We might die

Chapter 10

The evening of Day 2 rolls around, and there are still two remaining. Damien had rushed in all excited, shouting in glee that the game would end soon at this rate and the soldiers might get an extra day off, but it turns out that Yoongi and Jimin are being very cautious and after six hours in which a grand total of nothing happened, Damien decides to head out again and get drunk with the others.

Namjoon wishes he could just go and get drunk too, but he knows it won't do. He forces himself to focus on the screens, even though his eyes ache from lack of sleep. His back also aches. Even his jaw aches—he knows he had been unconsciously gritting his teeth a lot.

Everything hurts. But he can't rest now. He wants to be there for his remaining two band members. He wouldn't want them to walk alone. They would never walk alone.

He wonders what the internet is saying now. He had seen tweets concerning the other rounds of the game, and needless to say they weren't the most uplifting. Those who killed, for whatever reason, were always condemned in horrible language Namjoon hadn't even imagined was possible. The audience currently watching the game would probably be mad at Yoongi and Jimin too. They'd probably want them both dead, even.

But Namjoon can't bring himself to blame them, either of them. This is a game of survival, and they are playing it. Isn't life just a huge game of survival too? After all, if you sit back and do nothing in the game we call life, you usually won't get very far before someone takes advantage of you and then—

His philosophical thoughts are cut short abruptly, for the two remaining dots are drawing near each other at a slow, hesitant pace. Namjoon is soon able to see the respective humans represented by the dots meet by the lake. They stand a few meters apart, far enough to not be able to do anything to each other (Yoongi is not holding his shotgun) yet close enough to both fit in the frame of the same screen.

"Hyung." Jimin is the first to speak. "It was you. You killed everyone." He cocks his head to one side, and Namjoon is suddenly struck by how amazingly Jimin is able to pull off looking really soft but also really creepy at the same time. "Are you going to kill me now, hyung?"

Yoongi shrugs. "Ran out of bullets."

Jimin nods understandingly. "I don't have a weapon anymore either."

Yoongi looks down at the ground, then at his green shirt, spattered with blood. "Okay. So..."

"We still have to try and kill each other, since only one can live," Jimin points out. Namjoon shudders at how rational he is being. Jimin glances aside, at the lake they are currently standing beside, and gestures. "Well?"

And then Yoongi bursts into sudden maniacal laughter, and Jimin also bursts into sudden maniacal laughter, and they charge at each other. Namjoon's chair topples over as he stands up, hands helplessly clutching the edge of the desk in front of him, knuckles white. The next thing he knows the two are in the lake.

They have no weapons, so they've decided to just fight it out and see who drowns first, Namjoon realizes. He has no idea which one would have the upper hand in this situation. They are about the same size. Jimin has more muscles and is flexible, but Yoongi can be freaking vicious if he wants to be, so Namjoon just really doesn't know. He wonders which the internet is rooting for. He wonders which he is rooting for. Perhaps both, perhaps neither.

There is a lot of dunking and shouting at the surface of the lake, then with a sudden yelp Jimin completely goes under, flailing wildly. Yoongi looks confused for a second before something very obviously jerks him down as well. Namjoon stares, wide-eyed, holding his breath, waiting to see if either will come up.

They don't.

Damien comes crashing into the room seconds after the lights for both of their pulses go out.

"What the fuck?" he yells, laughing hysterically. "We've never had a game end because of a fucking crocodile attack!"

Namjoon is slumped in his seat, hands clammy, heart practically ready to tear out of his ribcage with the ridiculous speed it's thumping in. Damien is reasonably happy, keeps going on about how they can go gather the bodies off the island next morning and take the rest of the day off, but Namjoon just tunes him out.

He feels empty, completely empty, like he just watched a really crazy movie and the credits are rolling and he's alone in the theater crying and holding an empty popcorn box.

This is the end. It is over. All over. BTS's Battle Royale round has come to a close. The curtains to the stage have fallen. His job is done here.

He wonders if Seokjin regretted the day he got scouted on his way to school. He wonders if Jungkook regretted choosing their agency out of all the choices he had. He wonders if Yoongi regretted auditioning—but really, none of this matters now.

His BTS, his friends, his family—he is never going to see them again.