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Breaks were often something cherished by Bangtan. With their busy schedules during promotion periods followed by concerts and tours, they always looked forward to the days well spent in the dorm together just relaxing with one another.
As the month of October creeps around, Halloween was often something Bangtan enjoyed celebrating together. They loved dressing up either to shoot a dance practice video or tell ghost stories. Tonight, the team has decided to tell ghost stories, as suggested by Seokjin.
The members huddled around Seokjin, dressed in warm sweaters with their sleeves over their palms as they listened intently to their oldest hyung as he told a tale of a ghost who resided in their dorm.
“About ten years ago, there lived a boy group that never debuted because of the death of their member. They were a seven membered group, just like us, coincidentally with the same number of rappers and vocalists. Like our trainee days, theirs was tough. We all remember our trainee days right?” Seokjin begins the story, with Namjoon dimming the lights in the background to set the mood for the story. Everyone nods, remembering their trainee days clearly and vividly in their minds.
“Trainee days were tough, and it was evident in this member, Park Hae Jun. He was only eighteen when he was scouted and brought in. Back then, these dorms did not belong to BigHit, but a company that no longer does entertainment because of this death,” As Seokjin spun the tale, the members leaned in intently, curious to know about the death of a trainee, who seems to have brought misfortune to both the group and the company. It is odd that there were no news about this particular death ten years ago when it occurred, but then again, it happened in Seoul and most of Bangtan weren’t in Seoul neither did they have the thoughts of becoming an idol.
“Their dorms weren’t as nice as ours. It was cramped yet somehow, they made the most out of it. Now, back to Park Hae Jun. He wasn’t from Seoul, instead he travelled from Busan,” Seokjin sneaks a glance at Jimin and Jungkook who does not flinch at the reference to their hometowns. “He had a hard time adjusting to life here in Seoul, but his friends helped him and eventually he grew accustomed to this life. However, the company was always pushing him. He was a vocalist, although his vocals weren’t the best as the lead’s neither were his dancing skills the best, the company pushed him to be on par with the other members.”
“He worked hard day and night, but the company pushed him. The members tried to speak up for him but they refused to listen. Until, one night, he committed suicide in the bathroom.” Small gasps echoed across the room but nobody said a word, in fear of ruining the tension of a good ghost story. “Now, the tricky thing about his story, is that it was classified as murder but the case was never solved.”
A flurry of voices interrupted Seokjin’s story, in disbelief at such a twist in the tale. How could someone classify a suicide as murder? “Hear me out. There is a plausible reason why the his case could’ve been a murder. When the police found his body, he was drowned in the bathtub however, there were wounds on his right wrists. These wounds were perfect slits, across and down the arm but there was no blood in the bathroom. What’s worthy to mention is that he was a right handed, which meant if he used his left hand, the cuts would not have been as perfect as they were.”
“Following that came the autopsy report. His systems showed no signs of any drugs that could’ve caused his death, however, there was severe trauma to his brain though it was not obvious when the body was found. This puzzled the medical examiners, which resulted in the entire dorm getting investigated for any foul play. Those evidence all points to one of the members being a potential murderer, for only someone could’ve slit his wrists perfectly and only someone could’ve caused such a severe trauma to his brain.”
“But at the same time, his death could have also been a suicide. The severe trauma to his brain could have been resulted when he fell back in the bathtub, his head would have collided with the edge of the bathtub but at the same time, the trauma would not have been obvious. Now what could have caused his death exactly? Even though the slits were made on his right, medical officers had deduced he could have been ambidexterous, thus with him using his left hand. However, with reports from the members saying they only see him using his right hand, the theory was ruled out. So the most plausible cause of death could have been the blow to the head by falling down,”
“So where’s the part here he turns into a ghost?” Jungkook asks, breaking the silent atmosphere. Seokjin shoots him a glare for interrupting his story but continues anyways.
“Now as our dear Jungkookie has asked for, the part where he turns into a ghost. The members of course, were devastated for his death because according to them, he was always smiling no matter how tough the time. However, the first night when they slept in the dorm, one of the members heard the sound of the tap running in the bathroom. Exhausted from practice, he walks to the bathroom to find the tap perfectly shut but at the same time, the sound of water running. He didn’t think too much about it until morning, when he realised that the bathtub was filled to the brim with blood.”
“That was the beginning of misfortune upon the members. One by one, each of them witnessed something odd in the bathroom. Every night, the members witnessed something different, but it was all linked to the death of their member. Sometimes it was blood in the bathtub, representing the lack of blood when his body was found. Sometimes they witnessed writings on the mirror, where it is fogged up with no words, just numbers. This carried on for a month before their debut, until the members decided to leave and not debut at all. They had contempelated on debuting without him, however, following the events, they decided not to.”
“The building was demolished and rebuilt again, with hopes that his ghost will stop haunting the building. However, idol groups often come and go within this dorm, and the bathroom has always been reported with problems such as murky water or foggy mirrors that wouldn’t wipe off. Some say at night they hear the sound of running water and footsteps.”
“This dorm we are living in right now? Is where he died. They rebuilt it again with similar layouts to the old dorms and it is that bathroom,” Seokjin points at the bathroom and the members craned their heads to look. “Ever wondered why we always have problems with our bathroom?”
Even Jungkook who was not easily spooked, gulped at the thought of the ghost. He was usually a fearless maknae but the story tonight spooked him and the rest of the members to the core. No matter how unbelievable it sounded, it was always stories of ghosts that resided within the building you are in spook you the most. “Hobi, are you okay?” Seokjin asks. The latter was curled up at the edge of the sofa, biting his palms. It was surprising that he had not utter a single sound since the story begun, making Seokjin assume he was not easily spooked by a story, instead by a jumpscare but the paleness across his face suggests otherwise.
“Yeah,” he croaks. “Just finish up the story,” he attempts at a brave façade.
Seokjin shoots him a glance but finishes up the story. “They say his spirit still haunts our dorms, sometimes the building. Reports say he’s not a friendly spirit, neither is he a vengeful one. He simply wanders around, a pale face and dressed in the last clothes he was found in.”
The group releases a sigh in unison, relieved that the story was over. Normally, it would be someone like Namjoon who could tell ghost stories like his life depended on it, but tonight, Seokjin could’ve made up a story that spooked Bangtan to their cores. “Well,” he claps his hands with a chirpy voice. “Have a good night sleep!” he teases, slapping Hoseok’s knee before getting up.
One by one, the members got up and left their living room, leaving Hoseok and Yoongi on the sofa. Yoongi, who was on his phone throughout the story showed no visble expressions of being scared. Hoseok moves across the sofa to where Yoongi was and grabbed his arm. “Can you follow me to the toilet?” He asks timidly.
Yoongi stares at him and snorts. “You aren’t really spooked by that story are you?” he asks in disbelief. “It’s just a ghost story, you know ghosts aren’t real.”
Hoseok pouts and stares across at the bathroom. “Yeah, but you know, just in case I get murdered or anything. Please?” he widens his eyes. Yoongi raises an eyebrow but gets up, following Hoseok to the bathroom. “I’m not standing inside with you because that’s just weird,” he says leaning against the wall of their bathroom.
When Hoseok eases himself, an idea sparked in his mind. It was not a particularly brilliant one, but boy would it bring him a great deal of satisfaction if he could see Yoongi scared. He had never seen Yoongi scared by anything, except for sudden bursts of fireworks. It would be killing two birds with one stone, he would be able to see whether the ghost was real or not, and he would be able to see Yoongi scared.
Yoongi was still waiting outside when Hoseok was done, sticking to his word. “Hyung, I have a brilliant idea-“ Hoseok begins but was cut off by Yoongi.
“If you suggest that we stay up tonight to catch this ghost, I am not interested. Ghosts aren’t real and that’s final,” Yoongi cuts Hoseok off. Hoseok stares at him, gaping. Yoongi practically took the words out of his mouth.
“What I was suggesting was,” Flustered, Hoseok struggled to find the right words to formulate his lie. “We could watch a movie?” With a raised eyebrow, Yoongi stares at Hoseok, a face that can only say ‘are you fucking with me?’. “And it’s not because I want to catch the ghost!”
Yoongi stares at the time on his phone. “Yeah I guess we could watch a movie,”
Hoseok jumps in excitement and the duo began their selection of movies for the night, with the latter unaware of the former’s plans. They decided to go with an action slash zombie flick, Train to Busan, to keep their minds off the ghost story Seokjin has told previously.
As the movie progressed, the time dragged by quickly and eventually midnight rolled around. According to Seokjin, the ghost is often spotted around midnight. Hoseok pauses the movie to see a slightly sleepy Yoongi on the sofa, resting his head on the chin. This was his moment, Yoongi was the most vulnerable when tired and is most likely willing to help him catch that ghost.
“Hyung,” he shakes Yoongi lightly. Yoongi stirs, sniffing slightly. “Let’s go catch that ghost.”
Yoongi groans quietly and rolls his eyes. “Are you really still on that? Ugh fine. Just one time,” he grumbles. Hoseok beams but at the same time, his stomach feels uneasy. What if they do actually come face to face with that ghost? He wasn’t ready to witness an actual real life ghost. What if the ghost was actually a vengeful one and would murder them for disturbing him?
Thoughts like these finally settled in Hoseok’s mind as they switched off the TV. “You know Hoseok, the boys toilet will never be haunted. It’s always the girl’s toilet, for some reason,” Yoongi muses aloud. “We should get some sleep.”
“Chickening out?” Hoseok teases, imitating a chicken.
“If I die, I’m haunting your ass.”
With their phones in hand as the dorm was dark, with the members already sleeping, they used their flashlights to navigate across the hall to the bathroom. The sound of the tap running makes both of them stop in the tracks, glancing at each other in disbelief. Yoongi’s eyes widened at the sound first, stopping Hoseok in his tracks. He had always been more sensitive to sound, so the sound of something like a tap running easily triggered him.
“The tap,” Hoseok whispers, his voice suddenly moving an octave higher. Yoongi says nothing and presses a finger to his lips as they moved towards the bathroom door.
“You do the honours, ghostbuster.” Yoongi suggests, nudging Hoseok. Hoseok, who was indeed the mastermind behind their current plan, clasps his fingers around the door knob. It turns easily, with a small creak as they stared at each other, holding their breaths. They push the door and come face to face with - the spirit in its glory form.
Pale face and dressed in blue pajamas, this was indeed the ghost of the ghost story. Yoongi and Hoseok froze at the sight of him, their reactions a second slower than expected when the erupted in shrill screams. Hoseok stood rooted to the floor whilst Yoongi began to run, but returned to drag screaming Hoseok away. The lights in the dorm switch on, the members half asleep wondering what the hell was going on in their dorm.
“It’s the ghost!” Hoseok announces loudly. Jimin falters for a second but stays at his spot.
“Yeah right hyung,” he snorts.
“It’s real, I saw it.” Yoongi assures and the younger member widened his eyes. Chaos ensued, Jimin’s scream starting off an actual chain of screaming when the ghost appeared in the living room.
“What happened?” It asked, voice hoarse and confused. The screaming stops and the three members stared at Hoseok and Yoongi, who had mistaken Taehyung as a ghost. He was in the middle of his night routine of wearing a face mask when Hoseok and Yoongi interrupted him and started screaming.
With sheepish smiles, Hoseok and Yoongi return to their respective dorms, being chided their their own room mates. And this is why Bangtan never tells ghost stories ever again.