The Looking Glass - A BTS Story

CHAPTER I - ALL

What is a man? His body, face, thoughts, dreams, soul? And what is his soul but his dreams, memories and regrets? Our soul grows with us, molding, transforming. But are our soul and our persona the same, or are they totally different parts of us? Are our souls hidden deep, or do they shine through our lives making us stars?

***

They arrived at the filming location before dawn: a beat-down junk yard. Everyone was screaming, be careful, don't touch that, stay away from that. The staff was prodigious, a cinematic piece would have less people. And so many cameras, lights, props. Not to talk about the costumes. When the day was nearly over, they had only filmed a few sequences in more than fifteen hours. They'd have to come back the next day to finish.

"Can someone retouch their make-up while we fix this?", the director exclaimed pointing at the screen. He had an angry look; someone was going to get yelled at soon.

"I'll take five", Kook told them. He wasn't in the last scene, so his make-up was already done.

"Need some water?". The staff asked.

"No, I'll just take a walk".

"Stay close".

"Sure".

He needed some time alone: a moment he could stay away from the camera, from his public façade. So, he walked, looking at the ground not to step at anything remotely dangerous. There was an old rocking chair. An antique many would choose to restore and even get some money out of it. But others would just throw it away and buy something new, even though it was pretty well preserved for trash. He grabbed a piece of tissue he had with him and positioned it on top of it so that he wouldn't get his clothes dirty. As he sat, he let out a sigh. Those long days, the endless hours, made him wish for a different life, a world where he was just a regular nobody. As he thought that he saw something shine on a mountain of trash nearby. He got closer and identified the object. It was an old mirror with an intricate frame. Beyond the dirty and some superficial damage, its splendor shined through. He was taken by a strange need to take a better look at it, admire it for a long time. But he heard someone calling him.

They shot some more scenes, but the director kept complaining about the light. They would have to come back even earlier the next day, and two or more days after that probably. The agency scheduled a month's worth of shooting in a week. A recipe for exhaustion, but they didn't really care about their well-being, as long as they could perform that was enough.

The other day, he felt the need to go back there. The production would still take a while fixing the light, camera and positioning. Luckily, they had their stand-ins, which allowed them to catch a break. Before he could notice, Jungkook was wandering away, seeking that strange mirror he saw. From afar, he saw a light and followed it. And there it was, the sun reflecting on its surface and guiding him. When he was face-to-face with it, he couldn't look away. He admired his figure in the mirror, but he noticed some small differences. Some traces on his face, his hair and some details on his clothes.

"Jeon-ie, people are looking for you. Are you there?" Hoseok called him.

"I'm right here", he answered, not taking his eyes away from the mirror.

"What are you doing there? Everyone is looking for you right now. We thought you got lost".

"Nope, I'm right here. Safe and sound". He still looked at the mirror but saw Hoseok approaching through his reflection. It took him a while to recognize that it wasn't the Hoseok he knew. His clothes were different, and he was wearing much less make-up. He was more serious, like a teacher observing his students.

"What is that?", he said, observing the stranger on the other side. "Who is that?"

"I'm not sure",

"Jeon! Hoby! Where are you?" The other boys called them.

"Here", They answered without taking their eyes away from the mirror.

"What are you doing? We sent you to bring him back and you end up lost too?", Namjoon asked, putting his leader's voice to use.

"Sorry", they answered, unapologetically.

"What is that?", Jimin asked looking at the handsome police officer that looked back at him.

"How did you find such a thing?" Tae asked.

Soon they were all gathered around the mirror, admiring their figures.

"It's like a whole different world waiting for us to explore it", Jin said, getting closer.

"Yes, I could say that". Namjoon got closer too, but stumbled upon something and pushed the other members. Before they realized, they were engulfed by a strange light and fell asleep with a strange sound that took them through the unknown.

When they woke up, they couldn't recognize the clothes they were wearing or the place they were at, and the mirror had disappeared.

***

"Is everyone okay?" Namjoon again took the position he was used to, taking care of everyone.

"I think so", Tae was the first to answer.

"A little pain in my back, but I guess I'm okay". Jin said.

"That's because you're getting old." Jungkook answered, teasing him.

"Really funny". Jin replied sarcastically.

Pronto they were all up, checking their pockets and their clothes. There were documents, papers, money, credit cards, cellphones. Soon, one of their phones rang. It took them a while to figure out whose phone it was.

"They want me back at the precinct", Jimin said after ending the call.

"Precinct?"

"Yeah, I'm an officer it seems. And I should be heading back to work or so".

They didn't know where they were, or even who they were. They thought about all that and traced a plan. Until they could find the mirror and go back to their normal lives, they'd have to act normal. Figure out who the people they were living as were and pretend nothing changed. They split up and went back to their regular lives.