The Cursed Gathering (Sope, Taemin, Taekook, Namjin)

11• Secrets, Snakes and Sarcasm

Authors pov

The group had been walking in silence for some time, their footsteps echoing in the eerie stillness of the mansion. The last corridor they had turned into was different from the others—darker, narrower, and more unsettling. The walls were lined with portraits of people long dead, their faces frozen in various expressions. But what made the corridor truly disturbing was that the eyes of the people in the portraits seemed to follow them as they moved.

Taehyung, who had been trying to distract himself by focusing on the intricate designs of the hallway, was the first to notice. He tightened his grip on Hoseok’s hand, his voice shaky. "Uh, guys... are you seeing what I’m seeing?"

Jin glanced at the nearest portrait and immediately gulped. "Okay, nope. Nope, nope, nope. This is too much. Why are they looking at us like that?"

Hoseok, still shaken from his panic attack, tried to shrug it off. "It’s just... an illusion. Probably just the lighting or something." But even as he said it, his heart pounded in his chest, knowing full well that he wasn’t fooling anyone—especially not himself.

"Yeah, right," Yoongi muttered from the front, not turning around as he continued leading the group. "Because this entire house has been so normal up until now."

The group shared a collective uneasy laugh, but the tension was palpable. They had all asked Hoseok why the portrait had affected him so much earlier, but he had just shrugged it off, insisting it was nothing. They hadn’t pressed him for answers, but Hoseok knew they didn’t believe him. And how could they? He was hiding a secret, a dark one he had been burying deep inside for years. If they found out, he was doomed.

"Are we close, Yoongi?" Jimin asked, his voice a little more high-pitched than usual, as he glanced nervously at another portrait.

Yoongi held up a hand to signal silence, his head cocked slightly to one side as if listening for something. "Shush it for a second," he whispered.

The group immediately fell silent, their breaths barely audible as they strained to hear what had caught Yoongi’s attention. A faint tapping sound echoed from somewhere nearby, growing louder as they moved closer to a door at the end of the corridor. Yoongi approached it cautiously, placing his hand on the handle.

"This better not be another creepy doll room," Jungkook muttered under his breath, earning a nervous chuckle from Jin.

Yoongi pushed the door open, the hinges squeaking loudly in protest. The group cautiously entered, their eyes immediately drawn to the center of the room, where the chest they had been searching for sat ominously on a small stool.

"There it is," Taehyung whispered, his grip on Hoseok’s hand tightening.

Jimin approached the chest slowly, as if it might jump up and bite him. He picked up a piece of paper that was lying on top of the chest and began reading aloud, his voice trembling slightly. "Congratulations. You’ve found the chest. Now, to complete your task, you must find the key."

"Wait, what?" Jin exclaimed, his face turning red with frustration. "We find the chest, and now they tell us we need a key? Are you kidding me?! How are we supposed to find a—"

Before he could finish his rant, the door they had entered through slammed shut with a loud click, causing them all to jump. Then, a small hole opened in the wall, and a soft hissing sound filled the room.

"Uh, guys," Jungkook said, his eyes widening in horror as he backed away. "I think we have a bigger problem."

Multiple snakes of various sizes and colors began pouring out of the hole, slithering across the floor toward them. This time, there was no time to react—Jin, Jimin, Hoseok, Namjoon Jungkook, tae and Taehyung all fainted on the spot, collapsing to the floor in a heap.

Yoongi, the only one still conscious, stood there with a look of utter disbelief on his face. He glanced at the snakes, then at his unconscious friends, and finally up at the ceiling as if seeking divine intervention. After a long, exasperated sigh, he turned to the invisible audience—the readers.

"Okay, seriously?" he began, his tone laced with dry sarcasm. "Let this be a lesson, folks: when your friends suggest going on a haunted treasure hunt in a creepy, abandoned mansion, just say no. Because trust me, it’s all fun and games until someone passes out from sheer terror, and you’re left alone in a room full of snakes."

He paused, glancing back at the fainted pile of his friends and shaking his head. "And remember, always bring a snake expert—or at least someone with more backbone than these guys. Because clearly, I’m the only one here who’s not about to faint at the sight of a few reptiles."

Yoongi let out another long sigh, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "Why do I even hang out with these people? Oh, right, because no one else will put up with my sarcasm."

He crouched down, giving the snakes a wary look as they slithered closer. "But in all seriousness, if we survive this, I’m going to need a very long vacation. Preferably somewhere warm, with no creepy mansions, no haunted portraits, and definitely no snakes."

With that, Yoongi sighed again, resigned to his fate. He looked around at his unconscious friends, then back at the readers. "Well, here goes nothing."