Continuum

열셋

 Taehyung was confused. And no, not the state of confusion that people thought he always was in. No, this was something else entirely. One night, all was well in BTS' hotel rooms. Seokjin had cooked dinner on one of the tiny hotel stoves, Jimin and Taehyung had accidentally dumped a bowl of noodles on Namjoon's head (don't ask how that happened) causing Namjoon to screech and the rest of the group to laugh. Then Taehyung had gone to sleep in the living area of his and Seokjin's room-

And woken up shivering and alone on the dirty concrete floor of an abandoned building in a country that he didn't know.

Luckily for him, he had gone to sleep in his street clothes, being too lazy to change into pajamas, and had his phone in his pocket. He tried calling his parents. He tried calling the others to immediately say that they had won this prank, just make it stop, and for God's sake, Namjoon, he didn't mean to spill those noodles! It was an accident! But all he got when he called were voiced messages telling him that the numbers didn't exist.

They wouldn't go as far as to change their numbers just for a prank, right?

And when he left the building, screaming and crying that they won, just come out, please! they would come, right? And apologize? That's how it usually went. The pranks would go too far, the person getting pranked would break down, and the others would apologize.

But all he got was strange looks from people he didn't know and silence.

And that was just the beginning.

Taiwan wasn't a bad country, but it did have one particular downfall, as far as Taehyung was concerned - the citizens didn't speak Korean. Which made it a rather daunting task to try to explain to people that he was V of BTS, and he needed to find his group. Even when he tried to speak to them in the simplest English he could manage, all he received were blank stares. (They taught English in Taiwan starting in elementary school, right?) He made a mental note to learn some Mandarin after he had a better grasp on English.

He was surprised about every response being a blank stare, especially when he mentioned BTS. He expected someone, anyone, to show some form of recognition when he said the name of his group. They were getting pretty widely-known now, weren't they? And there was a reason they were in Taiwan, after all. They had a concert there.

When nightfall came, Taehyung wasn't sure what to do. He was alone, scared, and cold. He didn't want to have to go back to that building, it had been freezing and he wasn't wearing much of a jacket. Luckily, a kind old store owner took pity on him, allowing him to spend the night in her shop. The old lady said in shaky Korean that she was going to turn the radio on for him. He smiled his famous (or was it?) boxy grin as a thank you. He didn't recognize any of the songs, but then again, this was Taiwan. That was until a song began that shook him to his core. Because holy shit, Taehyung knew that voice on the radio. The sweet, soothing voice that calmed him when he needed it.

It was Jimin's voice.

Taehyung sat shock-still as his Jiminie-hyung sang a tune that he didn't recognize. A few seconds into the song, and second familiar voice was added. Jeongguk's. Taehyung would recognize that tone anywhere.

As the song continued, more voices of BTS were added to the song, creating a strange ambient humming tune. It was utterly bizarre in its own beautiful way, and three things were glaringly missing from it. The first being Taehyung's own voice, of course. The second being the complete lack of a rap part. All of the song was sung in some way, even by Yoongi. And the third was by far the most important - there was no soul.

Soul was what defined BTS. They created their own songs from their own feelings and aspirations, which allowed them to pour their entire beings into their words as they sang. The song on the radio didn't have that. It was as if someone else had written the song knowing the strengths of each of the boys and told them to sing it without changing it at all. It was something BigHit would never do, or there would be hell to pay. It was part of who they were, what they were - they allowed the artists to be themselves.

The song ended, but the long journey was only beginning for Taehyung.