Don't Come Inside • Jungkook

xi.

The dance studio was empty. They'd known it before they had even flicked on the lights. There was just an emptiness, a lack of presence. No soft breathing, no rustle of fabric on floor.

Empty.

They all stood there for a moment, staring as though they'd never seen the room before. The mirrors made it worse, reflecting the nothingness tenfold.

"What did the manager say?" Namjoon asked, his voice measured and even as he stared out into the empty room.

Hoseok looked over, swallowing before looking down at his fold to read the texts again. He'd already read them several times, but he kept hoping that they would somehow change if only he checked again. "The car left at 1:05 am."

"And?"

"...it was never returned," Hoseok said softly, staring down at his phone screen before shoving the device in his pocket. "Can someone-" He paused to collect his breath. "Can someone please explain what's going on here?" He hesitated as no one spoke up. "Someone...please...tell me what I did wrong," he pleaded, looking at faces that wouldn't look back at him, eyes that avoided his.

"Jungkook said that he had a sasaeng a while back," Namjoon began slowly, unable to meet Hoseok's eyes. It wasn't Hoseok's fault; he hadn't been at Jungkook's, and nobody had told him. And yet... "She was at all of our fan signs and concerts and everything. After a crazy concert, she lead him aside, posing as staff, telling him that the meeting location had changed since Taehyung was injured. She got him into the car, but he figured it out and was able to escape."

"So...so you think-"

"I think that she did something similar here, last night, to Jimin."

Hoseok looked down at the ground, the silence eating away at him. "I...I've felt a little weird the past couple of days...it felt like, I don't know-" He gave a shaky laugh. "It felt like someone was watching me? Only-" He sucked in a breath before trembling. "I- I only got that feeling when I was walking with Jimin, I thought- I thought they were watching me but-"

"They were probably stalking him," Namjoon inferred, sighing and putting  a fist over his mouth while he tried to figure out what to do. "Shit." He moved his hand up to his forehead, pinching at the skin lightly before dragging his hand through his hair.

"He would have escaped too, right?" Hoseok suggested, staring at Namjoon's back with desperate eyes. "Jimin's smart. And he's athletic, maybe he just got stuck in a part of the city he didn't recognize and is trying to make his way back-"

"He was tired, his ankle is sore, and his voice is too weak for him to yell for help," Namjoon said, his eyes sweeping the empty room once more. "I think we need to let the company know that Jimin's gone missing."

***

-8 hours ago-

"Just- stay there, okay? I'm going to call the company to drive you home. It's dark and it's raining. Can you go back inside for a minute?"

"Not really, the door locked behind me and I forgot my keys. Namjoon let us in, remember?" Jimin said, leaning against the door so he didn't have to put weight on his ankle.

"That's right...okay, just sit tight for a few, a car is on the way and I'm leaving the front door open for you, just lock it when you get in."

"All right, thanks, hyung," Jimin replied, hanging up and shoving his phone into his pocket after checking the time. 1:02. He could be in bed by 1:30 if he hurried, then get up at 7. That gave him about 6 hours of sleep. He was stuck in an odd paradox in which the more he rested, the more his ankle could recover, but the farther he fell behind.

He pulled out his phone to check the time once more. 1:09. He thought of just walking home but knew that Hoseok would get mad at him. 1:15, he decided. If the car wasn't here by then, he'd walk.

At 1:13, the car pulled in slowly, rolling to a stop just beside the studio. Jimin, eager to get home but still cautious, made sure their logo was on the side and took a quick peek at the license plate. Sighing in relief, he opened the passenger door and stepped in gingerly before shutting the door.

"Hello," Jimin said, bowing his head slightly to the driver, whose face he couldn't make out. Still, they nodded back before switching gears and slowly pulling away.

Jimin leaned his head against the window, his eyes fluttering shut for a moment before he opened them once more, taking in the dark city. He saw their street coming up and he straightened up in his seat, only the car passed the opening without slowing down.

"Oh, you missed the turn," Jimin said, looking back out the window before looking over at the driver and pointing. "It's back there...it's hard to see in the dark. That's okay, we can just turn around."

But the driver didn't give any indication of having heard Jimin.

Nervous, he swallowed and spoke up again. "We can turn right here, there's another way to get in I think...oh, that was it right there...we need to turn around then," he said, looking over once more, but the driver's hands were firm on the wheel.

Jimin's peripherals caught on something in the back, and he turned his head, trying to see what was in the dark backseat. Something shiny, maybe a cable of some sort? They'd probably left it in the van on accident.

But as the car passed underneath a streetlight, Jimin realized that it wasn't a cable.

Cables weren't red, and liquid.

And if the driver was lying dead in the back of the van, then who was driving the car?