The Light in the Dark (Completed)

Chapter 1: Dead Inside/Tiny Dancer

  It has taken Jungkook five years to accumulate one million subscribers on YouTube. People seemed to like his covers of old songs, it made them nostalgic. He loved to read the comments of people sharing their happy memories of the song he covers. He had always had a deep emotional connection with music, the lyrics spoke to him. An excellent song can make you smile, cry, feel any plethora of emotions, that is what he loved most about music.

  His channel name is Dead Inside because that's how he felt. He hadn't always been this way, once he had laughed with friends over drinks. Taking selfies to post to Instagram, beautiful women throwing themselves at him.  Until one psycho ruined everything. Now he has crippling anxiety, depression, and is borderline Agoraphobic. 

  He never showed his face the scars on the left side make him self conscious. It's been seven years, they are now old and faded but he could feel them. The tightness of the skin reminded him daily. 

  He rarely left his house, he had everything delivered. Sometimes in the dead of night, he would walk the street, the city is quiet for once. This is when he finds his inspiration to write his own songs, songs that he isn't brave enough to release to the world because he doesn't think anyone would want to hear them. 

  He sighed as he waited for his latest cover to download on Youtube, it took forever for a three-minute video to load he never understood why. His phone went off, he grabbed it and checked his notifications. His heart fluttered in his chest as he saw the notification that Tiny Dancer had uploaded a new video.

  He's on his feet heading to the living room, his apartment is small and sparsely furnished. The kitchen and living room are divided by a small island, then down a short hallway is his room, and across the hall the bathroom. Everything he owns is black, his furniture down to his towels are black. The walls of the apartment are white, he had no choice in the matter. He covered as much of the walls as possible with horror movie posters and art.

  He dropped down on the leather couch and grabbed the remote to his smart TV, he clicked on the Youtube app and clicked on Tiny dancers newest video. He held his breathe the entire time the petite male dancer fluttered across the screen. He wasn't attracted to males but this small male seemed so tiny and fragile. It stirred something in him he hasn't felt in a very long time, compassion. He wanted to protect him with everything he had.

  He has tried to search him up but the only results are his work history, a very extensive work history. He has been in several music videos, commercials, and even TV shows. The only personal information given is his agency, an agency right here in LA. Never in a million years would he believe he would be breathing the same air as an honest to God Angel.

  He exhaled sharply as the video ended, he sat stunned as usual. How can one tiny human be so perfect? He ran his fingers through his thick ink-black hair as he sighed. Watching Tiny Dancers videos has become the one bright spot in his perpetual darkness he called life.

  He had millions of adoring fans, but none of them knew him, the real him. The photo he used on Youtube is of an anime character he thought looked a lot like him with a neon green bunny mask covering half his face. The thought of anyone finding out who he is made him have a panic attack.

  He only left his house for two reasons, doctor appointments, and his nightly walks. He glanced up at the TV, autoplay had started another of Tiny Dancers videos, it's strange he thought as he gazed at the screen. It didn't freak him out at the thought of Tiny Dancer seeing his face, what scared him is his reaction to his scars. Would he turn away in disgust? Or would he caress them softly feeling the thick bumpy ridges as he smiled sweetly? He yearned to know but is too anxious to actually find out. 

  He pulled his phone out of his pocket and left a reply on his latest video Stunning as always.

Across town at a small dance studio Jimin is practicing for a perfume commercial he will be shooting later today "he left another comment" Hoseok his best friend said, Jimin stopped dancing reaching up he brushed his arm across his sweaty brow. He walked over to Hoseok bending down to pick up his water bottle and takes a long drink "who?" he asked a confused expression on his face. "Mr. Faceless" Hoseok replies, Jimin giggles and pulls his phone out of his pocket scrolling through the comments of his latest video. Dead Inside is always one of the first to reply, it's always something sweet.

  His company refuses to let him interact with his fans so he can't reply, he wanted to thank him. Dead Inside made him so curious, why did he hide his face? Why did he not interact with his fans? Why did he sing such sad songs? The company controlled his Youtube channel and everything he posted, so he couldn't follow him back even though he was a huge fan. At home, though he is free to do as he whished and watched his videos over and over singing along to the songs he knew. He loved his raspy voice, he could only imagine what the owner of that voice looked like.

  Hoseok shook his head as he watched his friend dance for the thousandth time "how many commercials do you have today?" Jimin stopped and turned to look at him "only five" Hoseok shook his head "Jimin, you need to talk to them. You had seven yesterday, I saw last night how swollen your feet and ankles were last night. You could verily walk, I heard you crying in your room. I know you're in pain and trying to hide it but I can see it, you need a break or you're going to collapse or get injured" Hoseok is right he is in so much pain every day he can barely move but he had no choice. The bruises on his ribs are evidence enough that his manager didn't care for his health or well being. He is too scared to speak out so he just keeps putting one foot in front of the other.

  He wanted to tell Hoseok the truth but he knows Hoseok too well and knows he would flip out, he didn't want to see him get hurt so he kept his mouth shut. He had been warned more than once by his manager to keep his mouth shut or an accident may befall him and what can a dancer do with two broken legs. Dancing is everything to him he couldn't imagine if it was taken away from him.

  He cries himself to sleep mist night, his feet and legs throb, but it's not just the physical pain but the emotional pain of being trapped. He wanted to call the cops and report the abuse but he's afraid he would kill him before they have a chance to arrive. He really and truly is afraid for his life.

A/N: Jungkook's character is based loosely basked on Youtuber Corpse_Husband, he doesn't have his deep voice but he does have a raspier voice than in real life kind of like Tae's for the story.