There had been a lot of times Yoongi had wanted to give up. Being an idol wasn't easy and dancing...dancing was so hard. He had started the journey of Bangtan Seonyeondan with a reluctance to dance. Though he had started to like dancing again, he still struggled and he still had moments he wanted to just sit down and never dance again.
But there the BTS members came in.
Hoseok, with his infinite help and brightness, had patience and helped Yoongi as much as possible. Yoongi saw Hoseok as his younger brother, but at the same time also as one of his best friends. Yoongi had been so thankful for having Hoseok around.
Jin was Yoongi's one and only hyung, so Yoongi looked up to him like a younger brother would. Yoongi was respectful to Jin in ways even the maknae wouldn't be, which often annoyed Jin. "Why can't you idiots be nice to me like Yoongi?!" was a phrase that was often heard whenever someone pulled a prank on Jin or tried to irritate him.
Namjoon and Jimin were there for Yoongi in a way that was easy to describe. They were the ones Yoongi could best talk to. If Yoongi needed someone, either of them would already have figured it out and would come to him to talk to him. He hardly ever needed to ask.
Taehyung and Jungkook felt even more like younger brothers than Hoseok did. They made sure Yoongi wasn't easily bored, but they also made sure he was easily annoyed. He loved the two of them though and their happiness and energy helped him get out of bed, get off the couch, you name it.
Yeah, it was clear that Yoongi needed and loved all of the members and thanks to them he hadn't given up. Even after four years after debuting he still loved doing what he did. The bumps on the road hadn't stopped him from going on, because the members had lifted him over them.
Sounds too sweet? Oh well, he didn't care. It wasn't like he would actually say those words out loud.
Right now he was busy writing lyrics though; the words came out through writing instead of speaking. He was working on a song that would show his gratitude, not only to the members but to everything and everyone that had helped him to keep going, to not give up.
His studio was nice and could even be called cozy with all the pillows and blankets he had stuffed inside. It was winter, so the building was quite cold and his studio's heater had broken. So until someone came to repair it, he had thought of a different way to stay warm.
"Maybe he'll let us in." Yoongi heard someone whisper. Yoongi immediately recognized it as Taehyung's deep voice.
"Why would he? We don't have a very good reason." He heard another voice, Jimin's voice to be exact, say.
"We'll just tell him we're here to cheer him on. We even brought snacks so he's not gonna kill us." Taehyung whispered and right after Yoongi heard a knock on the door. He rolled his eyes and turned around in his chair, fixing his shirt as one side had started slipping off his shoulder. The perks of wearing oversized shirts, huh?
"Come in." Yoongi said, suppressing a chuckle at the surprised sounds behind the door. It opened and inside came Jimin and Taehyung, looking at him with both mischievous and careful looks on their faces.
"We're here-"
"To cheer me on. Yeah, I heard ya. Go ahead and jump on the pillowbed, but hand me those snacks." Yoongi interrupted, holding up his hand and smirking.
Jimin and Taehyung shot each other a glare.
"You were too loud!" They yelled simultaneously, Jimin even hitting Taehyung's arm.
"Well, to be honest I could hear both of you clearly." Yoongi snickered. "You two have to work on your whisper skills."
"I knew he could hear us all along." Taehyung stated, already jumping- no, diving into the pile of pillows that covered at least a quarter of the studio.
"Yeah, sure." Jimin said, rolling his eyes. He joined Taehyung in the pillowpile as well and made himself comfortable. He then glanced at Yoongi, who seemed to be deep in thought.
"Hyung, what are you working on today?"
Yoongi looked up and had a blank look on his face. He wasn't sure if he should tell them already. He kind of wanted it to be a surprise...? He wasn't even sure about that.
"Just some song I've been working on since last week." He replied after a short moment of contemplating whether or not to tell them.
"Is it for the new album?" Taehyung asked curiously.
Yoongi shook his head, but then stopped and thought about it.
"I'm not sure, to be honest. It might get added, but I'm not making it for the album specifically."
"I'm sure it will be amazing." Jimin said, grabbing the fluffiest pillow near him and hugging it. Yoongi smiled at him fondly and Taehyung giggled, hugging Jimin and the pillow.
Yoongi turned back to his computer and continued with the song, paying attention to use his headphones so the other two in the room wouldn't hear the song yet. He was about twenty minutes into his work until he realized he needed a USB stick he'd left in one of the producers' studios. There was a piece of the melody on it which he and the producer had discussed.
He let out a sigh and put his headphones on the desk. He turned around to look at the '95 liners and softly chuckled when he saw they were both sleeping in the cuddly pile of pillows and blankets. He noticed Taehyung hadn't pulled a blanket over himself, so he got up from his chair and put the nearest blanket over his sleeping dongsaeng.
"Hyung will take care of you." Yoongi mumbled. He then moved to grab his keys – the room was locked from the outside when you closed it – and made his way into the hallway.
As he walked through the hallway, he thought about how he still hadn't eaten anything today. It was around 9 pm and he heard his stomach growl, sending his thoughts straight to the snacks that Jimin and Taehyung had brought. He would absolutely devour those bags of crisps.
And maybe go for some kimchi jjigae, he thought.
A sound behind him made him stop for a moment and looking over his shoulder. There was nothing there, just an empty hallway. Maybe it was one of those air vents again? He'd been hearing those making noise for a while now, even the other members had wondered what the sound was. The staff at the building had told them it was nothing, so Yoongi reminded himself of the talk they'd had with that staff member and so he continued walking towards the studio of his producer.
He knew his producer wouldn't be there, but luckily he had the key to the door, so he went inside and closed the door behind him, searching for the light switch to turn on the lights.
"Shit, not this too." Yoongi cursed under his breath when the light switch wasn't working. Why were things breaking so easily these days? Did Namjoon have a bad week or something?
Luckily Yoongi remembered where he had put the USB stick. He turned around and felt his way around the room until he found the desk he was looking for. He opened the second drawer and felt around, hoping to feel the small USB stick somewhere.
But it wasn't.
"What the..." Yoongi mumbled. "Where did I put that thing?"
Yoongi was frowning, thinking about all the places he could've put the USB stick, when he heard a very soft but very distinct chuckle.
It came from the other side of the room.
"Aah!!" he yelled out in surprise, looking around to see if one of the members was in the room, since some of them often wanted to prank him by scaring him. "Dammit, that wasn't funny, who was it this time?"
Another chuckle. It came from the corner on the right, the spot where Yoongi knew a large bookcase stood. That wasn't particularly a spot someone would stand, if you know what I mean.
So Yoongi looked up through the darkness, only to see the bright yellow eyes and a white toothy grin from on the bookcase.
"Hello there, Yoongi~." A growl-like voice said, accompanied by yet another chuckle. "Were you looking for something?"
Yoongi felt a shiver run down his spine and he felt fear grip him by the throat, making him unable to scream.
He did come to his senses soon enough though. He turned on his heel and opened the door swiftly, slamming it shut behind him.
For a moment he rested against the door, panting. There was disbelief on his face, because what was in there hadn't seemed real. Maybe it wasn't even real. Had he been hallucinating?
"Leaving so soon~?" he heard the voice again, this time from the other side of the door.
"AAH!" He screamed, running back to his studio.
He didn't look behind him. He ran straight to his studio, unlocked the door and slammed it shut again, falling to the ground against the door.
He'd obviously woken up the two sleeping boys. Jimin grunted, punching Taehyung because he thought he was the one making the noise. Taehyung whined a 'why are you doing this?!' and sat up straight, rubbing his eyes.
"Oh, Yoong-hyung? What are you doing on the floor?" Taehyung asked Yoongi sleepily.
This woke Jimin up fully. The boy shot up, thinking there was some medical emergency. He looked over at Yoongi worriedly and pushed away his blanket. He got out of the pillowpile – with difficulty – and moved in front of Yoongi.
"Hyung? You look very pale, are you alright?" he asked.
Yoongi shook his head. "No, no way...no, I'm anything but alright."
"Can you tell us what's wrong? Are you hurt somewhere?" Jimin asked, his voice calm but concerned.
Yoongi shook his head again.
"Jimin-ah, maybe you should give him some space." Taehyung said, noticing how Yoongi wasn't even paying that much attention to Jimin, but more to his breathing. He was trying to calm himself down, but his mind just couldn't comprehend what he'd seen. Those yellow eyes...that grin...that voice...
Jimin had moved back now and Yoongi finally tore his eyes away from staring into nothingness. He ran a hand through his hair, not noticing how much he was shaking.
The boys did though, and they looked at each other in concern.
"I-I went to get a USB stick from another studio..." Yoongi started explaining, "I was inside, but the lights weren't working. I didn't think much of it, the heater in here is broken too and the air vents make noise all the time. But then..."
He fell silent, not knowing if he should even tell his friends about this. What if it had been a hallucination? What if his mind had played tricks on him? It hadn't happened before, but Yoongi hadn't slept much and he still hadn't eaten. Maybe that could be a trigger?
"Hyung, something obviously happened. You should tell us." Taehyung said.
"I'm not even sure if it was real..." Yoongi breathed out, looking at his hands.
"Even if it wasn't, it scared you shitless." Jimin said. Then he put on a teasing smile and winked. "So hurry up and tell us, or we'll go and eat all the snacks by ourselves."
Yoongi let out a shaky laugh and rolled his eyes.
The two boys sat down on the ground in front of him, Taehyung still having his blanket around him and Jimin's hair looking like a squirrel's nest. Both waited patiently until Yoongi told them what he'd seen.
"There was someone in the room." Yoongi said softly, still looking at his hands. "They spoke a-and...I've never heard a voice like that before...it was animal-like...it was like a growl..."
He waited for a few seconds, thinking about what exactly he'd seen after that.
"There were these yellow eyes...not yellow like a cat, more like...just the irises. They were yellow...a-and the pupils were blown up...The room was dark, you know, so besides that, all I could see was those yellow eyes and their white teeth which were formed into this...this wicked grin."
Jimin frowned at that. "Hyung, that sounds like it wasn't even a person. It's almost like a vampire was in your room."
"Maybe it wasn't human." Taehyung said, eyes blown wide at Yoongi's story. "Hyung, maybe it was a ghost!!"
"Ghosts don't sit on bookcases and growl like an animal..." Jimin deadpanned.
"And how do you know?" Taehyung retorted. "It's not like you've met a ghost before. Or have you?"
Jimin faltered. "N-No, but I just know that Yoongi-hyung's description can't fit a ghost. That's just impossible."
"This whole experience is impossible." Yoongi sighed, getting back up on his feet. "I don't even know if what I saw was real."
Taehyung shrugged. "Well, let's find out."
Jimin and Yoongi both looked at him like he'd grown a second head.
"What?" Taehyung asked innocently. "We can just go to the studio – hehe that rhymes – and see for ourselves what kind of monster lives there now."
And so the three boys stood in front of the other studio.
Yoongi was shaking, though he would never admit it.
Jimin was worried, and he had his phone with him, 911 ready to call if anything were to happen.
Taehyung was just a little nervous, not really knowing what to expect. Still, to be prepared, he'd brought a flashlight.
"Alright, hyung, could you open the door for us?" he asked.
Yoongi nodded, pulling the keys from his pocket and unlocking the studio. He immediately took a leap backward, not wanting to be the first one to enter the room. He didn't want to look like a wimp, but he couldn't help himself.
Taehyung took the lead, turning on his flashlight and lighting up the room. He walked in, shining the flashlight on each corner, before he motioned the other two to join him.
"Can you see anything?" Yoongi asked, hesitating at the doorstep.
"Nothing but this." Taehyung said, holding up something.
Yoongi squinted his eyes, trying to see what his dongsaeng was holding. When he saw it, his heart fell. It was a mask. A mask with yellow eyes and a big grin. But it wasn't the same thing as he'd seen. It wasn't.
"Hyung, I think someone tricked you." Jimin said, a sympathetic look on his face.
"And they did well." Taehyung snickered, earning a jab in the side from his friend.
"Where did you put the USB stick?" Jimin asked. "Might as well search for it now."
Yoongi had a sad look on his face. He motioned towards the drawer in the desk and mumbled something about being unable to find it since it wasn't in that drawer. However, when Jimin opened it, he pulled out the USB stick immediately.
"Is it this one?" Jimin asked, a little uncertain.
"What the-" Yoongi mumbled. "That's impossible, it wasn't in there!"
"Well, at least you have it now." Jimin shrugged.
"Let's go back to your studio, hyung. I'm dying to eat those snacks we brought." Taehyung said, already halfway through the room.
Yoongi nodded, staring at the USB stick Jimin had handed him.
The three of them left the room, Taehyung with the mask in his hands and Yoongi with the USB stick. Yoongi was walking behind Taehyung and Jimin, eyes fixed on the mask Taehyung was holding.
It wasn't the same. It really wasn't. However, it had yellow eyes and a big scary grin...it fit his description perfectly. But it wasn't the same. It really, really wasn't.
But who would believe him?
He didn't even believe himself...