Z A G R E U S [BTS-ot7]

Chapter 1.

ZAGREUS N°1

Leverport, Rosetall Island

BH CORP. CLINIC Unit #13613

Beta Transensorial Studies

Taehyung’s One Thousand, Eight Hundred, and Twenty-Seventh (1827th) day

(Five years and two days)

His vision fades to black as the sudden wave of sound echoes in his skull, deafening him for a second, and when he opens his eyes back up, he’s welcomed by the blackness of his and Jimin’s bedroom; his breath heavy where he lays face-up on his bed, cold sweat dripping dramatically down his temples.

A bad dream, Taehyung realizes, when Jimin’s cold hand falls softly upon his forehead and says— “You have a fever—,” with the slumber of sleep still coating his voice as he looks down at Tae with worried eyes.

They stare at each other for a long moment in which Taehyung grows dizzy and knows his eyes are turning white, fighting to go back into unconsciousness while Taehyung tries to control himself so his body stops shaking against his will.

Jimin swears under his breath, “Don't go back,” he orders sternly, holding Taehyung's hand between his, “Come on, stay with me, Tae, I’m calling Shao Zhen,” the blond ads, any sign of sleep gone by the time he lets go of his roommate’s limp hand to reach for the phone on the bedside table.

The mention of the doctor makes Taehyung’s whole body grow heavier, his skull pounding from the inside, “No, take me with Seokjin,” he mumbles with difficulty, “Please Jimin, I don’t want to see anyone from the staff,” he explains, slurring some words as he watches doubt growing on the other man’s features.

It’s less than convenient for him to go and explain everything to someone who works for the company, even less knowing they wouldn’t like whatever it was that he just saw.

He passes out again, but hopefully, it can’t be too long if when he wakes up his body's on Jimin’s arms as he walks them down the hallway, he would say it hasn’t been longer than a few seconds, a minute as much.

Taehyung breathes out a grateful sound when he sees their stopping at the door of room number two, despite Jimin’s clear reluctance against not taking him to the doctor, however, Seokjin’s room is way closer and Taehyung can feel Jimin’s arms are starting to tremble under his weight. 

It’s not clear to him how Jimin manages to knock on the door without dropping him; his vision darkening at the edges once again just when he feels Seokjin’s strong arms take him away from the blond right before he passes out again.

The dream doesn’t continue when his eyes close back up, and to a certain extent, Taehyung finds this incredibly frustrating, not only because he needs to know what the outcome of the vision was but because if it doesn’t continue, it can only mean bad things for everyone involved. 

He tries to force himself back into the streets he saw before, remembering the clothes he was wearing and who was with him but it doesn’t work, there’s nothing for him to go back to.

The pungent odor of alcohol hits his nostrils like a slap to the face that brings him back to reality, “Are you with me?” Seokjin’s voice asks, equal parts worried and hard-set, somewhere above him.

Taehyung blinks his eyes open slowly to get accustomed to the harsh light from the sealing. Next to his ear, a clock is ticking. 

He looks up to see Jin’s face looming over him, “I had a dream,” Taehyung murmurs as if it’s a top-secret confession, his dizzy voice making the others chuckle, “No, listen, it was a vision about all of us,” Tae continues, getting everyone’s attention while at the same time he gets to the conclusion that his head is on Seokjin’s lap. 

Someone, presumably Jungkook, hands a glass of water over at Seokjin, who pushes the rim of it against Taehyung’s lips, lifting his head ever so slightly to help him drink without choking, “Do you want to sit so you can tell us about what you saw?” Seokjin asks, brushing Tae's long locks away from his face.

“I think Namjoon should hear too though,” Taehyung nods along with his words, and before he’s completed the sentence, Jin is sending Jungkook out of the room to find Namjoon and bring him over. 

Jimin stares at Jungkook's back as the younger man steps out of the room, closing the door behind him. 

"f**k, Jimin, you could be a little more discreet," Taehyung complains, pulling his friend's attention away from the white wood of the door while he uses all of his strength to sit up against Seokjin's broad chest, "The kid's not gonna get lost, he's just going next door."

Seokjin chuckles softly against Tae's cheekbone just when Namjoon pushes through the door; eyes heavy with sleep where he stands in Jungkook's way to get inside, "Are you guys okay?" he asks groggily, rubbing a hand across his face.

Taehyung feels a pinch of guilt in his chest at having them all out of bed at such hours of the night, but he has to warn them in case his dream becomes in any way real. 

"I saw us outside of the clinic," he explains as sternly as he's able to under the confused gazes of the other four men, "We were renegades of some sort, and we were all carrying guns, I—," Taehyung stops himself to rethink his words—, "wish I knew how to explain it but I can't, I just know something's going on and it has everything to do with BH CORP."

A collective gasp echoes in the room, "And it wasn't just us," he continues, Seokjin's warm hand soothing where it sits on his hip, "The two guys who aren't allowed out of their rooms were there as well, and people from the city, in the city was coming to us for help."

They all turn to look at Namjoon, who seems more awake now and has a deep frown bringing his eyebrows together, "Actually," Taehyung ads quickly before the older man can voice whatever is in his mind, "You—," he nods at Namjoon—, "were the one leading us all out." 

Jungkook takes the opportunity to push past Namjoon then, sitting beside Jimin on his bed to listen to whatever the older man has to say, “I didn’t think—,” Namjoon sighs rubbing a hand on his forehead—, “we would try it again, it seemed too risky,” he sits on Seokjin’s desk chair, his gaze lost somewhere far away from the room they’re all in.

“It had been five months after Hoseok first came in,” Namjoon’s dimples cave deep in his cheeks as the man purses his lips, seemingly remembering how everything happened, “I had started to hear things, voices screaming that BH Corp. was killing them, that it wasn’t fair of the company to hold back the medicine they needed,” he explains, closing his eyes in a concentrated manner that makes Taehyung shiver as he straightens his back, pulling away from Seokjin’s body.

When Namjoon opens his eyes again, the silence in the room becomes heavy, “I told them about it and Yoongi said he had been writing similar things, we were planning to leave, but the day we were going to do it I was called for an appointment in the lab and they had to go without me,” he almost whispers. 

Taehyung’s heart shrinks, “For weeks I thought they were dead because I knew, I knew they hadn’t got out, not with the way the alarms went off that night,” Namjoon continues, shaking his head, “They never let me talk to them again.”

“I’m sorry,” Taehyung says, “I shouldn’t have wake you all up for this.” 

“No, its okay, Tae. You could’ve forgotten by the morning,” Seokjin excuses him sweetly, rubbing a hand down Taehyung’s back, soothing as ever if light on its way.

The others nod in agreement with the older man as the silence grows around them again, everyone immersed in their own thoughts, “Seokjin’s right,” Namjoon says finally, his voice still sounding far away, “But I should go, we’ll talk again later,” he promises before opening the door and stepping outside under the unsure stare of the others. 

Jimin goes out next with the short and honest excuse that it’s late and he would like to get some sleep for the night.

Taehyung stares at Jungkook as he feels Seokjin’s fingers playing with the hem of his shirt, “Let’s go to the bathroom,” he whispers huskily, turning his head away from the younger man to talk to the one behind him. A deep growl escapes from the back of Seokjin’s throat at that.

 “f**k’s sake,” Jungkook mutters, getting under his bedsheets and turning away from them, “Just leave, please, I’m not in for another one of your hellish shows,” he whines, pulling the covers over his head. 

Seokjin jumps off the bed; hand already intertwined with Taehyung’s as he smiles mischievously, scrunching up his nose with amusement, “Sorry, Kook,” he says halfheartedly, “We didn’t know you were here last time.”

“Shut up, Jin,” Jungkook growls from the inside of his nest before Taehyung and Seokjin stalk out of the room and into the communal bathrooms of the clinic.

Seokjin misses no time in pleasantries, immediately getting both Taehyung and himself out of their pajama suits and walking them towards one of the shower stools while at the same time caressing every spot of the other man's body where his hands can reach. 

He kisses Taehyung on the mouth, and down his neck with non-existing shame; the familiarity with the other's body, making it easy, —although not less trilling—, for his hands to move over the younger man's soft skin while he reaches behind Taehyung to turn the warm water on. 

“Jin, wait,” Tae breathes out as the water hits his back a little too hard, “I didn’t- I need to tell you something,” he stutters, finding it difficult to fight against himself to push the older man away.

Seokjin pulls back on his own, throwing his head back to slick his hair with the water, “Tell me then,” he says, staring hungrily into Taehyung’s eyes.

“After we got out,” Tae begins to say, “Out of the clinic that is, we were hiding in the city and a group of soldiers found us, they had guns,” he says quickly before he can decide that he doesn’t want to say it out loud, “They shot our way.” 

Seokjin’s face changes instantly as he waits for the younger man to continue, “They shot my way, rather,” Taehyung keeps going, looking down at the drops of water hitting the tile floor, “The two times I fell asleep again, I tried to go back, find out what was happening but…” 

“No,” Seokjin interrupts him harshly, pulling him flush against his broad chest. 

Taehyung shivers, hiding his face against the crook of Jin’s neck, “There was nothing for me to see.” 

Seokjin claws at his back, pulling him even closer, almost as if he’s trying to make Taehyung disappear into his own body, flush them together and protect him that way, “If anything happens to you, I won’t be able to live, Tae,” he murmurs softly as Taehyung feels the skin under his fingertips burn, “Do you understand me? Nothing can happen to you, because if you die, I’m going to lose my mind.” 

“Then we’ll have to trust it was all a bad dream.”