Ripple: BTS AU Story ✓

Chapter 39

We are back! This chapter is going to be nuts. And fairly short. Warning you now. You can yell at me for it later. This is the third to last chapter I believe. I am going to get so emotional when this story actually concludes. This story has become like my baby and it has come so far. I'll stop before I really do start getting all sobby. Now, let's get into the story.

"No...no...that's not how it happened," Taehyung says, "Jimin fell off the chair and pulled me to the floor. I wasn't the clumsy one. I was just a bystander..." Namjoon nods his head and inputs the new information. The machine continues to whir and the pathway on the screens shift. They've been at this for a while now, digging into the very beginning of their history together and their lives. They've been rather meticulous with the whole process. They need to be. If they mess up one thing, the timeline would be different. They can't change anything or who knows what will happen. One event affects another. One choice leads to a whole other pathway. Change the pathway, even just a little, and the entire road is shifted. It's the butterfly effect. The ripple effect. One thing always affects the other. "Does this look right to you?" Namjoon asks, "I don't think JK cried after that."

"Is me crying or not really going to affect the timeline?" Jungkook asks with a pout.

"Everything affects the timeline, we can't afford to leave the tiniest of details out," Hoseok states.

"Fine," Jungkook huffs, "And it wasn't me who cried that night. It was Jimin hyung."

Jimin sighs and crosses his arms, "I was emotional...give me a break." The leader nods and makes the change instantly. The image on the screen shifts, showing how that little event made a major impact. "See, it was important!" Hoseok exclaims.

"What next?" Yoongi asks, "We're only up to like 2015..."

"There's a lot. We won our first daesang in 2016 and since we're clumsy human-beings there are a couple of injuries throughout that year. There's a lot of decisions to be made in 2017 because we went to Billboard and all those things we did in the US. Not to mention, there's UNICEF as well. In 2018, we went to speak at the UN, we got awarded for cultural merit, and there was our whole decision about disbanding. Then in 2019, we did a bunch of collabs and then went on tour again and then there was our BTS World game, and Grammys and other awards shows, and we had our hiatus too," Namjoon rambles, "And that's just the major stuff. We have to worry about the tiny details. Like who filmed what on what day. Who stayed up late to play video games? And whose idea it was to where sunflower headpieces to the airport!?"

"I feel like that was a dig at me," Jin huffs.

Taehyung smiles and snickers, "It probably was."

Jimin sighs, "We've been at this for how long? At the rate we're going, we're not going to be done with this for another week."

"The only reason it's taking so long is because we're trying to remember silly decisions we made. Honestly, if we say went to celebrate by eating barbecue when we actually went to have seafood, is it really going to be that big of a deal?" Yoongi questions.

"You saw how the screen changes when it came to who was crying. What we eat is important for the timeline. It needs to be the same choices we made back then or we won't be going back to the timeline we know," Namjoon says, "I know that it's draining, but we all want to go back, right? We want to go back to the same timeline we left. We want it all to be the same as we remember it. Is that not what we want?"

"No, it's what we want. To go back to the timeline like it was never changed in the first place," Jungkook says, "We want it to be exactly the way it was before Theodore played around with it. It has to be. It's more than just our lives that could be affected. One small change could mean a complete tidal wave for someone else. You saw what happened to Wonho, Jinyoung, and Jaebum hyung in this timeline. They were affected by what Theodore did. They could still be if we make a mistake when we put our timeline back together. We need to take our time with this, no matter how annoying it may be."

"The maknae is right. It's a pain, but it has to be done," Hoseok says. The boys nod their heads before focusing once more on the time machine. They would stay there for as long as they had to. It didn't matter. They want to go home. And they would, but only to a home that they remember. Hours pass as the boys edit the timeline, making the choices they remember making. They're at it for who knows how long, but eventually they reach the last choices they need to make. Namjoon inputs the last decision before setting the timeline to complete. The finished path is shown across the screen in bright yellow. The boys all take a step back to admire their hard work. "And done!" Namjoon exclaims, "I think we did it."

Jin lets out a sigh of relief, "Finally!"

"Let's go home guys," Jungkook says, "As much as I love all this action and stuff, I really just want to get back to our idol lives."

"I am taking a long nap the second we get back," Yoongi mutters, "I missed my bed..."

"I missed Tannie!!! I'm going to smother him in hugs when we get back!" Taehyung exclaims.

Jimin laughs, "I think I'm going to go dance my heart out for a couple hours. Policeman are too stiff sometimes...I don't know what the me in this timeline was thinking when he said I'm gonna be a cop!"

"I want my studio back. Being a businessman was fun and all, it did have its perks, but producing and writing is for me," Namjoon says.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's press the button and get back to our lives," Hoseok states. The others all nod their heads and gather around the button. Namjoon lets his hand hover over the button, "Together. We started this together. We're ending it together." The rest of the boys let their hands hover over the button as well. Their gazes are on each other as they slowly lower their hands onto the button. They press it all at the same time and the timer with five minutes appears on the screen again. "Five minutes and we'll be back," Jin says, flashing the others a smile. The guys all return the expression with smiles if their own. This is it. The last chapter. Their time to go home. To finish this adventure. Their happy ending. Suddenly, a loud bang goes off four times. Four bullets leaving their chamber. Four targets all hit. Min Yoongi is hit in the stomach. Park Jimin close to his heart. Jung Hoseok gets nailed in the gut. And Kim Seokjin is shot where his lungs would be. Only four. And blood and screams to accompany it.

Oops...guess they're not out of the clear yet. I'll be completely honest with you, I've had this the members getting shot planned since the beginning. And before you yell at me, I let my friend choose which members got shot. She's also an ARMY, but I didn't tell her that she was choosing members to get shot, so it was really random. Okay, now you can yell at me in the comments for having the boys get injured. Please also vote, add this story to your library, follow me, and check out my other BTS AU Night of Sin.