Nightfall | BTS

t h i r t y t h r e e

25 MAY 2034

◣ C A M E R A 1

"guys, you have to trust me! it wasn't me i swear!"

yoongi said, on the verge of tears. his words barely audible but due to the stillness of the atmosphere of the house, the others heard it.

"how? how are we supposed to trust you after that? First it was your ring, and now your knife, yoongi. next to hoseok, who is dead by the way!" namjoon's voice cracked towards the end of the sentence as he fell back onto the couch, placing his head in his hands.

"namjoon, he's right. we have been through so much together, and i trust yoongi enough to know he didn't do it." jin started, sitting next to namjoon as he took his hand. namjoon's head shot up as he stared at the older, an incredulous expression shadowing his features.

"why are you taking his side?" namjoon spoke, accusingly. jin opened his mouth to reply but he was cut short when namjoon stood up, abruptly. "are you saying that all of that was an accident? a coincidence?"

their voices began to raise and jeongguk could feel the familiar anxiety kicking in.

"stop, please!" the group quietened down instantly. "didn't you say that this is exactly what the ROSE wants? you don't even trust yourself now, namjoon hyung!"

namjoon's eyes softened at the words the younger spoke. a moment of silence followed as namjoon sat down again, next to a sniffling yoongi.

"they're fucking with our heads." jin added and namjoon nodded softly.

"everything's happening so fast. last week it was jimin and now hoseok's gone too. next, it's one of us."

the words managed to pierce through everyone's hearts as they let silence overlap once again, lost in their own thoughts yet each one was weirdly comforted by the fact that they weren't alone.

***

after helping jeongguk to bed, namjoon tiptoed his way to hoseok's room. shivers ran down the boy's spine as he opened the door, revealing the room. the bed unmade and a sliver of moonlight peeking through the curtains.

namjoon smiled. hoseok's red notebook was thrown open on the table, the memories of him excitedly showing namjoon his newly written piece ran across his mind.

he picked up the notebook and instantly his smile was almost slapped off his face.

the three lines of dots and lines glared at him and namjoon felt his heart hammering against his chest as he rushed to the living room. after a few seconds and a few strokes of a pencil, he managed to decrypt it, momentarily ignoring the poppy flower etched onto the page in black ink.

purer

flustering

dream

dream. that's one thing hoseok struggled with all the time. sleeping. and namjoon was aware of it.

namjoon felt a wave of emotion washing through him as his heart plummeted to his stomach as his eyes grazed over the poppy flower once again. if only, if only he had found this earlier.

before hoseok made the decision that would cost him his life.

namjoon clutched the book to his chest as he sobbed. the cries wrecking his body as his shoulders shook uncontrollably. he wailed at the loss of his friend until he could not cry no more. until all that was left was the burning of rage coursing through his veins and the untamable thought that stood, determined, in the core of his mind.

he was not going to let the ROSE win this game.