The Raven Hotel | Jikook |

Chapter 1: Rumor Has It

"If you agreed with me sooner, this wouldn't be happening. I'm getting tired of doing this every night," Namjoon spoke into a calm whisper whenever he addressed the young and drunk boy. He knew better not to yell at such a fragile little lamb like him. "My coat is now dirty because of your stubbornness, Jeon Jungkook."

"It's your fault you didn't leave me alone! That's all I ask!" Jungkook continued and squirmed around as the older only walked forward and opened the stall door.

By then, Namjoon walked out of the club with Jungkook over his shoulder like a child. Just as they reached the exit of the club, Jungkook stopped fighting back and was still, he calmed down once they reached the outside. The cold wind brushed his red face and caused him to remain silent as he reminisced on the many drinks that remained in his system.

"Now I can sit still knowing well that you are safe and out of trouble," Namjoon sighed and placed the younger within the black leather seats of his grey car. "If you need to throw up, let me know. I didn't clean the backseat for you to leave another surprise again."

Jungkook looked at the older man with a glare and turned his face away to look out the other window to his left. He was silent now and tried his best to hold back the urge of throwing up. With the silence screaming into the older man's ears, he tilted his head and let out a scoff before closing the boy in the car for a moment until he reached the drivers side. That split second Jungkook was alone in the car, felt like hours as the world slowed down around him. He wasn't too drunk to do things he wouldn't normally do, but at the same time, he also wasn't sober enough to make the best decisions at the moment.

"You're like a child, Jeon Jungkook," Namjoon started once again as he opened his side of the door and got in. "Will you do this again tomorrow night? Maybe. I come home tired from work and I feel bad for myself, I can't relax or sleep well knowing you're spending so much here! So much time... so much money... it's sad."

The tone of the older man's voice was worried, but never upset. He was the older brother figure that watched over the young man and took him out of trouble every week at the club. For Kim Namjoon, that's what he signed up for when he allowed the young man to live with him. As the two became roommates, Namjoon knew exactly what he was getting himself into, but did he stop this from happening along the way? No, Kim Namjoon was too fond of Jeon Jungkook —in a brotherly way— to turn him down from the circumstances he lived in prior to living with Namjoon.

"You don't have to baby me every... every second, Namjoon. I-I am twenty three...y-years... years old, I can take... I can take care of myself at a club!" Jungkook hissed and leaned by the window to look out at the dark grey skies above.

"You know I can't let this habit of yours continue. This is bad for your health, mentally and physically! I just want you to stay home, Jungkook. I want you to be safe! It's not called babying, I genuinely care about you, Jungkook and I hate how I have to keep driving you home and lecturing you about this. Also, do you think it's okay to waste your hard earned money at the club? You're going to be in debt soon if you keep telling the bartender to stack the payments on your tab. You'll have to work very hard to repay them now. At this rate, you only work to gain money and waste it all in the club!"

"Why don't you just pay it like you used to?"

"Because I've done that for you before. I've done that so many times to the point where I can't keep doing it if you're not going to learn from your mistakes. Please, Jungkook, I'm doing this for your own good," Namjoon mentioned and began to drive out of the parking lot of the club. The ride became silent after that and the older man couldn't help but to feel anxious over the silence that bit down on his ear afterwards.

Quickly, Namjoon reached over to the radio of the car and switched it onto any station just so the eerie silence wouldn't continue to linger on. Once the sound of the radio filled the inside of the car, relief greeted him, but it wasn't enough to change the mood of the car now. Music played on the radio, soft and careful touches of the piano soothed the energy of the night as the cold rain began to tap continuously against the windows.

The night was still, quiet, dull and grim. Jungkook was biting his lip as his eyes were glued onto the raindrops racing down the window. Deep down, he avoided the situation and only planned on drinking more to forget this issue he had with his roommate, but never did he ever try to confront the situation alone. No, he was too afraid to confront any issue and only dismissed it by sweeping it under a rug like it never existed in the first place.

"Ah, there's too much traffic up ahead. At this rate we'll make it home a little later than usual unless I take the route through that street no one drives through..." Namjoon mentioned and looked to the side where Jungkook remained quiet. "Many people say it's haunted... but, how could a whole street be haunted? No one lives there. It's a whole street of isolated and abandoned homes. Not a ghost town. But we'll be alright, it is a quicker route back home," Namjoon noted and took a turn off the main road. Just as they reached the isolated part of town, the rain poured harder than before.

Like a curious child, Jungkook looked out through the window to see the many houses that were kept in a perfect condition. He wasn't one to believe in rumors of paranormal activity occurring, but he was always a curious boy. The still buildings were as if there were people living in it, but in reality, those houses were empty and grim. The only evidence of life given to the street were the streetlights at every corner. Traffic was never a word associated with the street, many people avoided the eerie place and many believed that it was because every house gave off the feeling that someone was always looking back as they passed by.

"Rumor has it, some people reported ghost sightings in some houses... if you walk through these streets alone at night, you'll find a few faces staring back at you. Of course, those are just rumors.. I don't know if that's a real thing that happens here," Namjoon chuckled and looked up ahead to catch a big building with only a few dimmed lights inside it.

The building had about thirteen floors. It was coated in a beige color wrapped around the walls and some of the windows carried such a dim light. Namjoon noticed the eerie building up ahead and slowed down to take a good look at it.

Jungkook then sat up and leaned over to see the huge sign sitting on the yard of the building. The grass looked freshly cut and refreshed in the rain, there was a smooth concrete path leading to the center of a fountain in which complimented the look of the building. But it looked as if it hadn't been turned on in ages; moss creeped along the corners of the cracks and the fountain was only filled with water when it rained. The building was welcoming; but at the same time, it gave off an uncanny feeling. There seemed to be dimmed lights within the windows, but was it a true sign of life? Jungkook couldn't tell. The building was lifeless and still, almost as if it was abandoned but only a few remained after the disaster.

"I guess there are a few people here... that's weird; no one has ever talked about this building before, at least, none to my knowledge," Namjoon whispered as the rain kept pouring just outside the car. Suddenly, the radio became static and they were left with the sound of the rain showering the street heavily. "Can you see what the sign says over there? I want to see the name of the building."

Jungkook cleared his drunk thoughts instantly and finally looked over at the sign once Namjoon slowed the car down until it was put into a stop. Just as the young boy locked eyes onto the sign, he finally read the cracked and unkept sign, aloud.

"Welcome to The Raven Hotel."