It had been 12 days. 12 days since Seokjin had left to serve the military and the members were already missing him too much. It wasn't the first time that they hadn't seen the eldest in 12 days, but now it felt different. Usually when he went abroad with his family for example to go on a holiday, they knew that he would return after a couple of weeks, but now they knew that wasn't the case. Of course, the eldest would come back, but not in a few weeks, but after 18 months! 18 months were long, too long if you asked the remaining members of BTS but what can they do about it?
Nothing
So that's why the seven members had gathered together last month to talk about the upcoming years. One by one the members would enlist, meaning that their small group would become smaller and smaller over time until the last one had finished it as well. 2025. It sounded so far away, and it was actually very far ahead of them. Nearly three years of not being seven. But a different number, like the 6 that they are now. But it didn't matter if they were with 6, 5 or less members, they promised each other to always keep in touch and hang out to do fun stuff until the rest could join again. Seokjin had pulled the hyung line aside and demanded promises that they would look after the maknae line when he was gone, but he knew he didn't have to demand it. He knew that Yoongi, Namjoon and Hoseok would put the younger one's needs before theirs at all costs. And then Seokjin had pulled the maknae line apart to demand that they kept enjoying their lives and didn't sulk too much when the rest of members were going to enlist before them. He also told them with urgency that they needed to stay healthy and eat well and while telling this he especially focused on Jimin, but he also looked at Jungkook because the kid could be reckless sometimes and end up getting hurt pretty easily.
So the 6 members did what Seokjin had told them and decided to spend Christmas eve together like old times. The hyung line had found a nice villa somewhere outside Seoul while the younger ones took care of the Christmas decoration. At 11am they gathered together in Namjoon's house with their suitcases and the maknaes had some additional bags filled with Christmas stuff and presents.
"How much did you get? You know we're only spending one night at the place?" Namjoon chuckled when he noticed five big bags with stuff that were only related to Christmas. He could see a few boxes of Christmas ornaments, a small Christmas tree, a plush snowman, Santa hats and a lot more.
"Yeah we know" Taehyung said seriously and shrugged his shoulders. He grabbed two bags and then walked towards the front door "Are we going or not?"
"Yeah yeah we're coming" Yoongi mumbled as he followed the second youngest who waiting impatiently at the door. The six members then managed to get 6 suitcases, 5 big shopping bags and 6 grown-up adults into one SUV, because they refused to ride with more cars. They all had their own cars, but they secretly enjoyed traveling together like they had done many times in the past. The shared moments during rides like this were priceless and too precious as they were all singing along with Christmas songs that blasted from the speakers and how snacks were being passed through the car.
After two hours they arrived at their villa, but they had to look twice to figure out if they had arrived at the right destination.
"It looks.... smaller?" Hoseok said hesitant. He was one of the three members that had found the place on the internet, so he remembered the pictures. The house in front of them looked a little bit like the house on the website, but not completely. It looked outdated and much smaller in real life.
"I'm sure it will be better inside, come on" Namjoon said and motioned for the rest to follow him. He struggled to open the lock of the front door because it seemed a bit rusty and old, but eventually he succeeded and opened the door which made a loud creaking noise.
"It's cozy...?" Yoongi said tentatively as he stepped into the living room. Just like the outside, the inside looked outdated and smaller than in the pictures. It was still okay though. The place was big enough for the six of them as two big couches were seated in front of a large fireplace, but it definitely looked different than the house that they had booked online. It was a pretty expensive villa, but since they were millionaires they didn't think twice about the price and immediately booked it before it was reserved by someone else. But now it seemed like they were scammed. The people who rented the place had probably photoshopped the pictures to make the place look bigger and modern, but instead it was actually a wooden house with two old couches and a fireplace that wasn't cleaned in years.
"I love it!!!" Taehyung yelled when he flopped down on one of the couches. His big eyes were observing the entire room and looked at every single detail. The walls were made of wood, the floor was made of wood and even the ceiling! A house that was perfect to decorate with Christmas decoration!
The hyung line smiled at the second youngest, as they were relieved that at least someone liked the house because they felt guilty for renting a place like this. They wanted to spoil the maknaes with a big and luxurious villa, but they ended up in a wooden old house.
"And look at that fireplace!!!! We can put the socks above it to fill it with presents!!!" Jimin added enthusiastically. The youngest member joined him and shook his head "No hyung, you know that the presents belong under the tree! That's why we bought as tree as well! Why else did we get a tree?"
"Because we can decorate it with the ornaments we got" Taehyung explained and grabbed the first box from one of the shopping bags and showed four red colored balls.
"The presents doesn't even fit in the socks!!" Jungkook continued to protest, so Jimin wrapped an arm around the youngest's shoulders and pulled him closer "We're just joking Kookie. Of course the presents belong under the tree, don't worry"
"They seemed to love it" Yoongi muttered under his breath so the younger ones wouldn't hear him. Hoseok nodded hesitant, and the leader looked at his phone where he had found the pictures of the website. "But this isn't the same place. We paid a lot and it's clearly different. I'm going to call the owners. This isn't right"
"I know it isn't the same, but look at them. They love it. Isn't that what counts?" Hoseok said instead as he looked at the happy maknaes on the couch "Besides, I don't think we can go somewhere else. Every place is already booked since it's Christmas eve. It's this or nothing"
Namjoon sighed and looked at the maknaes as well "Yeah I guess you're right then. Let's just enjoy the night, but I'm going to write review on their website when we get back home"
The two other rappers agreed and then the three of them walked towards the living room and sat down on the other couch. "Okay let's divide the tasks so we can make this place ready for tonight" Hoseok started and pulled out a single piece of paper with a few things written on it.
"So we need to do some groceries for dinner tonight and get some snacks. I think two people will be okay to do that. Because then two can decorate the place and I thought that maybe Kooks and Jimin could start with hyung's Christmas present?"
The six members had discussed how they wanted to involve Seokjin with their special night. Of course, he couldn't be present, so they had grabbed a RJ, but still it felt like he wasn't involved. A few years ago when Yoongi couldn't join RUN BTS shooting, they did call him every time to check in on him and printed a photo of him so he was with them. But they even couldn't call Seokjin right now. So Jungkook had come up with the idea to make a big Christmas card so the 6 members could write a small text inside so Seokjin could read it when he returned back home. The maknae had proposed to make the card himself and asked Jimin if he could help him, because he had noticed that the other Busan boy's art skills had improved a lot over the years. Together they would make the prettiest Christmas card that Seokjin would ever see in his life. At least, that was their plan.
"Sounds good to me. Joon, shall we get the groceries? Hoseok is better at decorating than either of us, and I don't think Tae wants to go to the supermarket" Yoongi suggested.
"Iehh gosh no please" Taehyung whined and grabbed another box of Christmas decoration in the meantime. The 95-liner had been listening with only one ear since he was too distracted with all shiny decorations and he couldn't wait to get his hands on the Christmas tree that stood behind the couch.
"Okay it's decided then. Yoongi and Joon are going to get groceries. Me and Tae will decorate the place and Jimin and Kook will make hyung's card" Hoseok said and gave the piece of paper to Yoongi since the dancer had already written some groceries on it. The members then each stood up and focused on their new assigned task.
Namjoon and Yoongi had asked Taehyung to empty two big shopping bags so they could take them to the supermarket to carry the groceries, and when the second youngest was ready they left the house. Taehyung had unpacked every bag by now and happily told Hoseok were everything needed to go. The tree needed to stand on the right side of the fireplace, in the corner. The socks were supposed to hang above the fireplace and he also got some special cutlery with snowmen and Santas. The sunshine member was having a hard time to keep up with the fast rambling and he tried to remember every single detail that Taehyung was telling him, but it was a lost cause. He couldn't ever remember if the boy wanted the red or green ornaments in the tree.
Around the salon table things were a lot more calmer. Jungkook had grabbed a big white blank card along with his arts supplies and put them on the table where he and Jimin where sitting. He quickly explained to the older one how he wanted to draw the house on the card so Seokjin could visualize how their house had looked like. Jimin immediately liked it, and then the two each grabbed a black marker and started with the basics like drawing the walls and the couches, because they didn't know where the Christmas decoration was going to be yet.
Hoseok, being the sunshine member, was the one who got cold the easiest and decided to turn up the heaters and then grabbed some Christmas lights to start with the tree. They had about three hours to get the place ready before dinner, so they needed to work fast to make that happen.
~-~-~
"We could invite the entire staff with the amount of food we got" Yoongi said as he wheeled the shopping cart towards their SUV. They thought that bringing two big shopping bags would be enough to carry the groceries, but those were only covering the snacks. The groceries for dinner need four more bags, but thankfully they had a big SUV with enough space for everything.
"Jungkookie will make sure nothing is left at the end of the day" Namjoon chuckled and lifted the first bags into the back of the car. Once everything was inside, he wheeled the cart back towards the store as Yoongi started the car. The two then drove back and smiled when they saw some lightening decoration in front of one of the kitchen windows when they parked the car in front of their rented house. The maknaes had really outdone themselves when doing Christmas shoppings as they had thought about everything. Not a single piece of this house would be left untouched, judging the amount of decoration they had bought. So when they opened the front door about two hours after leaving, they had expected the place to be filled with lights, shiny objects and a lot of Christmas, but somehow it wasn't.
The tree had been decorated with some lights, but otherwise empty and one sock was hanging above the fireplace. A few more decorations were placed here and there, but that's it. Had Taehyung and Hoseok been distracted the past couple of hours? Where they really that slow? Yoongi and Namjoon looked at each other questionable, frowning at the oddness of the situation. The lack of decorations wasn't the only thing that was odd, but also the silence. A Christmas song was playing in the background, but they had expected that the members were singing along with them, or at least Taehyung. But every was quiet.
Odd.
Namjoon and Yoongi felt a bit uneasy at the unexpected situation and decided to dump the first grocery bags in the kitchen before heading out towards the living room to check on the members. Maybe they had gone outside to get some cold fresh air and now were exhausted because of it? Or had they been in a fight?
As soon as the two rappers entered the living room they observed the four members closely. Hoseok was clumsily trying to untangle some clogged Christmas lights while he was sitting on the couch, but his gaze looked a bit absent as if he didn't know what he was doing. Taehyung looked about the same while he was putting a red ornament in the Christmas tree next to another one, leaving basically no space between the two balls. That's not how you decorate a tree usually...
The rappers then focused on the art boys. Jimin and Jungkook had done a pretty good job drawing the outlines of their house, but now they were coloring the place and actually ruining the whole card. Jimin was coloring outside the lines and Jungkook was going over the same part over and over until the paper had broken so he was coloring the table underneath it instead.
The maknae line plus Hoseok looked like walking zombies. It looked like all energy had left their bodies and they didn't even seem to know what they were doing. So Namjoon and Yoongi immediately sprinted forwards, as the younger one went to Taehyung and the older one sat down next to Jimin and Jungkook.
"Tae?" Namjoon asked and waved his hand in front of the boy's face when he didn't receive a reaction. Taehyung jumped at the sudden presence and nearly dropped the glass ornament that he was holding in his hand if it weren't for the quick reflexes of the leader. "You okay? You look... distant?" he asked worriedly and absently hang the ornament somewhere in the tree so both his hands were free again.
"I'm okay. Just a bit tired I guess" he mumbled but when he turned around to find another Christmas ball, only to let it drop on the floor, Namjoon grabbed his arms and gently guided him backwards so the boy wouldn't hurt himself in the shards of glass. He then let the younger one sit down next to Hoseok on the couch, so he could check on the dancer as well.
Hoseok had stopped untangling the lights and kept staring at one point on the floor. Namjoon gently placed one of his cold hands on the boy's cheeks to get his attention. "Hobi, what's wrong? What happened? You're all acting so different"
"Nothing happened. Why would you ask?" Hoseok answered confused as he looked around the place. "We decorated the place, it looks good doesn't it? But we are not done yet"
"Yeah it looks great" Namjoon said and then looked at Taehyung was got a little pale "Are you okay Tae? You look pale?" he asked worriedly and placed a hand on the boy's forehead. He didn't feel warm, but he definitely didn't look alright, and neither did Hoseok.
"Bit dizzy hyung"
"Do you feel like throwing up?" the rapper asked and sighing relieved when the younger one shook his head. He then turned to Hoseok. "Did he eat or drink something odd? Are you sure you did nothing else then decorating the place?"
"No he didn't" Hoseok mumbled and massaged the temples of his head when a sharp pain was stabbing through his skull.
"Hoseok what's wrong? Is your head hurting?" Namjoon asked with more urgency. The leader was starting to freak out by the lack of response he got from the two members and how they were clearly sick without any clue. So he turned around to look at Yoongi for help, but he could tell that the older one was having the same problem.
"What's wrong with them?" Namjoon asked out loud, but before Yoongi could answer, Jimin suddenly moved sideways to vomit on the ground.
"Jimin!!" both rappers yelled and hovered next to him on either side. One of them was supporting his head as the other was rubbings his back when the oldest maknae continued to throw up violently. "I'm going to grab a bin" Namjoon said and quickly stood up to ran towards the kitchen. He easily found a bucket and returned next to Jimin to place the bucket underneath the boy's head but most of his stomach contents were already on the ground. They kept the bin in place while Jimin continued to dry heave.
But then suddenly a loud thud was heard on the other side of Yoongi. Both rappers immediately looked up at where the noise had come from and gasped when they saw Jungkook lying unconscious on his side.
"Jungkook!!! Shit, Namjoon stay with Jimin" Yoongi shouted and crawled over to the other maknae. What the hell was happening? Taehyung was a dizzy mess on the couch behind them, Hoseok was grabbing his head with both hands, Jimin had completely emptied his stomach and Jungkook had passed out. This can't be a coincidence anymore. Maybe they were poisoned while they were gone? Or was it possible for a bug to act this quick and make the members sick within two hours?
"Kook, come on wake up" Yoongi said anxiously while shaking Jungkook's shoulder. The boy was breathing fine, but when he felt his pulse in his neck he could tell that his heart was racing. "Namjoon, call an ambulance. He's not waking up. Something is very wrong"
The leader nodded and looked at Jungkook worriedly before standing up and sprinted towards the kitchen where he had left his jacket with his phone and quickly dialed 112.
"Yoongi, the ambulances will arrive in 10 minutes. She told me to elevate Jungkook's legs so more blood will go to his head. It could be dehydration, she said. Let's get the others some water" Namjoon said when he returned. He helped moving Jungkook's unconscious form so they could lift his legs on the couch and then he grabbed a water bottle that was standing on the salon table. He suddenly frowned when he held the bottle in his hands. It was half empty, so Jungkook or Jimin must have drunk something in the meantime. But how can they be like this if the dispatcher thought it was dehydration? Anyways, Namjoon did remove the lit and gave the bottle to Yoongi to help Jimin drink some. The oldest maknae was too weakened to hold the bottle but he gratefully accepted the cold liquid in his mouth. When the bottle was empty, Namjoon went to grab some more so he and Yoongi could help Hoseok and Taehyung as well.
Minutes passed by slowly as Jungkook remained unconscious, Jimin threw up the little water he had drunk, Hoseok was basically nonresponsive as his headache had increased and Taehyung was swaying dangerously on the couch so Namjoon had to keep him upright the whole time. But then they heard some sirens in the distance, causing both Yoongi and Namjoon to slump relieved. Help had arrived finally, so Yoongi quickly stood up to open the front door, but he needed to stop for a moment when black spots were appearing in front of his eyes.
"...-ung?"
"Yoongi!!!" he heard Namjoon yell behind him. Yoongi shook his head when the black spots disappeared after a couple of seconds and he needed another a moment to figure out why he wanted to stand up in the first place. But then he heard the sirens again and walked towards the front door, ignoring Namjoon who was stilling calling his name.
"You called 112?" a male paramedic asked when Yoongi opened the door. The rapper nodded and motioned to the living room behind him. "Four of my friends got sick out of nowhere. One of them is unconscious, and the other three are barely responding anymore"
Multiple paramedics looked at each other before entering the house, but after a few steps they stopped and turned back to Yoongi. "Get outside, now!" The rapper looked confused and wanted to step closer to his members, but a paramedic stopped him and guided him outside into the cold. "Stay here"
"But why? They are my brothers, I need to be with them!" he yelled, but his words were heard by no one as the paramedics got closer to the living room. A minute later an equally confused Namjoon was ushered outside by a paramedic, who guided both boys towards one of the ambulances to sit down. "Are you dizzy? Headache? Nauseous?" he asked urgently and pulled out a small device that he hocked on Namjoon's finger first. The two rappers shook their heads and tried to look behind the paramedic, but the man was tall and broad. "Here, put those in front of your mouths. Your oxygen levels are a little bit low, but it will be okay in a few minutes" he said and passed two oxygen masks to the boys.
Yoongi and Namjoon looked confused at the masks, but they did what they were told. "You inhaled carbon monoxide. Not much judging by your oxygen levels and the lack of symptoms. Did you do something else than the other four?"
"Yeah we just arrived after getting groceries" Namjoon explained behind the oxygen mask. The paramedic nodded and measured the boy's oxygen levels after a couple of minutes. "Your oxygen levels are normalized, you can let go of the mask" he said and took the masks back from the patients. Yoongi and Namjoon were about to ask many more questions, but then they saw a stretcher coming out of the house with Jimin on it. The boy was connected to a heart monitor and an oxygen mask was strapped over his face, making him look smaller than he already looked.
"Jimin!!" both rappers yelled simultaneously.
"Please let me go with him" Yoongi asked the paramedic, who nodded and stepped backwards to allow the boys to get to the younger one.
"Yoongi, go with him. I will ride with one of the others" Namjoon said when he saw the hesitant look on Yoongi's face. They were just the two of them, with four members badly hurt. They really wanted to say with each of them, but they couldn't ride with four ambulances at the same time. They had to choose.
"Go, you will see the others in the hospital. Go" the leader said one more time and actively pushed the older one towards Jimin's ambulance. And once the doors closed, he turned out around and saw Hoseok being lifted out of the house. The dancer was connected to the same devices as Jimin had been, but the 94-liner seemed more conscious.
"Hoseok!" Namjoon yelled as he moved closer to the stretcher. The dancer weakly lifted his hand to remove his oxygen mask, but Namjoon stopped him.
"Tae.... Kook..." Hoseok mumbled, being too out of it to form coherent sentences, but thankfully the leader understood what he was trying to say. "Yeah I will look after them. I will meet you in the hospital, okay? You're going to be okay Hoseok"
The sunshine member smiled slightly and nodded his head, before the paramedic lifted his stretcher inside the ambulance. Namjoon watched how the doors got closed and the ambulance started to drive away, as he waited for the next member to come out of the house. In the meantime his mind was going crazy. He couldn't leave Taehyung or Jungkook alone, not when they were sick like this, but he could ride with only one of them. Jungkook was probably still unconscious and not even aware if he went with him, so maybe he should ride with Taehyung instead. But on the other hand, Taehyung knew that the paramedics had arrived since he was awake when they did, but Jungkook didn't know and if he did wake up in the ambulance he would freak out seeing strangers around him. And with those reasons combined with the fact that Jungkook was the youngest and knowing that Taehyung was very protective over his only donsaeng, Namjoon decided that he should ride with the maknae and that Taehyung would agree with that decision without a second thought. So when the last two members were being carried out of the house, the leader quickly followed Jungkook's stretcher and climbed into the back of the ambulance before it rushed off towards the hospital.
~-~-~
It turned out that the paramedic that had helped Yoongi and Namjoon was right. The members were suffering from carbon monoxide poisoning, and not dehydration as the dispatcher had suggested.
"How did they get carbon monoxide poisoning?" Yoongi asked confused. He didn't know much about it, but it sounded quite serious.
"Old heaters and enclosed spaces without proper ventilation are the most common causes. It a silent killer since the patients will slowly experience symptoms without realizing and when they do, it's mostly too late to get help. Your friends were lucky that you were out of the house, otherwise it could have ended much worse..." the doctor explained. Namjoon and Yoongi couldn't help but feel goosebumps covering their skin as they realized that tonight could have ended differently. A lot different. Can you even imagine how Seokjin would have reacted knowing that the six of them had died because of carbon monoxide poisoning only 12 days after he had left?
"But the boys will be fine. I want to keep them overnight and on oxygen support for at least 8 hours, but tomorrow at the end of the day they can be released. I'm sorry you have to spend Christmas like this" the doctor said before he left the hospital room to give the members some privacy. The two rappers thanked the man and looked at the four sleeping members. Each of them was lying in a hospital bed with a big oxygen mask strapped over their faces and a heart monitor next to their bed that not only checked their heart rhythm, but also their oxygen levels. It was a comfort to see four steady heart beats and oxygen levels that were almost perfect, but it was still hard to see them like this. The four most energetic members of the group were currently sleeping because of exhaustion and the aftereffects of carbon monoxide poisoning, and the fear of losing them was still very present in Yoongi and Namjoon. It had been a close call. Too close.
"I'm going to sue the renters as soon as they are cleared to leave the hospital" Namjoon muttered under his breath as he felt anger bubble up inside him. Not only had they been scammed because the rented place looked a lot different than the pictures online, but the house had also put his members at great risk and it was luck that made sure that everyone was going to be alright at the end of the day. It shouldn't have been luck, but renters who took take care of their houses and made sure that the place was well ventilated in the first place. And that they install a carbon monoxide detector, but that was also missing in the house. Worst renters ever if you asked Namjoon, and he was ready to make their lives miserable in any possible way.
"We will, but let's focus on our boys first. They need us. We can always sue the renters. Tomorrow, in a week or in a month" Yoongi tried to calm him down
"They will pay for this. Those bastards!! Do they even realize what could have happened?!"
"I know Joon, I know. But please save the anger for another moment" the older one said and grabbed two hospital chairs for them. He gave one to the leader and placed his own in between Jungkook's and Taehyung's bed, while Namjoon went to sit in between Jimin's and Hoseok's. It was going to be an uncomfortable night since the chairs were comfortable at all, but it was worth every cramp.
~-~-~
The next morning the four admitted members woke up quite well. Most symptoms had disappeared after being hooked up on oxygen for the entire night, but the doctor did want to check their blood once again to make sure that everything was alright before they were being discharged. So the six boys were now waiting patiently for the man to return to their room with the results while Yoongi and Namjoon had explained the situation to them.
"Not a word to Seokjin about this, okay?" Yoongi said when the leader was done talking. Hoseok and the maknaes looked a bit unsure at each other, and it was Jimin who eventually spoke up "But we never keep any secrets to each other, especially not these kinds of things. He will be mad if he finds out"
"We will tell him, but not now. He already has enough on his mind right now, and knowing him he's worrying about us nonstop without knowing what happened last night" Namjoon said
"Then when are we going to tell him? When he gets back from the military?" Taehyung asked, but Yoongi and Namjoon shared a glance before the older one answered "No, when everyone is back from the military"
"But that's.... In almost 3 years!!" Jungkook gasped. The maknae was the worst at keeping secrets, so keeping a secret for 3 years was like impossible for him.
"I know Jungkook, but think about it. We worry about Seokjin right now, is that true?" Namjoon asked and when the youngest nodded he continued "Can you imagine how Seokjin will feel when he's done with the military and you're being enlisted, knowing what had happened last night when he wasn't around. He will worry a lot about you as it is, but knowing what happened will only make it worse. We will tell when everyone is back safe and healthy"
The room was silent for a moment but after some thinking and going over Namjoon's and Yoongi's reasons, the four members did agree to keep it from the oldest for the time being. And thankfully they didn't need to wait long for the doctor to return, as the man entered the room only 10 minutes later.
"Good news, you're all good to go" he said and handed Namjoon a brochure about carbon monoxide poisoning "Limit exercises to a minimum for a couple of weeks to give your bodies time to heal and call the emergency number if you're experiencing symptoms that are listed on the back. Have a safe trip home"
"Thank you doctor" the members thanked him and then grabbed their stuff, but when they were ready to leave, Yoongi paused for a moment.
"Remember: what happens in the hospital, stays in the hospital. Not a word to Seokjin, okay?"
"Not a word to Seokjin" Hoseok and the maknaes repeated reluctantly