Only On Paper / JJK

Chapter 27

It takes a while for his eyes to adjust in the dark.

Jungkook is hidden in the shadows of a tall building. Only his head peeks out from the corner he's in. About a foot away is the door, which is blocked by the brick pillar he's behind.

He doesn't really know why he's hiding. They're expecting him. He's expecting him, but the rush of adrenaline keeps Jungkook in his place. Being here so close to the guy who threatened Y/n makes him a little nauseous too.

When he had first met Hoseok, he didn't think he was capable of something to this extremity, but it's always the ones you least expect to be insane.

There were so many signs back then that younger him had been in denial of. All those red flags he willingly ignored put his friends in danger. He refused to believe that any of it was real.

But now he knows the truth, and he's going to fix everything. No matter what.

"Come," a voice beckons from within the building. "You've been there long enough. It's time we had a talk, Jeon."

Jungkook jolts from where he stands. How long has Hoseok known he's been out here?

It takes him a second to head inside, to gather the courage to take those steps out of the corner and into the building.

As he walks in, the lights remain off. Everything, the walls and desks, are all black. Though the voice sounded like it was just around the bend, there's no one in sight. Well, from what he can make out in the darkness anyway.

"Stop." This time it takes Jungkook even less to cease his movements. He didn't walk a long distance, just enough to be standing in the center of the vast lobby. In that moment, he feels surrounded even though there's no one around.

His eyes scan across the interior searching for Hoseok. Nothing. It's just him, and it sends a chill down his spine.

"Perfect. Too perfect."

Jungkook is confused. About where the voice is coming from and what Hoseok means. There's nothing perfect about the situation he's in.

He's all alone in an empty building with HopeWorld plastered across it. The bright colors from the sign outside is a huge contrast to what it's like inside. It's cold and unwelcoming.

What's more unsettling is that Hoseok isn't anywhere in the lobby even though Jungkook can distinctly hear him. Anyone would excuse the disembodied voice to come from the intercom, but it sounds close. The ceiling is well above him, at least 15 feet, but it feels like Hoseok is speaking right in his ear.

That knowledge should be terrifying. He should be shaking in fear. He's not though. For someone like him, being dead then somehow alive again, Jungkook has learned that things that shouldn't be real very much are.

For fuck's sake, he's seen a reaper. Talked with one. Brought back to life by one.

Every superstition Jungkook grew up with, all those stories of monsters and mystical beings, are real. Every single damn one.

He had been stupid enough to get entangled with not one but two of them. Before he died, Jungkook didn't know that. He was clueless as to what was really out there, but now he knows everything. A veil of sorts had been lifted, and all the unknowns had become clear as day.

Demons, angels, reapers. Not just them, but also lesser known creatures like wendigos and leviathans. All of it, real.

Jungkook wishes he stayed on the right side of the tracks and tampered  with beings known for their sweet nature, but his heart had been tainted. He'd been tempted and followed an unmarked path leading to a deadend.