Healing Castle | TXT Fantasy Novel ft. BTS

9 - Taehyun

"Okay, let's try not to get mobbed today."

Usually, their arrivals at the airport are a big fanfare. Hundreds of fans come to try to take pictures, and multiple bodyguards have to push them back. The sea of panic is such a contrast in comparison to today's calm. They were supposed to stay in Hawaii for another few days, so no one is expecting their arrival.

Taehyun had booked their own flights—how he managed to convince their manager, he has no idea. Come to think of it, everyone at BigHit is kind of teetering right now, not really paying attention to them or being strict in screening their activities.

Taehyun is confident in their disguise. They're dressed in beige trench coats, coupled with dark glasses and wigs that actually seem like natural hair. It was Taehyun's idea to carry briefcases and walk with as much brisk confidence as possible. They need to seem like they're on official business. Getting caught here, without any bodyguards, would be an actual nightmare.

Well, maybe about as tenth as nightmarish as encountering the Black Mage.

As he walks throughout the crowded Incheon International Airport, people keep bumping into him. He smiles before wiping it off his face. Bumping means the disguise is working. It means the people around him don't recognize him and the boys.

He's back in his home country. Still, the unfamiliar dread won't leave him. Since he was knocked unconscious, he's lost all sense of calmness. But he clenches his jaw and draws from his experiences both as a trainee and a rookie idol. He's learned to have a thick skin. He'll have to push forward even though his whole internal being wants to break down.

The logical part of Taehyun is most resistant to accepting how an online game has integrated itself into the lives of him and the members. He doesn't even believe in ghosts. He's the most non-superstitious of anyone in the team. Now, he's spending all his brain power trying to figure out their situation. But in the buzz of airport busyness, his mind ends up wandering.

Taehyun has always wanted to be a wizard.

He's practiced magic tricks ever since he was young. He knows the difference between what's fabricated and what's reality. And that ghostly explosion in the vacation house wasn't a simple trick. No special effects, no amount of smoke and mirrors could produce such a terrifying experience.

It's taking him a while to accept that the Black Mage really is out to get them. But if it's true, there must be a good reason. Researching through the night, Taehyun is educated on the origin of the Black Mage. He was once a good mage who used his powers for good. Eventually, he experimented with dark magic—which led to havoc in the Maple World.

To make a long story short, he was temporarily beaten by a team of mythological heroes—and then beaten by real players after his awakening in-game. Perhaps him being defeated in the game led to him being summoned in the real world? Just the thought of it makes Taehyun's head spin.

And that brings him to Yeonjun's magical display in the gaming cafe. He showcased a skill which was signature to the type of character he used to play. Yeonjun was a rogue, and the rest of them played four different classes.

Taehyun has come to the crazy, yet plausible solution that TXT has been separated into five classes. They are in possession of latent powers, and now they must learn how to harness them—before they end up getting killed by an inter-dimensional monster.

His mind can't stop racing. He tries to focus his energy into navigating through the building of sleekly designed, cutting-edge architecture.

"The first thing we need to do is," he says, to the group, "is get some snacks. I couldn't eat after the... plane incident."