Persona

Lim Ilseung

June 1, 2045

Ilseung sat silently outside of the room full of second-generation-legends. They’d all been moved into the same room, and Ilseung cringed at how this was already all over the media. Every single form of it depicted something different. “Legends, BTS, were reportedly in a plane crash”, that one made him laugh. “No-one survived the horrible accident involving the selected children of BTS”, that one did, too. After the fifth, or sixth one, Ilseung had to stop reading. There was nothing worse than this. The members had been sedated during the flight, per their leader’s request, and were back in Korea. Ilseung couldn’t imagine what they were going through, he couldn’t even begin to comprehend it.

Yes, it was a tragedy, but six of them had survived. Six of seven. If that wasn’t one-in-a-million, Ilseung quit. He sat up straighter when he heard footsteps, and when he gazed in the direction, he stood, and bowed. It was the former members.

No fucking way.

“Are they all in there?” That was SeokJin, of course, he was just like Ilseung had been told.

“All but one,” Ilseung replied truthfully.

“All but one?” Yoongi, blunt, and to the point.

“Mijin-ssi,” Ilseung reported, and in that moment, SeokJin’s eyes widened, but the elder needed confirmation. “She didn’t make it.”

SeokJin’s eyes glazed over with tears, but he managed to hold himself together. “What, egh,” he cleared his throat, unable to continue. Ilseung felt his heart pang when Namjoon put a hand on SeokJin’s shoulder.

“What happened?” Namjoon’s voice was steady, but Ilseung could tell he was fighting back emotions.

“The plane, it blew,” Ilseung told them, trying- and failing- to keep his voice steady. “Her seatbelt was stuck, she was unable to get free in time. Namja-ssi knows more, but he, understandably, isn’t saying much.”

Namjoon nodded, taking everything in. It must have been undoubtedly hard.
“What about the others?” Hoseok, the best dancer, and now choreographer asked, not before making sure SeokJin was okay. “What can you tell us about them?”

“Seogi-ssi hit his head in the crash, the doctors think TBI, but I’m not sure. Aeseok-ssi was attacked by a mountain lion trying to get Aejeo-ssi to safety, her leg was mauled, it had to be amputated,” Ilseung felt sick as he watched Hoseok physically recoil. “Namja-ssi is a little shaken, he hasn’t spoken much, Minyoung-ssi suffered horrible hypothermia, and his lungs are damaged from saltwater inhalation, but he’s doing better than the doctors hoped.”

“Sung-Ji, and Aejeo, what about them?” Taehyung snapped. The former singer was obviously stressed, and understandably so.

“Sung-Ji-ssi suffered no physical trauma, but psychologically is a whole different ballpark,” Ilseung relayed the information like he’d recited it all, which was partly true. “Aejeo-ssi’s arm was mangled during the crash, and as such may require extensive surgery. If the problems can’t be resolved, they’ll have to consider amputation as well, but only as a last resort.”

The former idols shifted gazes between each other, before Yoongi focused his attention on Ilseung.

“How’d you know all this, anyway?”

“And, who are you, exactly?” Namjoon was skeptical, of course.

Again, Ilseung bowed respectfully. “My name is Lim Ilseung, I was scheduled to join the group when they arrived in America, but that never happened, so I’m here now.”

“What about how you know everything about our boys?” Jeongguk spoke up, his brows knit tightly together.

“I’ve been here since they arrived, I’ve heard what the doctors have said,” Ilseung smiled sheepishly afterward when Hoseok tilted his head. “Thin walls.”