the shore. Just a minute away from completely losing himself. Just a minute away from becoming nothing but just a small matter in this universe. Just a minute.
Just a minute until he dies.
Just a minute until his husband awakes.
Just a minute.
A single minute.
And their life turns to a living hell.
So, when the clock finally strikes 03:33, Jungkook’s tears fall. Because Taehyung gets up from where he is sleeping on the bed. Jungkook tries to hold his hand, to grab him back to sleep, to hold him until the time passes, to keep holding him for the next eleven minutes. But alas. None of it ever works.
Jungkook watches silently as Taehyung sits up, shoulders sagging, as he starts crying hysterically.
“Jungk-jungkook, please.” Taehyung cries. It’s always the same words. Same lines. Same feelings. Same tears. And the same cries.
“Please-please don’t go. Please.” Jungkook tries to put a hand on his shoulder as a relief, but none of it works. Nothing ever works.
“Please. Please please. Please.” Taehyung begs, and keeps begging. Jungkook is unable to do anything. Anything. So he just watches.
He watches quietly as his husband sobs on his death. As his husband cries until the clock strikes 03:44.
It happens again.
It now happens daily.
Taehyung cries for his dead husband from 03:33 to 03:44.
And Jungkook just watches.
Because Jungkook can only watch.
When Taehyung finally wakes up, just like always he clutches Jungkook tightly, never leaving him even once, not even to drink water or to look him in the eye.
Taehyung only sobs. “I-I never want-want to leav-leave you, plea-please.” Taehyung cries, “I-I love-love you.”
And Jungkook can only try to calm him down by rubbing soothing circles on his back and whispering quietly to him. “You’re here, Taehyung, with me. We’re both here.” Jungkook kisses his hair, “I love you baby, I love you a lot.”
Jungkook rocks them back and forth, cursing every power in the universe to mess them this badly. Especially his husband. Especially his Taehyung. He curses everything he can think of. He curses and asks why is it them? Why with them? But Jungkook doesn’t get a reply, he never does, though this time his phone rings, and both Jungkook and Taehyung snap their head towards the direction of Jungkook’s ringing phone that lights up.
“Let me see.” Jungkook says, wondering who can call them so late in the night. “It’s Yoongi hyung.”
“Oh?” Taehyung sits up straight, “do you think-think something is wrong? Do you-you think it’s because of me-me.”
“Baby.” Jungkook silences the phone for a minute, “we won’t know what’s up without picking up the phone, and whatever it is, it will not be because of you, you get it?” Jungkook says, voice gentle yet firm, “okay?”
Taehyung nods his head in understanding, urging Jungkook to pick up the call.
Jungkook does so quickly, putting the call on speakerphone, and before he can even say hello, Yoongi speaks up.
“Something isn’t right, Jungkook.” Yoongi’s voice sounds scared, as if he had just witnessed something extremely sinister yet something that calls him in. “We all will meet tomorrow first thing in the morning, come with Tae.”
And then he hangs up.
Jungkook and Taehyung only stare at the phone for a few minutes, before they look at each other.
Both sporting a horrified look on their faces.
⋆⭒˚｡⋆
They’re all gathered around in the living room space of Yoongi and Jimin’s apartment, except Sora. She had to stay back and take care of Eun.
The atmosphere feels heavy, no one says much. Coffee cups sit half-drunk on the table; the curtains drawn even though it’s morning.
Yoongi looks pale, which is what Jungkook notices. His eyes are ringed dark, his hair tousled messily, like he hadn’t slept at all last night. He is sitting on the edge of the couch, hands trembling slightly, as he rubs them together.
“He didn’t sleep all night.” Jimin hovers beside him, his voice small but steady, “he just sat there, staring at the piano.”
Something tightens in Jungkook’s chest, “the piano?”
Yoongi looks up finally, meeting his eyes, “yeah, I heard it.”
Taehyung leans forward a bit, the other’s ears attentive as well, “heard what?”
“The piano.” Yoongi says again, his voice distant, “it played by itself.”
Namjoon lets out a shaky laugh, “hyung maybe–.”
“It wasn't the wind, Joon.” Yoongi cuts him sharply, “it played that song.”
The room goes still.
Jimin shifts beside him, “he means the song Jungkook composed on the piano last year for Taehyung’s birthday.”
Jungkook frowns, confused, “That’s impossible. I never recorded it anywhere.”
Yoongi nods. His throat moving as he swallows, “I know. I went to check, the lid was open… keys were moving on their own. Slowly, as if someone was playing softly so as to not wake anyone up.”
No one breathes for a moment.
“I thought I imagined it all.” Yoongi continues, voice trembling as the minute passes, “so I started recording. But then I heard it,” he stops, his eyes flick up, haunted, “I heard you.”
“Me?” Jungkook asks quietly, already having a bad feeling about it.
Yoongi nods, “your voice, from the piano, you were–.” Yoongi abruptly stops as he places something on the coffee table.
A small audio recorder.
Everyone gasps quietly.
Yoongi hits play.
There’s ten seconds of white noise, and then they all hear it. The piano. Soft, slow, mournful chords. It’s grief disguised as a lullaby, the melody continues, and it really isn’t hard recognizing it’s Jungkook tune.
It’s just piano at first, but then a faint voice bleeds through the static.
Taehyung sits up straighter.
It’s no doubt Jungkook’s voice.
Broken, sad, melancholy.
“Tae– please, please tell him I wasn’t scared, please.”
The piano completely stops now, it’s only Jungkook’s voice they hear.
“I don’t want him to be alone.”
The voice sobs silently.
“Tell him I love him, please.”
And then the recorder stops.
Taehyung’s throat closes, Jungkook digs his nail in his jeans.
Yoongi exhales, “I went closer to check.” Yoongi says, “and that’s when I looked at the time, it was 03:44, it ended exactly after ten minutes.” He continues, “from 03:33 to 03:44, something isn’t right.”
Jungkook and Hoseok share a look, but this time Seokjin is looking at them as well.
⋆⭒˚｡⋆
The silence stretches between them. No one dares to speak anything for another few minutes.
Jungkook can’t help but think about Yoongi’s words. And the audio recorder. It’s all so familiar yet weird.
His throat feels dry, his palms are sweaty. He’s been holding this in for too long. He should’ve said something when those numbers felt familiar. When he heard those numbers for the first time. When he saw the nightmares happening around the same time.
“Kook?” Taehyung pulls him out of his thoughts, gently.
And that’s all it takes.
He exhales shakily, as he sets his coffee mug down. “There’s something… I haven’t told you guys.”
Yoongi looks up first, wary, “what?”
Jungkook runs a hand through his hair, “that night.” He starts, “we had the housewarming party, I dreamt of it again, but this time it was unusual.”
“Unusual?” Taehyung asks, grasping Jungkook’s hand.
“I dreamt of dying.” He says, “I died.”
Everyone around gasps. Even Taehyung’s hand trembles.
“It started simple, housewarming party, good food, but then Taehyung was a bit off, so everyone kept asking what’s wrong, and I made fun of him for seeing ghosts.” He takes a deep breath, feeling all eyes on him, “so Taehyung challenged us all to stay. Stay till that,” Jungkook points towards the digital clock in Yoongi’s house, “turns 03:33.”
“What?” Hoseok shrills. “03:33.”
“My mirror thing-y happened exactly at that time.” Seokjin mutters from the side.
“Even the piano….” Jimin mumbles, a horrified look on his face.
“Taehyung has been getting nightmares as well.” Jungkook’s voice cuts in, “they start at 03:33 and go on till 03:44.”
Everyone stares at him, scared to the core, “what happened in the dream?” Yoongi urges Jungkook to continue.
Jungkook nods his head, “then everyone started talking about their own experience, similar to the actual housewarming party, and we were all waiting for 03:33.” He feels Taehyung tightens his hand, “I went upstairs when it was about to strike the time, and when it did a police officer came bearing the news that I died, in that trip I was supposed to go, and Taehyung didn’t let me.”
Taehyung gasps beside him, “is that why you thanked me when you woke up?”
“Partly, yeah.” Jungkook nods, “but also, I got a call from a colleague telling me someone actually died on the trip.”
“What?”
“Yeah.” Jungkook sighs, “and it was 03;44 when it all ended.”
“Oh?”
“Something happened that day.” Hoseok concludes, “when you dreamed, a pattern overlapped, a timeline maybe.” Hoseok takes a deep breath, ruffling his hair, “I think that’s what you’re all experiencing. Jungkook wants to tell you that he misse–.”
“Overlapping?” He is cut off by Jimin’s questioning gaze.
“Yeah.” Hoseok nods, “Meow said it happens because two timelines mix together, like, two parallel streams running together, but because of one ripple to any one of them, their flow is disturbed—.”
He is cut off by the loud ringing of Jungkook’s phone, who excuses himself to pick it up.
“Hello?, yeah? Oh yes, uh–photos? Oh, okay, okay, we’ll be there, yeah, yeah, thank you.”
Everyone looks at him, expecting to hear what the call was about. And when he does speak, Taehyung shivers head to toe from sheer fear.
“I got the call from the new owners, they hired cleaners to clean up the country-side place. They said they found some of our photos and we can go and collect them whenever we’re free, the keys are under the doormat.”
“Photos?” Jimin asks.
“What photos?”
Taehyung’s eyes widen, he stands up abruptly, voice trembling as he speaks, “we never took any photos!”
⋆⭒˚｡⋆
The same evening they all drive down the familiar winding road to the country-side. It’s the same one they were happy to leave, the same one that Taehyung was glad he would leave behind. Would forget it as a bad dream. But now as the seven sit in the same car, they’re surrounded by nothing but silence. No one speaks even a word, too lost in their own thoughts. Too lost to even utter a word and break one’s thought process.
The first thing Jungkook notices is the house, which stands the same way they left it. Two floors, pale wooden beams, tall grass swallowing the porch. But there’s something heavier in the air now.
Yoongi’s first one to step out of the car, “feels like no one’s been here. Don’t the new owners stay here?”
“Nope.” Jungkook says, exiting next as he also helps Taehyung to get out of the car. “The owners wanted to clean the space first.”
“Ah.” Yoongi nods, “the cleaners are doing a terrible job then.”
Namjoon snickers, “can we focus on the matters at hand?”
“Yeah.” Seokjin nods as he walks towards the doormat, as he retrieves the house keys, and enters.
They all follow behind, Jungkook spots the envelope sooner, it’s placed neatly on the counter.
“The photographs.” Jungkook sighs, opening the envelope.
They’re not new, the edges are worn, faintly bent. And every single one has Taehyung in it.
It’s Taehyung standing near the porch, looking at the horizon. Taehung asleep on the couch. Taehyung standing by the piano. Each one has Taehyung doing something.
Taehyung’s breath hitches when he sees it, “we never took these.”
Jungkook nods, “we didn’t, but someone did.”
“Timelines overlapping, what Hoseok said.” Jimin murmurs.
Jungkook’s chest tightens. “Does that mean—?”
“Yeah.” Hoseok nods his head in understanding. “The you in another timeline died, Jungkook, and when you thought you dreamed, it actually happened. The timelines must’ve overlapped since.”
“But, how do we stop it?”
“We return this to where it belongs.” Hoseok points at the photos.
They all nod in unison, sitting around in a circle as they hold hands. Hoseok keeps the photos in the middle, “things might be disturbing, especially for you, Tae.” Hoseok gives him a pointed look, “so please, be strong and face it.”
“Close your eyes.” Jungkook whispers.
The others do as they’re told. Taehyung blinking back a tear, he does what Jungkook tells him to.
At first there's only silence, the kind that hums in your bones. Then faintly, they hear voices. Familiar. Sad. They open their eyes to see the room flickering, like a projection stuttering through frames.
And suddenly, they’re there.
Their ‘other selves’.
Jimin holding Yoongi’s hand both crying quietly. Namjoon staring blankly at the floor, whispering something no one could hear. Seokjin crying out loudly in a different room. Hoseok clutching a photograph to his chest, eyes swollen. Taehyung; a different Taehyung, kneeling in their huge house, tears streaming down his face, whispering Jungkook’s name again and again. They’re all crying for him. For Jungkook who died.
The air crackles. Two timelines overlap completely for one heartbeat.
And Jungkook sees himself, pale, bleeding, reaching for his phone, “Tae...”
Taehyung gasps loudly from beside him.
Jungkook stands slowly, steeping inside the circle, towards the center. “I understand now.”
The others fade into the background, as the clock now strikes, 03:33.
He looks at his other self, at the version that never made it home.
“You were real, you happened.” Jungkook says softly, “but you don’t belong here anymore, I do.”
The ghost version of himself nods, faintly smiling before stepping backwards. The photos kept in the middle, suddenly burn, without anyone putting fire on it. The other version of him nods towards him, walking towards an exit, as if a mist fading in the sunlight.
The sound dies, the flickering stops.
Taehyung feels the warmth return to his fingertips. And when Jungkook finally looks at the clock, it reads 03;45.
He exhales, tears falling silently as Taehyung rushes forward and buries himself in his arms.
“It’s over?” Yoongi murmurs, voice trembling.
Jungkook holds Taehyung closer, whispering into his hair, “yeah, I think it is.”
⋆⭒˚｡⋆
The night in their city apartment feels soft again. Taehyung sleeps tucked against Jungkook’s chest, breathing steady. Jungkook lies awake, he doesn’t know why. Just a habit maybe, but his eyes find the digital clock by the bedside.
03:33
He watches it tick.
03:34
Nothing happens.
No hums. No shadows. No nightmares. It’s all calm and serene.
Just a faint sound of Taehyung’s breathing, and hence Jungkook starts closing his eyes too. Feeling at peace finally. Glad that he will be able to sleep. But then, he hears it, a soft voice whispering, barely audible.
“So you chose to stay?”
And Jungkook’s eyes widen in horror.