November 2018
It's raining the night after Halloween and the soft patter of drops outside seem to be keeping Moonhae awake. It's usual repetitiveness doesn't soothe her as it does most days, now just making her uneasy for some reason. Even huddled in her many blankets on her bed, she feels empty. Has the space next to her on the mattress always been this big?
Not even her phone lights up. Maybe the occasional supportive message from Jimin comes through, but she hopes for someone else's name to appear on her display. It doesn't though. And it aches her.
She distracts herself by letting an old movie run on her TV, but when it starts reminding her too much of the person she loves, she decides to switch it off. It must be around 5am when there's a faint knock at her door. Hesitant at first, she slowly gets up from her bundle of covers and heads towards the entrance. Something in her stomach flutters when she rests her hand on the door handle.
With just a crack open, she spots Taehyung standing there. His head is slightly lowered, but the dark circles under his puffy red eyes are clearly visible. He looks like a mess with his disheveled brown hair and his baggy clothes.
"Moonhae...", his eyes start tearing up again when he sees her head poking out from around the door.
"Why did you come?", her own voice is quiet and highly unstable.
"C-can we talk? Please?", there's a note of desperation.
She leads him into the room after giving him a short nod. All she wanted was to see him again, but now that he's here, seeing him like this, just breaks her heart even more.
"Moonhae...", he sits at the edge of her bed, looking up at her with exhausted eyes, "I'm so sorry."
"Tae...", she sighs.
"No, please, I can't go on like this", his hands go up to wipe away his tears, "I haven't slept in three days and I need you to know that I'm sorry."
She steps towards him, but he continues with a shaky breath, "I should've never said those horrible things to you. I should've understood that you did those things, because you cared about us. Bringing up Jaewon... That was so wrong. I can't believe I said all of that and didn't even realize it was wrong until Jimin talked to me. He made me realize how badly I hurt you in return for hurting me..."
"Tae, please...", she starts again, though he cuts her off again.
"Moonhae, I can't live without you", desperation fills his eyes, "I can't even spend the day away from you without loosing sleep. I love you so much it scares me and I need you by my side. And I know I hurt you and I'm so sorry..."
"Taehyung, please stop apologizing", she finally gets to speak, "It's not your fault. I should have seen how hurtful it is to pretend our relationship is a product. Even if it's just for the managers, it's not right."
"I'm so sorry", he merely repeats, now breaking into sobs. Sobs of relief.
Immediately, she goes to comfort him, wrapping her arms around his head so he's resting against her stomach.
"I love you", she whispers, stroking his soft hair.
When the tears of the boy in her arms eventually dry, they lay next to each other to fall asleep. As they intertwine to comfort one another, the warmth of their company quickly eases them to get some much needed rest.
"I'm glad you two made up just in time", Jimin smiles down at Moonhae, who's busy stuffing some last minute items into her suitcase.
"Hmm?", she seems distracted.
"Well, we're going back on tour and you're going to film your series in Japan", he explains, leaning back on her bed.
"I guess so", she pauses, not wanting to think of what might've happened if Taehyung hadn't come to her room that night.
"You know, we're touring in Japan. We might come visit you on set", he winks.
"Oh shut up", she scowls at him.
After he continues joking around for a few more minutes, something comes to her mind she's been wanting to ask him about.
"Jimin?", she hesitates.
"Yeah?", he playfully raises his eyebrows.
"Did you speak to Taehyung about our fight?"
"Well... Yes", his expression grows serious, "After you guys fought, he came to me all angry and when I heard about the situation I tried to make him understand your point of view. That's when he got super depressed instead of upset. I guess it took him a while before he had the strength to talk to you."
"Thank you, Jimin", she almost whispers and doesn't meet his eyes.
"Hm?", he leans forward, slightly confused.
"You've done more for our relationship than anyone else could ever do", she smiles, "It's probably thanks to you that we're together."
"Nooo", he chuckles a little, "You guys are together because you love each other like nothing else in the world. Sometimes you just need a little boost from your old pal Jimin though."
"Ok, old pal Jimin", she laughs.
That's when Taehyung slenders into her room, ruffling through his hair and stopping when he sees the other boy sitting on her bed.
"What are you doing with my Jimin?", he tackles the older with a hug, sprawling him back on the bed and squeezing him tightly.
"Aish, Taehyungie! Let go!", he giggles, attempting to wriggle free to no avail.
"Your Jimin?", Moonhae raises her eyebrows at the two chaotic figures.
"Yeah, my Jimin", he puts on a pouty face.
"So you're cheating on me now?", she can't keep a straight face.
"No, Jimin was cheating on me with you", he continues to joke.
"Why don't we make things easier and just say we're a threesome?", Jimin finally gains the upper hand and drags Taehyung up to embrace Moonhae together.
"Nope, nope", Taehyung quickly steps back and pushes the boy away from his girlfriend, "Too far, Jimin, too far."
"But I love you guys!", he beams and tries to hug them again.
"I think Jimin needs a girlfriend", Moonhae cuts in with a smirk.
"I date people", he crosses his arms with a pout.
"Speaking of dating, I think Jungkookie is doing way too much of that", Taehyung drops back down onto the mattress.
"What happened?"
"I was hanging out with him and then Jiyoo came along and he was all over her. And not in a 'I'm deeply in love with you' kind of way", Taehyung ponders.
"I've noticed that, too", Jimin agrees, "He's just fucking around with her like he does with every other girl."
"Ugh, that means I'll have to get a new stylist again soon", Moon sighs.
"Their relationship is such bullshit. He keeps insisting he's seriously dating her, but every time Jiyoo says she loves him, he just smiles", he explains further.
"He'll grow up eventually", Jimin says hopefully.
"I guess... But he shouldn't break all these girl's hearts in the process."
It's a day before Moonhae has to leave for Japan that there's an urgent message from Jin in their group chat.
"GUYS", it reads, "I'VE FOUND PURE GOLD"
"wtf is wrong now?", she's the first to respond.
"I've actually found gold."
"I'll have some then, please", Jimin writes politely.
"You guys will never believe this."
"Hyung WHAT IS IT", Jungkook gets impatient.
"Everyone, meet me in the lounge room in 5min or miss out on the opportunity of a lifetime", Jin leaves the conversation at that.
Somehow, after about ten minutes, all eight of them find themselves in the lounge room in front of a large television screen. Jin seems to be aggressively trying to figure out how to play something from his laptop on the big display.
"What are you doing?", Taehyung asks the elder all confused, while he instinctively wraps his arms around Moon's waist.
"Just you wait and see", he grins mischievously as he keeps clicking around on his keyboard.
"I don't have time for this, Jin. I have an early flight tomorrow", she complains, leaning against Taehyung's chest.
Suddenly, something comes up on the screen. Some kind of odd file name appears. It's dated about seven years ago.
"Oh no", Namjoon steps closer to the TV with a concerned expression.
"Ladies and gentlemen, please take your seats and enjoy the show", Jin exclaims proudly and the others obey.
There's some flickering before a shaky picture appears. Someone is holding a camera and aiming it into all sorts of directions.
"Fucking hell, get the angle right, you idiot", a light girl's voice can be heard.
"Baby, it's not that easy", a deeper male voice sounds out somewhat closer.
"Oh no", Moonhae gasps as soon as she realizes what she's seeing.
The camera pans over to two youthful faces in dim limelight. One of them petite and pale with long black hair and hot pink highlights and the other a little rounder with rockstar styled hair and raised eyebrows.
"Is that you?", Taehyung whispers to Moonhae in disbelief.
"Is that Namjoon?", Hoseok blurts out.
"Oh my god, you've got to shut this off right now", she jumps up along with Namjoon to stop Jin from playing it, but he protectively stands before his laptop.
"Not a chance in hell", he smiles from ear to ear.
There's no use in arguing with him, he's Jin after all, so all they can do is take a deep breath and watch the horrors unfold.
"You're going to drop it again", the young girl on the screen complains.
"Baby, I'm not", the young Namjoon assures her, running his hand through his ridiculous hair.
"Stop calling me that, Minseo's literally in the next room", she hisses at him.
"Ok, let's get into the video", what seems to be a low quality phone camera chaotically changes angles again, so it shows the two sitting on a dingy couch.
"So, hey, guys", Namjoon says cooly, trying to make his voice sound deeper, "We're filming this for future references."
"What the fuck are you saying?", the pink stranded girl scrunches her nose.
"It's like a time capsule. We take a video of everyday life and one day it becomes something special", even the cringey Namjoon manages to sound wise.
"Mmh, sure", young Moonhae looks completely uninterested.
"So... Today I wrote some songs, should I rap them for you?", he gazes into the camera lens.
"Please don't", she seems to be fiddling for something in her bag.
"I wasn't talking to you", he scowls.
She gives him a look of what the fuck as she pulls out a lighter and what looks like a joint. Once he starts his steady flow of rapping, she lights it and takes a few hits. After a while she pats him against the chest to get him to stop rapping and hands him the joint.
"Joonie!", the girl starts laughing hysterically at the boy taking a hit. He looks completely out of place.
"You're literally so fucking stupid", she continues giggling when he starts coughing, "Ok, everyone that's watching this: Joonie is actually the worst at smoking."
"Whatever", he seems slightly embarrassed, "I still get high though. It's good for writing lyrics, yo."
The added yo sends intense signals of cringe throughout the audience's bodies.
"It's also good for fucking", young Moon leans her head against his shoulder.
"What? No, it's not", he mumbles, giving her a nervous side-eye as she nuzzles into him.
"I was kidding, you idiot", she backs away and eyes the camera, "But Joonie and I are gonna bang after this."
The boy looks as startled as ever.
"Oh my god, your face!", she goes into a laughing fit, "Was that actually believable?"
"Baby, I have a girlfriend", he reminds her.
"Then don't 'baby' me", she pushes a pink strand away from her face. Her dark eye makeup is way too dramatic for a fourteen year-old.
"When I met you, you said I could call you Moon or Love or Baby", he puts his arm around her shoulders.
"So naturally you picked the latter", she rolls her eyes, "I also have a boyfriend, just to remind you."
"Mmh...", he smiles at her as if he can't hear her.
Then she suddenly licks the side of his face, causing him to stumble backwards with a yelp.
"What the fuck?!", he wipes her slobber off of his cheek, but looks highly amused.
"Ok, everyone, it's bye from this idiot right here for now!", she yells into the camera before leaning in to shut it off.
"Joonie, where's my fucking joint?", can be heard before the video ends abruptly.
There's complete silence as everyone processes what they've just seen.
"What the fuck", is all Yoongi can say.
"Isn't this amazing?", Jin's eyes are gleaming as if he's actually found gold.
"Where the fuck did you find this?", Namjoon and Moonhae finally yell in unison.
"Archives...", he responds slyly.
"What the hell kind of archive?", Namjoon mutters.
"Not telling."
"He called you Baby?!", is seemingly the only thing stuck in Taehyung's mind.
"It was a running joke", she assures him, but knows they were just being stupid kids.
"More importantly: NAMJOON SMOKED POT AND NEVER TOLD US?!", Jungkook's jaw has dropped to the floor.
"I now see you in a whole new light", Hoseok shakes his head.
"Guys, I didn't... I was just a teenager", he tries to come up with an excuse.
"And to think you preach to kids about how bad this stuff is", Jimin joins in jokingly on making their leader feel guilty.
"It is bad", he covers his face with his hands.
"Also, I honestly can't believe Moonhae used to swear more than she does now", Hoseok refers back to the video.
"And you smoked like it was nothing! And why were hanging out with people three years older than you?", Jungkook still looks shaken up.
"I did tell you guys things were messed up", she mutters.
"Well, I thought it was the best thing I've seen in a long time", Yoongi's gummy smile makes an appearance, "Did you guys not see how stupid they looked?"
"Hey!", both Namjoon and Moon get offended, but they can't argue.
"You guys sure had a lot of chemistry...", Taehyung still seems to be pouting.
"Oh my god, Tae, can you not?", she wraps her arms around the boy and nuzzles into him.
"You were really cute as a teenager though", he smirks, welcoming her embrace, "Maybe you should get pink highlights again?"
"Shut up", she warns him playfully, "And to the rest of you: This never happened."
Her warning stare leaves Jin completely unfazed, who knows he won't let them forget.
"Mmh, sure."