In the dark

24

Taehyung could feel a body pressed against his. They had one arm wrapped around his neck, pulling him close. The other arm was caressing his back. 'Damnit, Jimin. Little empath doesn't listen,' he thought. If, by miracle, he felt the arms tighten even more around him. They weren't showing any signs of letting go. It felt nice, surprisingly, to him.

Taehyung wrapped his arms around the body and ducked his head into the crook of their neck. He let his tears fall onto them. He felt the hand that was soothing his back run-up to his head and start lightly petting it—combing his hair with tender scratches. 

His hands felt around the body holding him, trying to figure out who he should thank for their embrace. Even though he said he didn't want to be touched. Even though he said, he wanted to be left alone. He was grateful they didn't listen to him and wrapped their arms around them. However, when he glided his arms down their sides, he didn't recognize who it belonged to. It was something he should have known. He's hugged and cuddled with all the members more times than he could count. 

He knew the body had to belong to one of them. He could smell the members all over this person. The orange blossom, lavender, sandalwood, spice, clean scent, whiskey, and even his own could be inhaled through this person's hair, clothes, and body. 'Who was this person that is holding me so close?' he asked himself.

He tilted his head up and opened his eyes. Everything looked foggy through his tear-filled eyes. He couldn't make out anything that wasn't directly in front of him. He felt like he was in a dream, with everything being so hazy. This dream gave him peace from the outside world he was just in. He felt his emotions getting the better of him again and put his head on their shoulder once more. Taehyung was still crying just as much as when the embrace happened. A soft shhh was easing his mind as they continued to hold each other.

Back at the reality of the dance studio, the six men stayed in the tight little circle. They were still looking at what was in front of them. What wasn't in front of them, actually. One second, Taehyung was on the floor crying, and the second he was gone. The men were not taking it well.

"What the fuck just happened?" called out Hoseok, hiding behind Namjoon.

"I don't know," answered Jimin. He and Jungkook were staring off into nothingness. They are calculating what they just saw.

Namjoon had a look of horror on his face. His eyes were building out of their sockets, and his hands were grabbing his hair, pulling them to bring him out of whatever it was he was in. Yoongi had one hand covering his mouth, the other around his chest, and he was swaying side to side. Jin stayed still, not giving away anything he was thinking. 

"Where did he go?" Jungkook asked. "Is he coming back?"

"Yoongi, you screamed out Peri's name. What does she have to do with this?"

All of their questions went unanswered because they could give them anything. All they knew was that Taehyung was there, and then he wasn't. He was as invisible to them as Peri was. Peri was the one who did it, but Jin, Yoongi, and Namjoon could say that right now. They couldn't go into an extensive explanation of Peri when their brother was nowhere to be found. All they could do was stand there and wait. They hoped he was ok and that he would come back from where ever he went.

Inside the invisibility bubble, Taehyung was starting to like himself again. His tears were drying up, although the occasional sniffle could be heard. His breathing had slowed, and he could finally take a deep breath.

Taehyung lifted his head once more and pulled back slightly from the embrace. He kept his hands on the smallest part of their waist. Peri let him release her hold but kept her hands on his shoulders. Their faces met for the first time, and Taehyung looked into the eyes of his caretaker. "Whoa," was all Taehyung could manage.