I’m having too much fun with my ponified versions of BTS. Sue me. Jin is just a normal colt until he joins the Bangtan colts. Along with that, comes a journey and a mysterious diary that he needs the help of his new friends, his new brothers to solve
Jin is tasked with a confusing yet impossible mission by an old diary belonging to his father and by miscellaneous notes written in the same strange language. Now it’s just deciphering what it means but he’ll need the help of his band mates to do that even if he is hesitant to bring them into the fold.
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.
It’s a new, more sunny day when RM, JHope, and V go and visit Jin in the hospital. Once there, they are led to his room by the nurse before entering on their own with a knock. “How are you doing?” Inquire the boys. “We’re all worried about you.”
“I could honestly be better,” groans Jin in absolute and total complete pain. “But thanks for asking.” He winces in pain once more as he struggles to sit up. “I’m just ready to heal up and get out of here at this point.”
“Well, you need to heal first, you know that,” responds RM sternly. “Health comes first. Music comes second. You can’t perform if you don’t heal.” They stay with him for a bit and they continue to talk.
“You unpacked anything else from that book and those notes? We found another three notes outside your room just this morning alone,” says V bluntly. He uses his magic to hand Jin the notes. “We figured we might try to help you decipher them since we’re here anyways.” Jin takes the notes with his magic and reads the notes.
“They say Together You Can Face the Bullets. Be BULLETPROOF,” responds Jin. “So I’m guessing it means we’re stronger as brothers, as Bangtan. It’s honestly one of the more straightforward clues we’ve been given.” He then eyes the paper a little closer and sees something faded. He soon uses his magic to heat the papers up a bit and with that, he uncovers a secret message. “There’s something else here too, I wonder if it’s on the other notes. It reads: the answers you seek are in the old storage room.”
“What’s the old storage room, I wonder?” Says Jin. He looks up at his bandmates. “Do you guys know?”
“It’s gotta be at our old high school surely,” responds V. “Where else would it be? We’ll go check it out. You just stay here and rest.” Jin nods and hands the notes back to V with his magic and V intercepts them with his own magic in return. V, RM, and JHope then head to the school where they soon find an abandoned room with music supplies strewn across the floor. Busted guitars, old unwired speakers, stacks upon stacks of papers and old cds.
“Well this must be it,” says V as he lights up the area with his magic. RM and JHope follow suit. They begin to look around. They soon spot something in the darkness, an old Polaroid photograph which RM picks up with his magic. He flips it over.
“It’s a picture of two ponies, but who are they?” Says RM. He shows his bandmates.
“One looks like it’s Jin’s father but younger,” responds V, “as for the other one, maybe the one we got the name for earlier on, the one who was murdered.”
“Well, let’s take it back to Jin and have him confirm so we know for certain,” responds RM. The other two nod in agreement. They look around for a bit longer before returning to Jin’s room at the hospital. They tell Jin that they found the room and show him the picture.
“It, it’s a picture of dad,” says Jin dumbfounded.
“Yes, but who is the second pony?” Inquires RM. “We figured you might know.”
“I have some idea,” responds Jin. He hands them the paper with the name on it with his magic. Together they read the name. It’s the name of the murdered colt. A few hours later, they confirm as much when Jin’s father comes to visit him in the hospital.
“Yeah,” says Jin’s dad as he sees the photograph, “that picture is the last picture my friend and I took before he was cruelly murdered in front of me and our other friends. See that shadow in the background. That’s the supposed murderer.” Jin’s father points to the shadow. “Where did you boys find this?”
“The old storage room,” responds V. “What did that room used to be? It looked to be an old music studio or music room?”
“Because that’s precisely what it was,” responds Jin’s father, “my friends and I used to want to be idol trainees and we used that room to practice and write our music before that school was condemned. We haven’t visited it since our trainee days. Now, it belongs to you boys. There’s more information there than you’ll ever know. It’ll help you on your journey.” With that, Jin’s father wishes his son and his friends well and leaves the room to return to his work.
“What else could be in that room, I wonder?” Responds Jin.
“Well, there were boxes upon boxes of notes of paper and old cds, maybe there’s stuff on those,” responds V, “that would be my guess.”
“Yeah, same,” agree RM and JHope. “We’ll go back and explore in a bit. You stay here and rest, get better.” Jin nods.
“Like I have a choice,” Jin grumbles, “let me know what you find.”
“We will, just like we always do,” agree the others. They head back to the old music room to do some more investigation. While there, they indeed find more information on the cds and in the files. They end up taking it all back to Jin so he can read it for himself and help them out as well. By the end of the afternoon, they’ve put a good many more pieces together. This is soon relayed to the rest sans Jungkook. The poor kid is starting to feel as if he’s out of the loop and is getting suspicious every time his hyungs head out to the hospital to check on Jin, but he’s not ready to confront his brothers. Not yet.
Later that evening when he’s left alone, Jungkook sneaks out to the hospital and into Jin’s room where he stands over the bed of a sleeping Jin. “Jin,” says Jungkook. This jerks Jin awake.
“What do you want, kid? Why did you sneak out?” Says Jin as he struggles to sit up in bed. “Do the others know you’re here?”
“No, but why are you hiding something important from me? I know you’re hiding something from me?”
“Because it’s an adult problem, you’re only a foal,” responds Jin annoyed, “you don’t have time to worry about it. Worry about your school.”
“The school that I hate, yeah right, that’s hecking rich,” giggles Jungkook with an eye roll. “Everyone else knows I hate it there, why don’t you? How don’t you?”
“Sorry, I didn’t know, honestly,” responds Jin. “Point is, we’ve got this. Me and the others, so just trust us, okay?” He tries to reassure Jungkook. “Okay?”
“Okay,” sighs Jungkook, “but you know I’ll find out eventually.” Jungkook leaves the hospital and catches a late night bus back to the studio. Once he arrives back, he’s greeted by and scolded by RM.
“Jk, you need to stop sneaking out at night, just go back to your room,” says RM sternly. He’s super mad. “Where did you sneak off to this time? It wasn’t to bother Jin was it?”
“It was to talk with Jin, yes,” says Jungkook ashamed. He slumps into his room and sits down on his bed. RM sits down across from him in a chair in the opposite corner.
“You’re a little handful, you know that, right?” Snickers RM.
“Well someone’s got to keep you on your toes, you’re all a bunch of old geezers compared to me,” giggles Jungkook. “Try to keep up.”
“Just go to sleep, I have to go do my joint live with V,” says RM as he ruffles Jungkook’s mane. “Goodnight.” With that RM closes the door with his magic and puts a lock barrier around the door so Jungkook can’t sneak out again without him knowing. He then goes and sits down for the live with V.
“Jungkook got out again, didn’t he?” Says V as RM sits down next to him.
“Yeah,” responds RM. “I locked him in his room. He can’t get out now.” He giggles. “If he trips the spell around his door, an alarm will sound and I’ll know immediately.”
“Good,” responds V. “Now let’s start this live. The fans are waiting.” V opens the phone with his magic before casting a video player spell up on the wall behind them so they have a bigger space to interact with for the live. They spend the most of the night answering the questions of fans and performing their songs and covers of other songs that the fans request. They’re just relieved that Jungkook is still in the dark, how long that’s gonna last on the other hoof, they have no idea. An hour and a half later, the live comes to an end and RM goes to check back on Jungkook while V heads off to bed himself. It’s been a long day and honestly they could all use the rest of a good night’s sleep especially after yet another Jungkook breakout having them all on edge. Sometimes they can’t help but feel like that that colt is someday gonna be the death of them.
Over the following months, the boys continue to release their songs, music videos, and albums to much fanfare and success and eventually Jungkook drops the whole betrayal by his hyungs altogether or at least it seems that way. He’s just too focused on the performances just like his brothers are. By the end of the year, they’re touring all across Equestria with each and every concert sold out too. Everypony can’t help but sing and dance along to the music of the talented foreign colts from a land far away from their own. Only a week in, the fans even settle on a name that the band runs with: ARMY. Soon, Bangtan Colts merch is everywhere as well much to the amazement of the boys.
“We’re big time,” whispers RM to the others, “like big time, big time now.”
“Yeah, we sure are,” respond the others. “And it’s amazing!” That night, they sit together and joke around in their tour cart. Jin is finally messing around just like old times as he tackles Jungkook and Jimin to the ground in a pile of laughs. The others soon pile right on top of them too and break out laughing as well.
“Who would’ve ever thunk this?” Says RM with a sigh. “I know I sure wouldn’t have.”
“Yeah, same here,” agree the others but V is the only one to actually vocalize it aloud.
“The fact we went from dirt poor nothings to the biggest band in Equestria is insane,” responds V, “so many fans were there tonight. It was absolutely insane!”
“Yeah, let’s go! It was so insane!” Agrees JHope excitedly. He begins jumping around full of joy, hope, energy and just pure sunshine. Later that night, they do yet another momentous performance with insane fanfare once again. The following months and years are the same, performances, albums, music videos, story lines and so much so much more.
After the first three years of performances start to wrap up, the others finally decide to bring Jungkook into the fold including Jin. “Jungkook, you were right, we were hiding something from you, the history of my father’s past. He asked us to help him get closure, get answers, sorry we didn’t bring you in sooner,” sighs Jin.
“Well, you should’ve brought me in what is it? Four years ago now. The beginning of us and the beginning of whatever the heck you’ve been doing with me on the sidelines the entire time!” Huffs Jk. “Like what the actual hell guys! That’s not okay and you guys should know better!”
“We were just trying to protect you, trying to be good hyungs, ones you deserved,” says V trying to calm Jungkook down. “Please try to understand. Please.”
“Well, you’re rightfully upset,” responds Jin, “and I’m sorry I told them not to tell you. That was wrong of me, but like V said, it was to protect you. I hope you’ll realize that.”
“He will in time,” V reassures Jin. Jungkook by this point has stormed out the practice room and out the building. He’s followed not far behind by the others who drag him back inside with their magic on the part of V, Jin, RM, and JHope as the others just watch on from the background. It’s time to try to get Jk to calm down but that’s going to be harder than they ever imagined at this point. That’s for sure.
A few hours later, the rest of the colts finally get Jungkook calmed down and they start on their dance practice at long last. “Are you good now?” Asks Jin.
“Yeah, but let’s just practice and get done with it,” responds Jk still in a bit of a mood. He gets into his place in the formation as do the rest of the colts. Two hours later, practice wraps up and the boys head to bed. Once in their room, Jin sits down with V and everypony else sans Jk and they go over the notes once again. Looking more into it, they find three more names-other childhood friends of Jin’s father.
“These three names,” says V to the others, “they were also on that wall in that old music room. I’ve seen them before.”
“Well, we can go look into it more in the morning,” agrees Jin. “Sound good?”
“Yeah, sure does,” agree the rest.
The next morning, all the boys are up with the sun, do breakfast and practice before heading out to the old music room at the school and locate the names once more. Under the names, they find a notch which opens up a hole in the wall where a key is held. A few hours later, they find a keyhole in the wall and squeeze the key in and it clicks and the door opens. They follow it down a corridor.
“Oh this is creepy, I don’t like this at all,” complains a freaked out JHope. He lights up his horn and the other unicorns follow suit. They continue down the corridor. A few minutes in, a scratched message is noticed on the wall by V.
“What is that? It looks important,” points out V. He begins to read the scratches. “There is more here than there appears. Keep your eyes peeled for a silver scale and the thorn of a white rose.”
“Well, that’s very intriguing,” agrees Jin. He uses paper and a crayon to take a rubbing of it with his magic before they carry on down the corridor. A few hours later, they come into a room with a silver scale on a marble pedestal. Not far from it, V notices a vase with a flower on the floor, the white rose. He picks it up with his magic.
“Here’s the rose,” says V. He sets it upon the scale with his magic. With this, the scale balances out and they’re led down a second corridor. On the walls there appear more names and clues to help them through their quest. Jin makes sure to write down all the names and clues to use going forward. After several more hours, they finally escape the maze of corridors and end up back outside the abandoned condemned school across the street from an old orphanage. They decide to go across the street and explore. There, they find more clues and another note. Jin reads it.
“In this old home you will find the gateway to the map of the soul,” reads Jin.
“But what does that mean?” Inquire the rest.
“Yeah, I am wondering that too,” responds Jin, “I’m as clueless as you are.” They continue to search for a few more hours before returning to Big Hit to do practice for their upcoming concert. As they practice, Jin can’t stop thinking about the newest clue. He’ll ask his dad about it in a few days. Right now, he has a concert to worry about after all.
A few days later, Jin gets around to asking his father about the clue. “But what does it mean, dad? What are all these names? Who are these ponies?” Inquires Jin. “I’ve never seen anything like it before, that hallway we stumbled upon.”
“The one under the old mill corridor I take it,” responds his father. “Those names are all the stallions who died down there either to suicide or other mysterious circumstances trying to find that stupid, cursed, damned map of the soul. Now please don’t bring it up again. Go visit your brother, sister in law, and the new foal why don’t you?!”
“I will after work, I better get back,” responds Jin, “thanks for the help as always, dad.” With that, Jin leaves and returns to Big Hit and conveys the findings to the rest of the boys.
“So, what did your dad have to say?” Inquires V.
“Yeah,” respond the other boys in agreement.
“Those names we saw,” responds Jin, “they either killed themselves or disappeared under mysterious circumstances. Dad didn’t seem to want to talk about it. I’m guessing his friends were some of those who disappeared or killed themselves.”
“Well shit,” they all hear Suga verbalize. “What do we do now? There’s got to be more to this than just a simple list of missing ponies, right?”
“Yeah, I guess so,” responds Jin. “That would make the most sense. We’ll take it to the authorities later. Right now we need to practice for the concert tomorrow.”
“Yeah, agreed,” responds Namjoon. They all head to the practice studios together to begin work on warming up before starting on the new choreography. As they’re practicing, Jin can’t stop thinking about the list of names and what his dad said. Why doesn’t his dad want him digging into it further? The unicorn wonders. What is his father hiding from him? He just has to know, but at the same time he doesn’t want to prod because he knows how uncomfortable it makes his father.
A few hours later, they finish practice and Jin locks himself away in his room with the notepad to read through everything they’ve found on their journey so far. He compares the names and sees that five are identical across both lists. “That’s strange,” says Jin. As he says it, he hears Namjoon outside his door.
“Jin, you’ve been locked in there for three hours now, alone, please come out!” The unicorn pounds the lock using his magic. “Please unlock the door and let me in.”
“Not right now!” Jin hollers back. “I’m onto something. Give me just a few more minutes!”
“Okay, you get five,” responds RM, “then I’m coming in there!”
“Okay, noted, now thanks, bye!” Responds Jin. He quickly notes down the similarities on both lists, the identical names. He then brings it out and shows the rest of the boys.
“About damn time,” snaps Suga. “Also ya missed it, RM got his horn stuck in the wall again, clumsy bugger.”
“Yeah, some things never change,” laughs Jin with a snicker. The unicorn levitates the lists over to the table in the break room and sets it down in front of his friends, his beloved brothers. He then goes and pulls RM out of the wall with his magic again. Some things never change for the eldest of the band.
Once they’re all there, Jin shows his new findings to the others. “Those five names across both lists were dad’s closest friends, I can’t believe I only just now realized…” says Jin to the rest.
“But what now?” Inquire the rest.
“Yeah, your dad doesn’t seem to want to tell us much,” V pipes up.
“We just need to give him time, we’ve brought a lot of his old trauma back after all,” responds Jin. “But I promise we’ll get answers somehow.”
“Well, I sure hope so,” responds JHope.
“Now can we please go get lunch?” Butts in a hungry Jimin. “It’s been awhile since we’ve eaten now after all.” The rest agree with him and they go and make ramen in the kitchen. A few minutes later, the noodles are ready and the colts sit down and enjoy their meal. As they eat, they laugh and joke just like they always do. As he eats, Jimin props his head on V’s shoulder. He begins to sing their song. “Stay, hey, you are my soulmate.” V, to humor his best friend, sings back.
“You are my soulmate!” Sings the red unicorn with a smile. After they finish up with their food, V and Jimin run off to mess around together some more.
“Classic 95s,” giggles RM, so done with it all. “Up to their own antics in their own little world.”
“Well, to be fair,” says Jungkook to his hyungs, “the two have been best friends even before our group formed. They are indeed truly soulmates.”
Off in their room, V and Jimin laugh as they watch videos of their goofy antics on a screen illusion V cast up with his magic. The two smile as they snuggle up under the warm blanket on the bed. “I’m so lucky, blessed, that you’re my soulmate,” says V as he hugs Jimin close to him.
“And I’m so glad you’re mine, with you, I am whole, I’m no longer alone,” responds Jimin, “they’re right when they say you were born in the last days of 1995 so I’d never be alone.”
Meanwhile in the kitchen, Jin cleans up from their meal with Suga and Jungkook’s help. After the three finish the dishes, they go to separate parts of the dorm to do their own thing for the rest of the night. Jin goes to look more into the Map of the Soul stuff while Suga goes to play basketball outside in the pitch black while Jungkook goes off to do his own thing in his room.
Once in his room, Jin lets out a sigh. “What else are you hiding, dad? What don’t you want me to know?”
Meanwhile in his room, Jungkook pulls out his video games and begins to play on his new ponystation 4. He plays for several hours before getting bored. Out of his boredom, he goes to the room of RM. Upon hearing the knock, RM opens his door with his magic.
“What do you want, maknae? It’s late,” yawns RM. “Why are you waking me up at this hour?”
“I couldn’t sleep,” sighs Jungkook, “could I sleep with you tonight?”
“Okay, little brother, just this once,” responds RM. He hugs the colt close to him and leads him into his room. There, Jk cuddles up to RM and falls fast asleep before his hyung can get a word in edgewise. RM, accepting his fate, passes back out himself. At this point, he’s too tired to even question anything anymore. He knows the kid has had it rough, so he’s just gonna roll with it, for his maknae’s sake.
After several hours of looking through all his stuff, Jin can’t stay awake any longer and passes out on his table top. He’ll deal with it again in the morning.
Soon enough, five hours later, the morning finally rolls around and everycolt is up with the sun except for RM and Jungkook who V and JHope pull out of RM’s bed with their magic and plop them on the floor. “Hey, what gives?!” Complains the leader annoyed.
“Ya overslept,” responds V bluntly. “We’re all waiting on you. Now let’s get to practice.”
“But what of breakfast?” Complains the maknae.
“Ya overslept, you can eat after practice,” responds V bluntly. “Ya smooze, ya lose, kid.”
“Fine,” huffs Jungkook. He and RM follow the rest to the practice room. There, they practice for a few hours on their choreography before heading off to lunch, breakfast for the two late sleepers. As they’re eating, Jin reads over another note he got two days prior as well as the police report from the night of the murder for the hundredth gazillioneth time.
A few minutes later, they hear a knock on the door. V jumps up to open it. He does so with his magic before being greeted by one of his friends and his dog. Tani runs into his beloved owner’s hooves.
“It’s been awhile since Tani visited the studios, V, he’s gotten big,” giggles JHope.
“Yeah,” responds V, “but he’s still my tiny Tani. My lil baby Yeontan.” V whistles and Yeontan jumps up into his hooves. He cuddles the puppy close to him. “Hey boy, hey,” he giggles. They spend the rest of breakfast/lunch playing with Yeontan. All the while, Jin’s mind is unfortunately elsewhere.
A few hours later, Yeontan is taken home by V’s friend and V heads back to practice along with the others. “It was nice having Tani in the studio again,” says JHope to V. “Why don’t you bring him more often?!”
“Yeah, I really should, shouldn’t I?” Giggles V. “Now let’s get done with practice. I have other places to be.” The others nod and they do practice for another hour before parting ways. With practice done, V leaves Big Hit Studios and goes into the city, to the art museum and just sits among the art for several hours, just taking in all its beauty and splendor. He stays there until it closes before returning back to his dorm room at Hybe where he’s soon greeted by Jimin.
“Hey Taehyungie,” says Jimin as he embraces his best friend in a hug. “Did you have fun at the art exhibition?”
“How did you know that’s where I was?” Inquires the red unicorn.
“Best friend sense,” giggles Jimin.
“No really?” Responds V with a snicker. “I only told RM.”
“Fine, RM told me,” giggles Jimin. “But did you enjoy it?”
“Yes, you know art is my safe space, my element,” responds V. “Now I’m tired. I don’t know about you.” V plops down on the bed and Jimin plops down on top of him. With that, the two pass out and fall fast asleep.
Meanwhile, Jin is on a late night call with his father going over the police report once again. “Yes, I take it you’ve found something new, something I miss,” says his father over the phone.
“Not yet, but we’re closer than ever, I can feel it,” responds Jin. “We’re close to finding the murderer. I can feel it.” They talk for a few more minutes before his father hangs up for the night. With that, Jin goes to bed himself. It’s been a long and busy day for them all once again after all.
The following day, after practice, Jin hears a knock on the door. He gets up and goes over to the door and opens it with his magic. There, he is greeted by a mysterious pony in a cloak. The mysterious pony levitates an envelope folder to the stallion with his own magic. “Who are you?” Inquires Jin confused. “What do you want from me?”
“Just open the envelope,” responds the mysterious pony. Jin obliges. He opens it with his magic and pulls out a paper with a name on it. He then pulls out a mugshot photo as well. He looks at the mug in shock.
“Who is this?” Inquires Jin.
“It’s your murderer you’ve been in search of, of course,” responds the mysterious pony. The pony uses its magic to lower its hood and to reveal its face. Under the hood, is a small, violet purple mare with a navy blue mane with pink and purple streaks throughout her mane. Jin looks at the pony in shock.
“Are you? Are you the princess?” Inquires Jin.
“The one and only,” responds the mare. “I’m Princess Twilight Sparkle.”
“But why are you helping me?” Inquires Jin still in shock.
“Because, it’s my duty as princess to keep everypony safe.” With that, she flies off leaving Jin down below to look up in shock as she disappears into the clouds. Jin takes the envelope inside and shares its contents with the others.
“Brothers, you won’t believe what just happened!” Jin hollers through the studios. With that, Jimin comes flying in followed by the others running after him.
“What is it, Jin?” Inquires V speaking for the rest of the stallions around him. Jin pulls the note and photo out of the envelope and shows the others.
“It’s the murderer of my father's friend,” responds Jin. “His name is Gijow.”
“Wow!” Says everypony else in shock as they look at the mugshot.
Jin, after discussing more with the others, heads out to the prison where he is soon led to Gijow’s cell by several guards who stand watch as the two stallions talk. “Why did you murder my father’s friend?!” Demands the pale colored unicorn. “Why did you do it?!”
“Because the little worm hand it coming,” snarls the stallion, “fool was peeping in my business.”
“And what business would that be?” Demands Jin. “Tell me!”
“The business of the Korean Jopok, colt,” snarls the stallion. “He was snooping on one of our deals and fool got caught.”
“Okay,” responds Jin. With that, Jin motions to the guards to show him out to which they oblige. With that, Jin returns home with the new information in hand and tells his findings to his father.
“Hello, son,” says Jin’s father as he opens the door with his magic to find his son there. Jin follows his father inside. “What news do you have now, my son?”
“The name of your friend’s murderer, and he is indeed behind bars, recently caught, got the mugshot this morning,” responds Jin. “His name is Gijow. He’s part of the Jopok.”
“I know what he is,” shudders Jin’s father as a pain of fear, terror, shoots through his bones. “Now please leave.”
“But why?” Responds Jin.
“So you don’t get hurt,” responds his father. “Just go!” Jin obliges and teleports back to Big Hit Studios. There, he is greeted by his friends as they look at him in shock.
“You’re sweating bullets, hyung,” says a worried Hobi. “What happened?”
“I can’t say, I don’t want you colts getting hurt,” cries Jin. “I may have just put a target on my father’s back, on my own, and I’m scared.” He bursts into full blown tears. “I…I don’t know what to do. I don’t know how to protect you guys.”
“Protect us from what?” Demands Suga.
“Gijow’s fellow Jopok,” responds Jin. “I think they’re going to kill me, kill my dad. I think they know that I know the truth.”
“Well, shit,” responds Suga, “we’ll do what we can to protect you, we promise.”
“I appreciate that, really I do,” responds Jin, “but I can’t let you guys put yourselves in harm’s way for me.” With that, Jin goes and locks himself in his room and Suga and Hobi follow behind him trying to talk him into coming back out to which he refuses. Days pass and things stay the same. Jin refuses to leave his room and has even cast a magic lock spell around the door that not even Namjoon can break with his own magic. He doesn’t even come out for practice, meals, rehearsals, no nothing. As the days pass, the rest of the boys begin to worry.
“I don’t think he’s ever coming out,” says a for once worried Suga. “I’m worried about him.”
“Yeah,” agrees the normally sunshiny Hobi who for once is as limp as a dead flower. “I just hope he’s okay.”
“Yeah,” agree the rest.
“It’s not easy for him knowing he has a target on his back though,” V finally pipes up. “Just give him time. Give him time.” He lets out a sigh. “I’ll leave y’all to it, I need to go clear my head.” V goes off to his room followed swiftly by Jimin. Once in V’s room, V pulls his saxophone off the wall with his magic and begins to play as Jimin watches on from outside the door. V is none the wiser that the little Pegasus is there until he hears a little peep. He stops playing and spots the Pegasus in the doorway.
“I’m worried about him,” says V to the little pink Pegasus.
“Yeah, me too,” agrees Jimin as he flies to the bed and lands softly on the pillows. “Surely he’ll be alright, right?”
“I wish I knew,” sighs V. “He won’t tell Hobi, RM, Suga anything, so not even I know anything. Not this time.” V goes back to playing his saxophone as Jimin listens on in silence. This continues for the rest of the night until dinner time. Even at hearing word dinner, Jin still doesn’t leave his room but instead takes the tray under the door with his magic and transports it to his table. He doesn’t even open the door.
Meanwhile at Jin’s family home, his father soon hears a knock on the door. Upon hearing it, Jin’s father flings open a hidden bunker door with his magic and quickly rushes himself, his wife, other son, daughter in law, and grandfoal into the Gray dullness and closes the door above their heads, sealing it with a magic lock spell. The door crashes open as other unicorns, ones belonging to the Jopok, rummage through the house above. Upon finding nopony home, they leave, deciding upon coming back later to check again. Even upon hearing their leaving, the family stays concealed in the bunker, spending the rest of the night there much to everypony’s dismay.
“What is going on?” Inquires his wife.
“My friend’s killer,” responds Jin’s father, “his stallions, his men are after me now. After Jin now.”
“What do you mean after you and after our son?!” Exclaims his wife, a normally calm pale fuschia colored Pegasus, furiously. “What did you drag that boy into now?!”
“He found out the name of my friend’s murderer,” responds Jin’s father calmly, “now shut up so they don’t come back.” He gives her a stern glare. With that, she backs down and goes back to tending to her terrified daughter in law and grandcolt.
Meanwhile back at Big Hit, the others still have no luck of getting Jin out of his room. “Hyung, please come out,” begs Jimin in tears. “We’re worried about you. We all are.”
“But I don’t want you guys getting hurt!” Snaps Jin from his side of the door. “Now please just go away.” V pushes Jimin back and begins to speak on every stallion else’s behalf.
“Jin, stop this right now, please come out,” demands V in his stern voice. He’s not playing around. “We’re worried about you. We can protect you just as you protect us. Besides, you can’t protect us from inside the walls of your room. Please come out.” The red unicorn begins to tear up a bit and his voice begins to tremble. “Hyung, please…”
“I…I can’t, I’m sorry,” Jin finally responds. V turns to face their leader.
“RM, if we combine all the power of our magic, can you, I, and Hobi blow open the door?”
“Yes, but it’s your idea, you’re paying to replace the door,” responds RM.
“Fine,” responds V. “A door can be replaced, this friendship, this brotherhood cannot.” With that, the three fire up their horns. As they do, they finally hear a response from Jin.
“Fine, just wait,” sighs Jin in defeat. He opens up the door with his magic before being pounced on by his brothers in a great big hug pile.
“Jimin,” gasps Jin, “please let go. I can’t breathe.”
“Oh sorry,” responds Jimin, “it’s just we haven’t seen you in days. We were so worried.”
“I know,” sighs Jin, “and I’m sorry. I just want to protect you guys. It’s my duty as the eldest after all.”
“We’re well aware,” responds V bluntly. “But like we said, you can’t protect us from behind closed doors.” He pauses as soon as a thud is heard in the hall. “Who is there?” Says the red unicorn as he jumps back now on edge.
“Relax, boys,” they hear a voice say calmly. “It’s just me, PDogg. I’m here to get RM and Suga for a meeting.” RM and Suga nod and trot out the room with the slate Gray unicorn. The rest get back to working on catching Jin up on all the choreography he had missed while locked away in his room. Three hours later, RM and Suga return. They then begin practicing the choreography as a group.
“We’re glad you’re back,” says V to Jin as they practice.
“Yeah, me too,” agrees the pale unicorn. As he starts to say something else, he hears his phone ring. He pulls it up to his face with his magic and answers it. “Oh hi mom, what’s wrong?” Says Jin worried.
“What did your dad do? What did he pull you in on?” Demands his mom. She then goes back to terrified. “Whoever you and your dad ticked off are now after our family.”
“Wait, what?!” Says Jin in shock. “I’m coming home!”
“No, don’t,” responds his mom, “your dad has this under control. Stay where you are.”
“Okay, mom, whatever you say,” responds Jin. “I gotta go now, bye.”
“Okay, bye,” responds his mother. She then hangs up the phone. Jin goes and sits in the corner in shock and tears. The boys go over to comfort their Hyung.
“Let’s call quits on practice for today,” says RM to everypony, “Okay.”
“Okay,” nod the rest of the boys. V goes off to his room to practice some more on his saxophone. Jimin and Suga go outside and play basketball on the new court. The rest go and do their own thing throughout Big Hit except for Hobi who would rather just continue to dance even on his own, no surprises there. RM walks Jin to one of the office spaces and the two talk in private for hours on end. He’s worried about his friend. He can’t say he’s not.
“Jin,” says RM, “do you honestly think you’re in danger? Your family is in danger?”
“Yes, yes I do,” cries Jin. “Dad and his friends apparently got on the bad side of the Jopok. Now, I don’t know what to do.” He bows his head. “I don’t know what to do anymore.” He lets out a sigh. “I just want to be safe, want you guys to be safe, want my folks and my family to be safe.”
“There, there,” says RM as he rubs his friend’s back to comfort him, “we can keep you safe, don’t worry.”
“Are you sure?” Says Jin, his voice shaking from crying so much.
“Absolutely,” responds RM. “Now stay here for the night. I’ll stay with you. I promise.”
Jin nods. “Okay…” he sniffles and lets out a sigh. “Okay…” RM trots off to get blankets and pillows and builds the two of them a pillow fort in the office. There, the two spend the night laughing and reading books and enjoying cold egg rolls. They’re making the best they can of the situation and right now, that’s all they can do. Right now, Jin’s safety is top priority.
As the night progresses on, the two are checked on by a worried Hobi who decided to stay late doing dance practice. “Hey RM, hey Jin, how are you colts holding up?” Inquires the lanky slender yellow unicorn.
“Could be better,” says Jin eventually, “I’m still on edge from the threat made against me and my family not gonna lie. You can stay the night with us if you want, but you’re not required to.”
“Yeah,” agrees RM, “you can but you’re not required to.”
“Well, you know I’m staying, when somepony messes with one brother, he messes with us all!” Responds Hobi. He snuggles in the fort between RM and Jin. The yellow unicorn then instantly passes out exhausted from dancing all night long.
“Well, looks like it’s the three of us tonight,” says RM as he brings a book over to himself with his magic. He opens it with his magic to the chapter he’s currently reading through. Jin decides on a different comfort object, he pulls up a compilation video V sent him from his Hwarang days on his phone and watches as he casts it up on the blankets with his magic. Jin giggles and laughs as he watches V just being pure cuteness incarnate. A few hours later, RM steps out to answer a call from Suga.
“How is Jin doing?” Inquires the blue earth pony stallion.
“Well, he’s watching fun compilation videos V sent him to keep him entertained and more importantly, calm. He’s pretty rattled but right now, his mind seems to be off the situation at hoof which is good. Hopefully, he stays calm and relaxed the rest of the night. Thanks for checking in, Yoongi.”
“Anytime,” responds Suga. “Jin is family after all, stay safe.”
“Will do,” responds RM and with that, he hangs up. He then goes back into the pillow fort where a stirred Hobi wakes up upon hearing the noise.
“It’s just me, Hobi,” says RM, “go back to sleep.” Hobi nods and dozes back off. RM looks to the other side of him and sees Jin is now fast asleep and the phone, still playing compilations, has been dropped at his side. RM turns off the phone and returns to his book.
Several hours later, the three ponies awaken with the sun and head to the practice rooms where they are soon greeted by hugs from the others. Suga is his first to throw his hooves around Jin to embrace him in a hug which takes the pale unicorn aback just a little bit. The others soon follow suit. Jimin full blown jumps into Jin’s hooves with his hug. The group head off and do breakfast before finally jumping into practicing their choreography for their upcoming concert.
Meanwhile, elsewhere, the Jopok are discussing what to do next when it comes to Jin’s father and his family. “Shouldn’t we just kill them all off?” Says one of the stallions, a slate Gray unicorn. “We don’t leave loose ends after all.”
“Well,” responds the boss, a pitch black unicorn stallion, “let’s leave them on edge first. We’ll kill them in time.” He drinks his wine with a sly grin from the cup he’s holding with his magic. “Besides, we just want Jin dead, not his friends. We’re not barbarians. We’re classy here. We need to find a way to get Jin alone first. Once he’s gone, then we can deal with his family, with his father.”
Meanwhile back at Big Hit, Jin is called into another meeting by RM. “Are you sure you feel safe doing concerts especially right now with a target on your back? On our backs for protecting you as well?”
“We have to, for the fans,” responds Jin obstinately. “We can’t leave them hanging for months, possibly years, because my dad and I did something stupid.”
“If you say so,” responds RM hestinantly, “but if you change your mind, that’s okay. Just letting you know.”
“I know, and I won’t,” responds Jin. The two then head back out to practice with the rest of the group. They walk back in on many whispers. RM looks at them in disdain.
“What are y’all whispering about?” Demands RM with a glare.
V looks up at their leader. He pauses a moment before answering. “We were just curious to what was taking you two that long. Last time a meeting went that long, a concert tour ended up being cancelled. We were worried, concerned this might be a similar case.”
“Well, it was not, I can assure you of that,” responds RM, “now let’s get back to practice.” Everypony gets back into position and practice begins up once more. Life goes on. There’s definitely no arguing on that one, especially not this time around.
After practice for the night comes to an end, V runs off leaving his brothers in the dust, especially Jimin who flies but to no avail, still can’t catch up with his soulmate. “Taehyungie!” Screams the irritated little pink Pegasus. “Where are you headed out to so fast? Weren’t we gonna go back to our room and chill with video games like we do after every practice?”
“Sorry Jimin, not tonight, I have other plans,” says V. “The squad wants to hang out. They’re my hyungs too, they’re family too. I haven’t seen them in months! I want to catch up!”
“Okay,” sighs Jimin before flying off dejected. V runs after him and embraces him in a hug.
“I’ll be back in an hour or four, I promise,” says V as he uses his magic to raise a handkerchief to wipe the tears from Jimin’s eyes. “I promise.” And with that, V teleports off to join his other friends. Soon, he’s in the restaurant.
“About time you showed up,” teases Peakboy. The rest follow suit.
“Oh shut up,” says V as he blushes adorably. “How are you guys?! It’s been too long!”
“Good,” responds Park Hyung Sik.
“I’ve been well, thanks,” agrees Peakboy.
“Fine,” responds Park Seo Joon.
“Good,” responds Choi Woo Shik.
“What kept you so long anyways?” Inquires Peakboy. “You’re never late to something you plan, our maknae!”
“Jiminah!” Responds V bluntly. “My precious, precious soulmate.”
“You could’ve brought him along, you know?” Responds Peakboy. “We wouldn’t mind, you know?”
“Yeah, I know, I just didn’t think about it,” says V as he blushes embarrassed. “I’ll bring him next time.”
Meanwhile back at Big Hit, RM and Jin settle into their pillow fort once again for the night. This time, they’re bothered by a lonesome Jimin. “Jiminy,” says RM, “I thought you were hanging out with V tonight just like you colts always do.”
“V had other plans with his Wooga hyungs,” pouts Jimin. “I’m lonely.” The pink pegasus’ eyes start to fill with tears. “Why couldn’t he have taken me with him, hyung?”
“Because you weren’t invited, Jiminy,” responds RM bluntly. “Now please, just go home and get some sleep.” Jimin, dejected, agrees and goes back to the dorm and to his room he shares with V. He plops down on the bed and begins to pout. Hearing his hyung’s sniffles from down the hall, Jungkook comes running.
“Are you lonely?” Inquires the Golden maknae.
“Uh huh,” sniffles Jimin through the tears. “V is out on the town tonight with his other hyungs. Will you play video games with me? So I won’t be alone?”
“Of course, hyung,” responds Jungkook. He goes and plugs in the PonyStation and they start up a game of Mare-io Kart.
Five hours later, V returns to the dorm after being walked back there by Peakboy because he got to sickly levels of drunk. V wanders in all dazed and passes out on the bed without even acknowledging Jimin and Jungkook. Jimin, pitying his soulmate, asks Jungkook to leave which the pale pink earth pony agrees too, before going and tucking V into bed himself. As he does, he softly sings V’s lullaby “Winter Bear”. Hearing his song, V stirs and sings along in his sleep. Jimin cracks a smile. He strokes V’s hair with his wings before cuddling up next to his friend and falling fast asleep himself.
The next morning, Jimin is up with the sun and so is a dazed Taehyung. “Taehyungie,” says Jimin, “you came back sick last night. How much did you drink when you were out? You know full well you can’t handle beer like the rest of us.”
“Only three glasses.” Jimin raises an eyebrow signaling his disbelief.
“Okay, fine,” says V coming clean, “I had five.”
“Well, don’t do that again, you know you get sick after like two,” responds Jimin. “When it’s you, I can’t help but get worried. You know that.”
“Yeah, I know,” responds V. “You’re my best friend, you have the right to worry about me, care so much about me. Oh, by the way, the squad wants to meet you. They said to bring you along next time. And of course I agreed! I want them to meet you too!”
“Well, alright!” Squeals Jimin excitedly forgetting he’s upset with his friend. “I’m in!” After a few more sentences, V can’t hold it anymore and teleports to the bathroom and pukes in the toilet and the tub of the shower. “He’s lucky it’s our day off of practice,” says Jimin as he shakes his head as he leaves the room they share, “so so lucky.” Jimin flies to the bathroom to check on V as he’s still worried about him.
“V, are you okay in there?” Says Jimin worried.
“Am now,” says V as he opens the door with his magic to find the little pink Pegasus outside. “But thanks for asking.” With that, the two go to the main room of their dorm and watch tv together. They spend the rest of the day together. V and Jimin both wouldn’t have it any other way, just like the true soulmates they are!
Meanwhile on their day off of practice, JHope, Jin, RM, and Suga chill and watch movies in the pillow fort Jin and RM constructed.
“Still scared to go outside, to go home?” Suga inquires of his hyung.
“Yeah,” responds Jin. “I don’t want to get hurt, don’t want you guys getting hurt, don’t want my family-mom, dad, brother, sister in law, little Butter getting hurt.” The pale unicorn stallion begins to cry. “I just don’t want them after us anymore, after me anymore. We should’ve stopped early on in our search. If we had, none of this would’ve ever happened. We’d all be safe, carefree colts again. We’re all trapped in a hell I created, and for that, I’m so so sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry,” responds RM, “we’re family. No matter what, we have your back.” RM pulls Jin close to him with his own magic. They then all go back to watching the movie in peace while Hobi runs off to get popcorn from the kitchen. A few minutes later, he returns with one popcorn and four beers encircled by his magic to carry it. He soon plops it down in front of his friends and they begin to snack on it together. They end up watching three movies before all passing out in a brother pile in the pillow fort.
Three hours later, the sun rises awaking all the boys. V and Jimin climb out of their bed back at the dorm and Kookie does the same. The pillow fort gang soon follows suit at the studio. Suga heads straight to his own studio to work on some new songs while RM stays with Jin. Hobi heads off to work on learning the new choreography so he can teach it to the rest later.
“You good, last night I could tell Yoongi’s question kinda rattled you?” Inquires their concerned leader.
“Yeah, it did rattle me not gonna lie,” responds Jin, still in tears. “I just want to be able to go home, to see my family, but I can’t, not without risking their lives and my own.”
“Who is after you and your father anyways if you don’t mind me asking?” Inquires RM.
“Jopok,” responds Jin. “The Jopok.”
“So the mafia, I’m guessing it has to do with your dad witnessing his friend’s murder then, huh?”
“Yeah, and our diving into it,” responds Jin. “We never should’ve dived into it. We should’ve just let the murders go unsolved.” He bows his head into his hooves, he’s in full blown tears now, “we should’ve just let the murders go unsolved…” RM and Jin wrap up their talk because RM clearly sees that his hyung needs time alone to destress and calm down before practice. RM teleports elsewhere in the building with his magic. Meanwhile, the maknaes are just arriving to Big Hit. Once there, V teleports the three of them inside to the practice room. Once inside, V seems a bit dazed. RM pops in front of them. He looks at V with concern.
“V, you’re dazed,” says RM one eyebrow raised. “What happened last night that got you like this?”
Jimin pipes up and answers for V against V’s wishes. “He got drunk and sick while out with his Wooga hyungs.” RM scolds V.
“Tae, you know you don’t handle beer well, what’s up?” Says the beige unicorn sternly and quite bluntly. He leads V into a separate room where they can talk more in private. “V, what’s up? Why did you get drunk?”
“Because my hyungs said they’d…”
“They’d what, V?” Responds RM. “You can tell me. There’s nothing I can do that will hurt them.”
“Promise?” Responds V.
“Promise,” responds RM, “now tell me. What’d they say?”
“My hyungs said they’d all…nope, I can’t do it,” says V shaking his head.
“Okay, Fine, fair enough, I’ll stop pushing,” responds RM. “Now let’s get down to dance practice, deal? The rest are waiting. Well, except for Jin, he’s taking a sick day. If you don’t feel up to it after last night, you can too. I don’t mind. I’ll let the boys know, you know that.”
“I honestly don’t feel up to it,” says V finally coming clean. He then teleports off to the bathroom to puke. RM teleports to the dance practice rooms to notify everypony else.
“What took you so long?” Says Hobi.
“V isn’t feeling well and neither is Jin, I was just checking in on them,” responds RM, “but I’m here now.”
“Okay, we’ll I hope they get better soon, we all do,” responds Hobi. He then motions for everypony to get in formation which they do. Jimin looks around confused while he groans to himself. “V told me he was fine, Taehyungie told me he was fine. Well, tbf dancing is a different monster than singing when you’re sick so I get it. He doesn’t want to puke over everypony.” Jimin shakes the thoughts loose and refocuses his concentration as soon as he hears Hobi call his name. They then jump right back into practice. They practice for hours.
Meanwhile locked away in his studio bathroom, V waits for Jimin and the rest to finish. He’s been puking every few minutes or so. “I never should’ve drunk all that beer on a bet,” groans V, “so so stupid.”
A few minutes later, Jimin comes flying through the door followed by RM who grabs the eager Pegasus’s tail with his magic. “Just a minute there, Speedy,” says RM as he plops the Pegasus onto the floor with a thud.
“But I wanna see my Taehyungie,” whines Jimin.
“First tell me, did he tell you what happened when he came home sick last night?”
“He said he lost a bet to Peakboy, their normal antics he said,” responds Jimin, “but I knew it was more than their normal antics. V doesn’t touch beer, not normally. Eventually, he told me it was due to a bet and honestly, I don’t doubt that at all.”
“Well, thanks for telling me, Jiminy, now go see Taehyung. I won’t keep you any longer.” Hearing this Jimin flies through the studio door and embraces Taehyung in a hug.
“You told them, didn’t you?” Says V scolding his best friend.
“Literally just RM,” responds Jimin, “I promise.”
“Okay,” responds V. “Okay.” He teleports to the bathroom and pukes once more.
Three days later, V finally feels back to his old self and jumps headfirst back into practice including extra hours to catch up on all the choreography practice he missed while he was sick.
As for Jin, he continues to put up walls when it comes to everypony that’s not RM. He becomes more reclusive. He quits doing concerts, tours. He becomes a ghost. RM can’t help but worry. A few days later, Jin disappears without a word and without a trace. Worried, RM and the boys head out in search of their friend, their brother.
“Jin! Jin! Jin!” Hollers RM through the woods outside of the studio. “Where are you, hyung?”
“Jin! Hyung!” Holler the rest in unison. “Where are you?” The unicorns light up their horns as it begins to get dark out. “Jin! Jin, where are you?”
Meanwhile in the Jopok headquarters, the slate Gray stallion and another pull a bag off of Jin and his father’s heads with their magic.
“What, what do you want with us?” Says Jin.
“Let my boy go,” demands Jin’s father, “he only deep dived into the disappearances because I asked him to. He’s not at fault, I am.” Jin’s father begins to cry. “You murdered my friend, I just wanted answers and my boy was just so ready and rearing to help that I let him.” Jin’s father is in full blown tears at this point. “Please just kill me and let my son go.”
“No,” a voice booms through the room as a large black unicorn stallion enters the room. “Both of you have to pay for what you’ve seen, witnessed, heard.” With that, he comes forward and around the chairs where the two stallions are sat. He pulls out a knife with his magic and puts it to Jin’s father’s throat. He then brings it back and away from the terrified stallion.
Meanwhile, the boys continue to search through the woods for their friend to no avail. Dejected, they return to the studio and report the disappearance to Bang PD and the others. “What do you mean Jin is missing? Like missing missing?” Inquires Bang.
“Yes,” responds RM. “And even I have no idea where he’s gone.” RM’s eyes begin to fill with tears, “no pony here knows where he’s gone. He just up and disappeared.”
“Did he get in trouble with anyone big?” Inquires Bang.
“Can I talk to you about that in private?” RM shoots back.
“Of course, let’s go to my office,” responds Bang understandingly. RM follows Bang to his office and there they continue to talk.
“What happened? Who did Jin get in hot water with to the point he’s now missing?” Inquires Bang.
“He, he ticked off the Jopok,” responds RM with a stutter. “I’m starting to think that’s why he disappeared.”
“Yeah, that sounds like it would track,” responds Bang. “But we’ll do whatever we can to find him, I promise.”
“Okay,” responds RM. He lets out a sigh. “Here’s hoping we can find him in time.” He opens the door with his magic and walks out. Even without Jin, practice still has to go on much to their dismay.
Over the following days, the boys continue their search for Jin but alas, it’s to no avail. Meanwhile in Canterlot, the disappearance has reached the ears of Twilight Sparkle and the other princesses. “Twilight, what are you not telling us?” Says Celestia. “What stake do you have in this? You seem worried, concerned.”
“Well, a pony just up and disappeared, Princess, who wouldn’t be concerned?” Responds Twilight bluntly.
“Fair enough,” responds Luna as she does her best to calm down her older sister. The two leave the room leaving Twilight alone. Now alone, Twilight pens a letter to RM with her magic. She then has Spike deliver it via fire breath. A few moments later, it’s received by RM and the other when it plops out of thin air and into their laps in the practice room. RM opens the scroll with his magic.
“Dear RM and Bangtan,” RM reads, “news of your friend’s disappearance, your bandmate’s disappearance, has reached us here in the capitol in Canterlot. I feel partially to blame for your friend’s kidnapping. You see, I’m the one who gave him the folder with the murderer’s name. I honestly had no idea that pony had mob ties, mafia ties, I swear on Celestia’s name I had no idea. I want to help, Twilight.”
The others look at RM in shock. “The princess knows!” Shouts Suga outraged. “The hell?!”
“Suga, please calm down,” says RM as he pulls the buff blue stallion back with his magic. “She, like us, was only trying to help Jin find answers, now please chill out.” The blue stallion lets out a huff.
“Fine,” humphs Suga before sitting back down between RM and JHope. RM goes and tucks the letter away in his office, his studio before heading out in search of Jin once again. The others follow suit of course because they too want to find their eldest hyung. They search the woods and even into the city for hours on end, only stopping for a much needed lunch and dinner break. Afterwards, they get right back to continuing their search. “Jin hyung! Where are you?” Shout the boys as they search for their friend. They continue until it gets dark. With no luck once more, they teleport home utterly dejected.
“What if we never find him?” RM eventually breaks down in tears. “What if he’s hurt? Or worse, already dead? We would have no idea. I’ve failed as a leader, failed to keep him safe. I’m a terrible leader.” He continues to bawl.
Suga, not being able to bear the sight of his best friend crying goes over to talk to and comfort him. “Joonie,” says Suga, “you have not failed as leader. We will find Jin, together. Keep hope, keep faith that he is still alive! If you do that, you’ll be okay. Jin is a fighter when he needs to be. He can and will survive this. I can feel it in my gut.”
RM embraces Yoongi squeezing him in a hug. “Here’s hoping you’re right,” sniffles RM. “Here’s hoping and praying he’s still alive.”
That night, RM sits in his and Jin’s pillowfort alone. As he does, he soon spots Jin’s phone on the ground and picks it up with his magic. He then goes one step further and unlocks it to find a typed message hidden deep in Jin’s notes. “If you’re reading this,” reads RM, “I and my father have been taken and I highly doubt our captors will let us leave alive.” Upon seeing this, RM rushes to show it to the others who are almost out the door by that point. “Boys! Stop!” Hollers RM. “I found something!”
The others turn and look at him and then down at the phone he’s holding with his magic. “It’s…it’s a message of warning from Jin…” says the rest dumbfounded.
“He must’ve left the phone behind in the struggle knowing we’d find it,” responds RM.
“Yeah, fo sho,” responds Suga. “We need to find them and get them out of there, wherever there is.”
“Uh huh,” agree the rest with a nod.
Meanwhile in the place of their captors, Jin and his father sit motionless, knocked out, magic drained by the goons. They’re weak, helpless. How they got their hooves on magic blocking horn sleeves, Jin’s father has no idea since the Blue Tech ones being used aren’t even on the market yet. Several hours later, the two finally come to.
“Oh good, you’re both awake,” they hear the boss’s voice boom in front of them. “I hope you’re both prepared to die.”
“Yes,” responds Jin’s father, “but once again, I beg you, please don’t hurt my son.”
Over the following days, the concerts and performances just aren’t the same without Jin. As a result of the apparent loss, Suga and the others can see that RM just continues to get more and more depressed with every day that passes by that Jin isn’t found to the point they decide to call an emergency meeting on him.
“What? What’s with the meeting?” Demands the leader confused.
“You, you’re not alright,” responds Suga bluntly. “We all miss him, we all miss Jin, but you need to stop beating yourself up over it. We will find him.”
“Yeah, but maybe not alive at this point!” Says RM, finally snapping at Suga. The beige unicorn has hit his breaking point. “He’s probably already dead for all we know!” With a slam, RM walks out of the meeting room and down to his studio where he seals his door with a magic lock. Suga and JHope run after him while the maknaes watch on in shock.
“Should we do something?” Jungkook inquires of V and Jimin.
“What can we do?” Responds V bluntly. “RM clearly wants to be left alone right now. He’s clearly taking this the hardest of us all. We should just give him the space he needs.” With that, the three maknaes leave the Big Hit studios and return to their dorms for the night. There, they cook ramen and play Mare-io Kart on the PonyStation until the wee hours of the morning.
Back at Big Hit, Suga and JHope try to get RM out of his studio but to no avail. Their efforts are useless, falling upon deaf ears. A few days later, they learn from Bang that RM has cancelled all their concerts until Jin is found. Suga rolls his eyes. This is honestly getting ridiculous and he’s officially done with RM and his self pity party. Using all his body weight, he slams the door open much to RM’s shock and surprise.
“Namjoonie!” Shouts an upset Suga. “What the hell?! Cancelling concerts we worked so hard to prepare for! We can’t stop working because it’s only six of us! We miss him too but this is absolutely insane behavior! Where has your reason gone?!?! Seriously, Namjoon! Where has your reason gone?! Reschedule the damn concerts! We can’t go out like this! Jin would’ve wanted you to push through, to continue, to carry on! If not for us, do it for him!”
“Fine,” cries Joon, “you’re right. I had no right canceling the concerts. I just miss him so much. I don’t even know if he’s even alive.”
“None of us do,” responds Suga now comforting his friend. “But we gotta push through. For Jin.”
“For Jin,” responds RM with a sniffle.
The next day, RM goes and reschedules all the concerts. By the end of the week, they’re performing for millions of fans once again, and just like they had in the other performances since the disappearance, they’re continually asked what happened to Jin by fans. RM, not wanting to face the probably harsh reality lies to their beloved Armies because he has no other choice. “Jin’s just out sick,” says RM through the sniffles and held back tears. “He’ll be back soon enough.” This is the one and only time he doesn’t want Army to know the truth, for their own sake. The truth is Jin is most likely dead and RM knows it.
At the Jopok lair, Jin gasps for air as he chokes on smoke filling the room from the boss pony’s pipe. Once the smoke clears away, he sees his father’s body motionless in the chair next to him. “You’re next, you stupid, stupid foal,” chuckles the boss with his thunderous booming voice.
“What, what did you do to my father?” Cries Jin in unending unbearable agony.
“Killed him, of course,” responds the boss with a chuckle. Jin looks at the motionless body next to him and he soon spots a knife in the body surrounded by pools of blood. “Don’t you get it, foal? You too are about to die.”
“Not if my friends find me first!” Jin snaps back gnashing his teeth.
“They won’t find you here,” responds the boss. “No pony knows where he is. To them, you’re already dead anyways.”
“No! You liar!” Snaps Jin. “They’re out there looking for me!”
With a final chuckle, the boss gives the signal to kill Jin before leaving the room. On the command, the goons begin to torture the pale stallion as he continues to cry out for his brothers. “Suga, RM, V, Jimin, JHope, JK, where are you? Help me!” Cries Jin. “Find me… please. I beg of you!” He continues to bawl. “Please find me before it’s too late.” He bows his head in defeat. “Please…”
Meanwhile on their end, RM, Suga, and JHope head out once more in search of Jin. They finally end up searching into the depths of the city and as they’re walking through the quiet, desolate streets, they hear faint cries coming from an abandoned building. Using their magic, RM and JHope open the door and soon find two seemingly lifeless bodies in front of them. Hearing the rustling of hooves against the papers strewn across the floor, Jin pops his head up.
“Mak…mak…maknaes,” says Jin weakly, “is that…is that you?”
Hearing the familiar voice, the three run to their friend. “Yes, hyung, it’s us,” they cry as they embrace him before freeing him from the chair. “Who is the dead pony next to you?”
“My…my dad,” cries Jin. “The Jopok killed him. They were about to kill me too before something spooked them. Now, let’s just get out of here, please…” he says weakly.
“Mmhmm,” agree the rest with a nod as they pull him to his feet and the four run out the building and back into the city proper. Once back and out of view of other ponies, RM and JHope use their magic to teleport them back to the Big Hit studios where they’re all soon embraced in a hug by their emotional maknaes.
“I’m so glad you’re alive,” cries JK as he hugs Jin’s legs.
“Yeah, you had us so scared,” cry Jimin and V as they hug their hyung as well.
“Yeah,” agrees Suga, “it got so bad that RM almost quit if we didn’t find you soon. He kept blaming himself, but you know we wouldn’t let him, I wouldn’t let him.”
“Yeah,” responds Jin, “I’m just glad to be home. Now can some pony get a lock pick and get this damned device off my horn?!”
RM nods and goes and grabs a lock pick with his magic before coming back and inserting it into the device, releasing it from Jin’s horn. “Now that feels so much better,” says Jin as he lets out a sigh of relief. “So so much better, now if you don’t mind, I need some time alone, to grieve the loss of my father. I’m sure you understand.” The others nod and leave the room leaving Jin alone but not before putting a protection spell on the room and its door with their magic on RM, V, and Jhope’s part. They have no plans of losing Jin again, not after what just happened.
Over the following days, the princess clamp down and the Jopok disperse, leaving only the lowly goons to be captured. Meanwhile at Big Hit, the boys stay by Jin’s side as he mourns his father. Later within the day, he goes to his father’s funeral alongside his mother and his brother, sister in law, and their foal. “I’m sorry,” cries Jin as he puts his shoulder on his mother’s, “sorry, for everything.”
“Your father dragged you into it, it’s not your fault,” responds Jin’s mother.
“He died to protect me,” sighs Jin still in tears, “that’s why I’m sorry.” With that, he goes quiet as his mom wipes his tears away with a handkerchief.
“It’s alright, my son, I know,” she says. She hugs him close to her chest. “I know.”
Jin spends the rest of the following two weeks with his family and away from Bangtan and Big Hit. He needs the break, honestly, after all he’s been through: the kidnapping, the losing his dad, just all of it. He’s not ready to jump back into performing, not yet, and honestly, RM and the rest can’t blame him. After all, he’s been through a lot over the past few days. That much is for certain.
