//------------------------------// // Chapter 1 // Story: Bangtan Colts: A History No a Saga // by Creativa-Artly01 //------------------------------// It’s a rainy day as Jin walks through the streets alone with his brother, collecting stray grain as they walk. “Why are we out here in this rain?” Inquires the pale toned young unicorn. “It’s absolutely miserable. Why aren’t we back in the kitchen cooking with mom and dad?” “Because we’re on ingredient duty, my dear brother,” responds Jin’s brother as he shoves him. “That needs to happen regardless of the weather.” He giggles. “You know that. Why don’t you hum as you walk? Get your mind off the rain.” His brother begins to hum and Jin follows suit. The humming soon turns to singing as they continue to walk through the rainy fields. A few hours later, they return home with the ingredients in hoof and take them into the kitchen where they get their aprons on and begin prepping to help their parents. “You colts got that done fast,” giggles their mom, “but Jin, don’t you have somewhere to be? There are auditions in town. Didn’t you want to go?” “Yes! Thanks mom!” Hollers Jin as he grabs his raincoat and runs back out the door and down to the auditions. He hands the audition runner his forms and begins his audition. A week later, he gets a callback, accepted. That weekend, he hops on the first train out to the Big Hit Studios. Not long after he arrives he is greeted by a blue bulky earth pony colt and a built tan unicorn colt. “Who are you?” Inquires Jin. “We’re RM and Suga,” respond the other two colts. “Welcome to Big Hit. Welcome to Bangtan!” The two smile. “The others are already inside. You’re a little bit late.” The two lead him into a room where they are greeted by a red unicorn, a tall skinny yellow unicorn, a pink Pegasus, and a pink earth pony who is still in a school uniform. “These others are Tae, JHope, Jimin, and Jungkook,” says RM. “Boys why don’t you introduce yourselves to our newest member, Jin?!” He exclaims. “Hi,” whispers Jimin shyly as he shakes Jin’s hoof. He then slips back behind RM and hides. “I’m JHope!” Exclaims JHope as he hugs Jin around the neck. “It’s nice to meet you, finally!” “I’m Jungkook,” says Jungkook, “you can call me that or Cookie. You might can tell by the uniform that I’m the baby around here. I’m still in school. Heck, I just got done with classes for the day.” “Yeah, I guessed as much,” giggles Jin. “It’s nice to meet you.” The two share a hug. “And I’m Tae but I also go by V,” the red unicorn finally speaks in his distinct voice. “Welcome to the group. It’s nice to finally have another brother!” Not long after this, JHope excitedly initiates a group hug that ends up with the boys being just a pile of laughs upon the floor. They then pick each other back up and head off to get some food before continuing to talk. In the kitchen, the colts sit down and continue to talk over jumbo dumplings and spicy noodles. “Holy cow!” This is too hot!” Squeals V as he drops the bowl of noodles to the floor. “You guys need to learn some restraint! We don’t all like it spicy!” He goes and grabs some milk out the fridge with his magic and pours it down his throat to ease the wincing pain. He then switches to eating his dumplings because at least he knows those are safe. Everyone else just giggles as they watch him. They can’t stop laughing. “It’s not funny, guys,” says V aggravatedly. “You know I don’t do spicy.” “Yeah,” respond the colts. “It’s still funny though.” Suga just looks down the table with a blank stare as he quietly eats his own dumplings. “Where are the rest of you from?” Jin soon inquires. “I’m from a small little farming village. How about you guys?” “Pretty much the same,” respond the rest. “But isn’t your family well off financially?” Inquires RM not long after Jin imposes the question. “Yes,” responds Jin, “in a sense. Yes. My brother and I own a restaurant and our dad is influential. That’s basically it. Now please tell me more about yourselves. I’m curious to know.” “Well,” says Suga, “I’m clearly the most introverted for one. My family is financially unstable, poor, we’re not supposed to be, but we are. Heck, there are times I was never able to eat because we didn’t have money for food. It honestly sucked, but my mom, dad, brother and I managed to pull through.” “Well,” says JHope, “we’re pretty well off. My sister is a model and fashion designer so yeah. She got me into my love of fashion not gonna lie. I’m closer with her than my parents, but don’t tell them that.” He laughs. “We weren’t always well off though, but hey! I was always everyone’s hope, everyone’s light thanks to my upbeat, hopeful outlook on life and vibrant personality.” “Well,” says RM, “I’ve always been the big brother. I have a mom, dad, and little sister. I’m the clumsy one. But I’m also a literal genius. IQ only two points short of a 150. I was just raised in a crummy background, so what?! I’m proud of it now. Proud of where I came from, proud of where I’m going. Ya know?” “Yeah,” respond the rest. “I’ll go next,” chimes in V. “I’m the oldest of three in my family. Younger brother and younger sister. I’ve always been protective of them. I make friends with everyone I meet. I’m easygoing. I’m also a saxophonist on top of singer.” “Anything else, buddy?” Inquires RM. “What? Nah? That’s it,” responds V quickly shutting their leader down. “Jimin, you wanna speak next, Mochi?” Inquires JHope, nudging the colt to finally make a peep. “Hope, why’d you do that?” Whines Jimin, “but fine, I’ll talk, I guess. My name is Jimin.” Squeaks the colt, “yeah, I have a younger brother who is attached to me at the hip which is actually quite cute. Family wise, it’s me, him, my mom, and my dad. I hate being lonely and I hate being bullied. I like to draw as well as read comics and books in general. Growing up wasn’t easy, but at least we were kept entertained. I’m very much a people person believe it or not. I play into shy because it makes me come across more cute.” “Yeah, like we couldn’t have guessed that,” laugh JHope and V as they mess up his mane. “Silly little, Mochi!” They exclaim as they do so. “What about you, Jungkook?” Inquires Jin. “What’s your family like?” “Well, I’m athletic, artistic, shy,” responds Jungkook, “my family is pretty chill. They let me do talent shows among other things to get myself out there young and I couldn’t be more grateful. They’ve always let me chase my dreams. Ya know? As for my family, I have an older brother and a mom and a dad. My mom is actually older than my dad so yeah… and I hate school. Like hate it, hate it. Art and athletics are my only happy places.” “It’s okay, Maknae,” respond the colts, “we love you nonetheless!” They embrace him in a group hug. “And you know we’ll be there when you do graduate too to support you! You’ve got this!” At this, Jungkook blushes. Jin smiles as he piles in. He’s so glad he too gets to be a hyung amongst this band of colts. He’d honestly have it no other way. A few weeks later, after practices, Jin starts noticing messages pegged to his door written in a mysterious language. “What is this?” He first asks RM. “I don’t know, sorry,” responds RM. The next one to walk by is V, so he asks him. “Well it definitely seems important,” responds V, “I can help you research it later tonight after practice if you want. How many have you gotten of these notes anyways?” “This is the fifth one now,” responds Jin, “and thanks for agreeing to help.” “Anytime,” responds V. “Now let’s head to practice. JHope and the rest are waiting for us to start!” The two trot down to the practice room and explain to Jimin and Joon why they’re late before getting into their spots in the formation. They then begin to practice the choreography for their newest song, their first ever song, “No More Dream.” A few weeks later, they finally released the song and the music video. Not long after this, Jin gets another note. Once again, he shows it to V. “I still don’t know what these notes say,” sighs Jin, “I just wish I knew what it all meant.” V looks at him. “We’re going to the archives now, maybe there’s something there that can help us.” V lights up his horn and he and Jin head into the basement of Big Hit where they soon find the archives and there a dusty old book with the same language written on the outside and across the inside pages. There are footnotes this time. They read: NO MORE DREAM? WHAT DOES THAT MEAN FOR OUR DESTINY’S? WHO KILLED MY BEST FRIEND IN FRONT OF ME? HOW DO YOU FIND A NEW DREAM? HOW DO YOU GET PASSED THE PAIN? WHY DOES DESTINY EVEN MATTER ANYWAYS? Jin soon recognizes the hoofwriting. “Whose writing is it?” Inquires V. “Why did your jaw drop upon seeing it?” Jin closes the book, slams it closed with his own magic. “It’s, it’s my father’s hoofwriting, but why is it here and what does it mean? I need to know.” He takes the book with his magic alongside the notes and runs back up the stairs followed close behind once more by V. “Should we show it to the others?” Inquires V. “Not yet, not until I can find out more,” responds Jin stubbornly. “It’s not time to bring them in, not yet.” That night Jin and V go in their room and call up Jin’s father but are answered by his brother instead. “What do you want, brother?” Inquires Jin’s brother. “Can you just put dad on the phone?” Inquires Jin. “It’s important. I…I think I found his old diary and I have questions.” “Okay, I’ll go get him,” responds Jin’s brother, “but be warned, you may not like the answers that you’re about to receive.” “I know, but I need to know,” responds Jin. A few moments later, his father picks up on the other end. “What do you need, son?” Inquires Jin’s father. “Dad,” responds Jin, “I found your diary. What does it say? I can’t make out the language. All I could understand were your footnotes.” “Fine,” sighs his father, “you have a right to know. You’re old enough. Hold onto your dreams, my boy. Don’t let them go, now goodnight.” With that, his father hangs up the phone. “Well that was no help,” groans Jin as he plops down on the bed defeated. “Well, maybe it was, why is the book glowing?” V soon points out. Jin looks down in awe as the book opens and the scribbles turn into a name. Jin stares on dumbfounded. Maybe his dad’s vagueness was actually more help than he could’ve ever imagined. Now, the next step is just to get more information out of the old stallion. Doing that is going to be the furthest thing from easy, but alas, now, he has no choice in the matter. He rolls his eyes as he buries his head in his pillow and lets out a long sigh. Once they get some more information, then they’ll tell the others. Right now, however, it’s just he and V’s little secret. A few days later, Jin gets another call from his father. “Hello, my son, do you truly want to know more about my diary? And what’s written in it? The language you can’t understand?” “Yes, father, what is it? I need to know,” responds Jin. “Do you want me to meet you anywhere?” “The abandoned orphanage that’s about to be demolished not far from your hometown, my son, meet me there,” responds Jin’s father. “And come alone.” “Yes father,” responds Jin. He then hangs up the phone with his magic. He then sneaks out quietly and transports himself to the designated meeting place almost depleting his magic. He stands dizzy and dazed before his father and another stallion in a suit and tie. He hands the pair the diary. “What does it say, father?” He inquires. “And why was it in the archives of the Big Hit Entertainment Studio that the boys and I now call our job, our family, and our home?” “First hand me the other notes you’ve found, my boy, you need the one to explain the other.” Jin nods and hands him the hoof written notes. Jin’s father then goes on to explain them and the diary. “When I was younger” starts his father, “I wanted to be an idol too. My friends and I practiced and trained but ultimately failed. We couldn’t take the pressure. We got through the trainee program, but not long into that one of my friends was unrightly murdered right out front the alley not far from the current studio. We vowed not to go back after that. That’s the name that’s in the diary that appeared to you. As for the hoof written notes: those read-we couldn’t help him, we couldn’t save him, no matter how hard we tried, we always failed. How do you recover a soul? How do you find a soul? How do you avenge a wrongful death? How do you turn back time to go back and fix what was broken and make it new?” “You want me to go back in time and save your friend?” Inquires Jin puzzled. “I’m confused.” “You’ll learn more in time, my son,” responds his father. “Right now, you need to rest. You’ve had a long trip.” Jin nods off and soon wakes up back in his bed back at the dorm he shares with the other Bangtan Colts. There, he is awakened by V. “You had a hard fall during practice, you good?” Inquires V. “It knocked you out hard.” “I...I’m fine...thanks,” responds Jin as he struggles to sit up. “Are you ready to tell the others yet?” Inquires V. “I shouldn’t have to cover for you anymore. They have a right to know.” “We can tell all but the youngest,” Jin eventually agrees. That evening, they bring everyone but Jungkook in on their secret. The others immediately agree to help. No matter the consequences. No matter the risk. Over the following nights, they dissect the rest of the notes and the diary passages as Jungkook quietly studies in his room, out of the loop and none the wiser. “So much talk of time travel,” RM finally puffs up, “I wonder why.” “Honestly, same here,” admits Jin, “I’m still clueless as to what that even means. What my father means by that. It should become more clear as we uncover more clues.” “Who all knew before you brought us in?” Inquires Jimin. “I was the first he told,” V says. “He was hesitant to tell the rest of you guys. I don’t blame him. It’s such a weird confusing mess right now. So much jumbled information but not enough things to connect it all together right now. We need to learn more. The only thing is how?” “Right now, we just don’t know,” agrees Jin with a nod. “Surely we’ll learn more as time goes on. Right now I just want to rest. I hit the ground pretty hard. Feels like I cracked a backbone.” Upon hearing this, he’s helped to the hospital where a doctor does indeed confirm that he did break at least two or three of the bones in his back and puts him in a full back brace to help the bones heal. Right now he can’t even practice. He’s starting to wonder if the information is even worth it after all. Especially if it means this much pain and suffering.