precious dongsaeng, you're my everything
summary: tiny bit of the backstory ✨ word count: 2k note: haven't posted in forever. uploaded this chapter to ao3 almost a year ago but forgot to post it here lol. ✨
chapter one
“Where’s Taehyung?”
It takes a second for Hobi’s question to settle, then Namjoon realizes that question perfectly sums up his intuition's itchy nagging of the past ten minutes. It's the silence. The drowning absence of Taehyung and Jungkook’s usual playfulness (aka bothering their tired hyungs with their typical maknae-like overflow of energy) and the lack of warnings towards Jimin with his endless attempts to rehearse the choreography one more time. It’s strange, almost suspicious that Namjoon hasn’t seen or heard of them for the last hour.
He looks around the crowded changing room that’s too small like all changing rooms for BTS are, messy with both the members' and staffs' haphazardly thrown jackets, the piles of makeup boxes and the promise of food just behind the next door. Jungkook is napping next to Yoongi, Jin is talking to the costume noonas. Hoseok is sitting on that one squeaky chair next to Namjoon himself, scrolling through their group chat a little too quickly.
“They didn’t come back from the last rehearsal run. Or did I just miss them?"
“I don’t know, hyung,” Namjoon shrugs, “I didn’t see them either.”
“Should I go check the bathrooms? I mean, they know to tell us if they feel sick, but maybe…”
“Okay. I’ll ask staff if they’ve seen them. Don’t worry too much, Hobi. We’ll find them. They probably just got lost. These broadcasting stations are like a maze…”
Hoseok’s face is awfully devoid of his usual sunshine smile as he stands up and looks at Namjoon, maybe trying to find something in his gaze, maybe just expressing his worries silently.
“Yeah,” he nods, “but I have a weird feeling, Namjoon.”
A shiver runs over Namjoon’s neck.
“I know. Me too.”
With the help of the stage crew, who bring long flashlights and additional eyes, they find Taehyung and Jimin, who are huddled together like frightened animals in some corner of the darkest parts under the stage. At first, they only see Jimin. Sat with his back towards them, Jimin is holding up Taehyung. His back and head are trembling even with another body in his arms and Namjoon’s heart goes into shock when they get closer and discover blood. Blood everywhere but especially on Jimin’s neck, the collar of his white shirt and smeared all over his back. They walk closer with careful steps, not sure what to expect, what they can expect from the blood-covered idol that everyone loves so much.
“Jimin-ah?”
At the sound of his name, Jimin seems to wake up from his swaying stupor over Taehyung’s body. He turns around. If Namjoon wasn’t scared before, his heart is clenching now.
Jimin’s eyes are glowing red. There’s more blood, smeared all across Jimin’s thick lips and his chin, even across his nose. Tears over tears flow down his cheeks, dropping down onto poor Taehyung, who seems to be unconscious. Namjoon’s heart skips a beat at the horrifying sight.
“Jiminie, are you okay? What happened?”
The young boy trembles, apparently on the verge of erupting in tears again.
“Hyung. You’re here. You found us.”
“Of course, Jiminie. I’ll never leave you behind. Is Taehyung okay?”
“I don’t- I don’t think so…”
Jimin’s eyes still glow red as he looks down. Namjoon isn’t sure what he thinks might happen but when Jimin awkwardly scoops his too lanky soulmate up into his arms, diligently bulked up upper arms bulging, some members of the stage crew behind Namjoon become fidgety. There are hushed murmurs of “vampire” going around but he doesn’t let himself be deterred by that kind of fearful talk and carefully walks towards Jimin.
“Jiminie, can I come closer?”
“Yes, hyung.”
He almost chokes when he sees Taehyung - hair mussed, bandana hanging off the little fixing clips in tatters, collar of his shirt ripped and covered in even more blood than Jimin. His throat looks… not like a throat should look, covered in bites. Jimin whimpers when Namjoon gasps.
“Hyung, there was a w-woman,” he starts weakly, voice trembling. “She told Tae to follow so she could give him some stage instructions a-and I thought she was strange s-so I followed them and when she pushed him, I-I just, I- I thought I could help and maybe save Tae but she- she bit me too.”
Namjoon sees the misery in front of him and knows that this is exactly where he should be, as the leader of the band. This is where he was needed, his guidance, his comfort. This is what Pdnim had made him a leader for. Namjoon’s bursting heart tells him that these boys are who he will fight for always. Jimin is crying, so Namjoon hugs him gently, ignoring how he has to stand uncomfortably because of the low ceiling and how the dust in this remote part of backstage tickles his nose.
“C’mon, Jiminie, we need to get you out of here. Can you walk?”
“I don’t know. My legs are really shaky.”
“It’s okay, if you can’t, we’ll carry you.”
“What about Tae? He hasn’t woken up…”
Namjoon isn’t a man of affectionate gestures, but he manages to give Jimin a good pat on the back and prays to heaven that it will be enough for now. The news that Tae hasn’t woken up are bad and it makes his own heart clench with worry but there’s no sense in panicking before they’ve reached qualified medical staff that can take care of him.
“We’ll carry him too, don’t worry, Jimin-ah.”
He calls for staff to help them but suddenly, when they get close enough to take Taehyung, Jimin starts hissing wildly. It’s a sound that Namjoon’s never heard before. It’s eerie, here in the dark of backstage, with Jimin’s red eyes glowing harshly into the direction of staff and his mouth drawn into an absolutely animalistic snarl.
“Jimin!”
Even in the low, shaky lights of the staff’s flashlights, Namjoon catches a glimpse of fangs. Fangs. Namjoon’s blood turns cold. The word vampire makes an ugly reappearance and he swallows heavily. Jimin is a vampire. Namjoon quickly pushes the thought away before it can do too much damage, sensing that it will distract him too much from his ability to make rational decisions now.
“Jimin-ah,” he says gently, heart pounding when his hand settles on Jimin’s arm and the vampire’s eyes snap back to focus on him, “I can’t carry both of you. Let them help.”
Jimin gives him a very long look that has every hair on Namjoon’s body stand up. The sharp red eyes make his already intimidating gaze so much more intense. He wonders whether Jimin could really control someone’s mind through simple eye contact like some vampires in films and tv shows could.
“Okay,” Jimin finally relents, shrinking back to a less intimidating posture, “but I’ll hold Taetae’s hand. I tired to shake off the woman but I couldn’t and she bit him for so long… he needs me.”
It’s a good compromise, so Namjoon nods gratefully and motions for the staff to come closer. Jimin watches them anxiously, almost as if he doesn’t recognize them. Does getting turned into a vampire mess with your head?
“Come on,” he says as the stage crew member has carefully hoisted Taehyung’s limp body up.
Jimin, sliding his hand into Taehyung’s, doesn’t complain against Namjoon’s strong arm around his waist. Together, they make it out of the dark and into the warmth of the changing rooms, where everyone’s eyes snap up to the commotion. People rush in and out of the doors, stage crew members whispering stuff to the BigHit staff, jackets rustling, partitions and even a sofa being drawn and carried a little closer for some privacy. Namjoon lets Jimin down, aware of the baby vampire’s grip tightening around his shoulders.
“Jiminie?”
On his neck, he feels Jimin’s unbleached and somewhat sticky hair give way to his little button nose. From the staff’s frightened expressions, Namjoon’s mind quickly finds the path to a rather unpleasant image - a pair of fangs digging into his throat. He swallows, hand wandering to the small of Jimin’s back (he really feels like he’s holding a baby on his hip right now) and reminds himself that Jimin is way too traumatized to think about anything other than Taehyung right now - even if he’s a vampire. He gives the staff member behind him who is still carrying an unconscious Taehyung a nod and gently peels Jimin’s tight fist out of his shirt. Luckily, it’s just one. Jimin is still holding Taehyung’s hand in his other one.
“Jiminie, I’m gonna set you down now, okay?”
The vampire doesn’t respond and for the first time that they’ve gotten to the changing room, Namjoon feels a string of dread in his gut. He draws back a bit, takes the time to turn his head in a way so he can look Jimin in the eyes. They are still red, but big and watery and quickly jumping around the room, not really focusing well as they look from one spot to the next. He’s tense, the small body strung tightly around Namjoon’s chest and shoulder and Namjoon doesn’t like the way Jimin’s breath puffs against the shell of his ear in such an erratic rhythm.
“Hey, what’s wrong? What’s wrong, Jimin-ah?”
Jimin is usually not a person who is disturbed so deeply by things, but right now, he seems somewhat out of the situation.
“Hey,” Namjoon says again, trusting Jimin to hold on by himself when he loosens his grip on Jimin’s hip. He cups Jimin’s cheek, making the younger, clearly shaken boy focus on just him. As if woken from a small slumber, Jimin whines quietly, his red eyes pressing closed as he tries to nudge his way back into Namjoon’s neck.
“No, no, no,” Namjoon shushes, still standing but slowly coming to feel the strain of the weight he’s carrying, “Jiminie, what’s wrong? Talk to hyung, yeah?”
“Loud,” Jimin whines, almost inaudibly, and as soon as Namjoon’s brain has unscrambled the word, it’s liek the noise from all around comes crashing back into him. Of course, it must be terribly loud in here, especially for a vampire.
“Tae,” is the next word that bubbles out between Jimin’s lips that are pressed against Namjoon’s skin. The vibrations and the warm breath make a little shiver run over his back. Don’t think about it, Namjoon.
“Give me a second,” Namjoon whispers and motions for the next BigHit staff member that’s available to instruct them to get Sejin and also to clear the room. When that’s done, and a blessed silence falls over the room, he feels Jimin release a deep breath of relief.
“Is that better?”
“Yeah,” Jimin shyly twists a few strands of Namjoon’s hair between his fingers and Namjoon wonders whether the younger boy is slowly coming back to his mind. “I can hear Taehyungie’s heart beating.”
That makes sense. Jimin was so tense because all the noise drowned out Taehyung. Why didn’t I think of that? It wasn’t a secret that these two boys were close and generally considered inseparable but apparently, even being hurt himself couldn’t deter Jimin from worrying first about his best friend.
“That’s good, Jiminie,” he tries to encourage, grateful when he watches Yoongi and Sejin round the corner, “I’ll set you down now, yeah? You can stay here with Taehyung and I’ll talk to manager-hyung, okay?”
“Okay,” Jimin says, fresh tears in the corner of his eyes that he wipes off quickly. Namjoon’s shoulder curses him when he sets Jimin down but his heart warms when he watches the way Jimin curls around Taehyung, who lies on the sofa, until they are close as can be, breathing against each other softly, like two beautiful kittens from the same litter.
Namjoon feels his own body relax at the sight, grateful that there’s some peace that he’s managed to bring into the situation. He turns to Sejin and Yoongi, who are both looking at him with varying degrees of alarm and worry in their faces.
“So, vampires,” is the awkwardly pressed out question - statement? - Yoongi dares to ask.
Namjoon cards a hand trough his hair, managing a garbled laugh because of the sheer absurdity of his day.
“Yeah. Vampires.”
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