The room was dimly lit as he opened his eyes, body sore with what he thinks was bruises. There’s a thick smell of medicine in the air and it was suffocating—he could feel that he was alone in the room. Fear rises up in his heart as the atmosphere of the room felt so foreign yet so familiar at the same time.

He slowly opens his eyes, bright light immediately greeted him. He squinted a little as it was too bright for him, but it seems the world doesn’t even have enough time to wait for his eyes to adjust.

“You’re finally awake,” a voice blared out and he saw a speaker plastered on the top corner of the room, “953012,”

“Who,” his voice was hoarse, and it hurts him to speak, “Who are you?”

A laughter erupted from the speaker, “It seems you are truly the last one to remember things,”

It ticks him off on how the voice speaks in arrogance, like they’re the ruler of the world. He furrows his eyebrows as he remembered the incident last night and suddenly become so conscious that he’s only person present in the room. He stared at the speaker in hatred as was going to go over to it, but he was tied up on a bright white chair that matches the room.

“Where are my brothers?!” he looked around the room, there’s only a window placed on the wall behind him but he can’t see what’s behind it, “Where did you take them?!”

Another laughter, “If only you didn’t resist too much, all of this wouldn’t happen, 953012. Or should I say V instead?”

He growled, “Who are you?! Show yourself!”

“I don’t remember creating you as vicious as this, V,” the voice chuckled, “Truly, my most perfect creation. You’ll never stop surprising me,”

He rattled in his seat, struggling to set himself free, “Release me!”

“I will,” a growing hatred to the voice didn’t disappear from his heart, “Only if you obey nicely,”

“As if,” he spat, “I don’t even know who you are,”

“You might want to think once more,” a television screen scrolled down on the wall in front of him, flickering slightly before showing a live-video of Jungkook, in a different room than his but tied up in a chair just like him. Bruised and wounded.

“Jungkook!” he gritted his teeth, “What did you do to him?!”

“Hmm, I’m not sure,” the voice playfully said, taunting Taehyung, “But if you refuse to obey me, he might get more of it,”

But Jungkook who already realized he’s on screen shook his head, “No, hyung, don’t! Whatever you do, don’t listen to him—AAAAH!!”

Suddenly a shot of electricity went from the chair Jungkook was tied to, making him scream and jolt up in shock. Taehyung widens his eyes, turning his focus to the speaker, “No! Stop it! Don’t hurt him!”

“Not until you agree,”

“Taehyung-hyung please don’t!”

Taehyung hasn’t even given them an answer but Jungkook was electrocuted again in front of his eyes, and he couldn’t do anything to stop it. It frustrates him and his sore body isn’t helping.

“Please stop it!” he cried, “What do you want me to do?!”

“Oh, V,” the voice chuckled again, “Do you know that I made you not for nothing? I made you with a purpose—and I want you to show me that purpose,”

“I—,” Taehyung hiccupped as tears are now streaming down his cheeks, seeing Jungkook keep being tortured no matter what is his answer to them, “I don’t know what are you saying,”

This time, the laughter was louder, “You’re not meant to be very good in humor, V. But I’ll give you a credit for trying. Now, you should show me what I want to see,”

“I’m saying the truth!” he shouted, “I don’t know what you want!”

“Hmm,” even it’s humming was disgusting to Taehyung, “Maybe we need a trigger,”

His eyes widen at the word, already knowing what was going to happen, “Don’t you dare—,”

“AAAAAAAH!”

Taehyung snapped back to the screen quickly, eyes met with another sight of the youngest of his friend tortured. It wasn’t just electrocution now, there was heated rods pushed to the young boy’s side and Taehyung’s heart aches as he sees the used-to-be white skin stained with a loud orange burn.

“Stop it!” his voice grew hoarse from the shouting, “Stop hurting him!”

“Add more volts—I doubt that was enough to bring him out,”

Jungkook’s cries grew louder, tears running down his cheek and his hair dampens. Taehyung wriggled in his seat roughly as he struggled to get out from the chains binding him—only causing him to shred the skins of his wrists and his ankles.

The torture wasn’t stopping and so was Taehyung’s tears.

“JUNGKOOK!”

Suddenly the lights popped off and a sound of machines shutting down was heard as the room grew dark, leaving Taehyung alone in pitch black. But not a minute passed that the electricity began to flicker, turning on the lights again. Booting sounds echoed through the room but the boy in the middle of the empty void was too exhausted to care.

“Now, that isn’t too hard, right, V?” it chuckled for the umpteenth time, “Bring him back to the others,”

The room’s door was opened harshly, revealing a man with white suit and a mask over his mouth. He took off the chains that bind him and dragged the salmon-haired boy out of the room.

Taehyung still struggled and called for Jungkook, but the screen never again.

“What do you mean they’re here?”

Seokjin, for the first time since no one knows has finally returned to train seriously—even the uppers said he could probably regain back his title. It was to the point he had solo practice sessions and he had just done one, now returning to his quarters. But the presence of the now familiar Taeyong who waited for him in front of the door surprised him—and the news he brought.

“I saw them when I was going to the training room,” the younger boy nervously fiddled with his fingers, “One of them was brought into a separate room,”

“How can they found them that fast?” he clenched his fist, “They’re not an easy target. They must have attacked when they had their guards low,”

“Could be,” Taeyong nodded softly, “Hyung, I think you need to save them,”

“You’re saying like I don’t want to,” Seokjin sighed, “Even though I’ve improved, you know they’re still keeping me under their watch, right? It wouldn’t be easy,”

Taeyong bit his lower lip, “I’m sorry,”

The older massaged his forehead as he let out a rough sigh, leaning on the wall behind him. The two of them stood in silence before suddenly Seokjin blinked and turned to Taeyong.

“Taeyong,”

“Yes, hyung?”

“…You trust me right?”

This time Taeyong blinked at him, “I—I guess so, hyung,”

“Great,” he smiled at him, “Tell me your off-training days,”

He was roughly thrown inside another room, his back hitting the wall and he let out a pained groan. The door shuts loudly as the man left him inside, not even giving him another glance.

“Taehyung!” he could hear Hoseok’s voice, “Oh—Oh thank god you’re alive!”

“Hoseok-hyung,” his voice cracked, “Where…?”

“We’re all here,” Namjoon moved out from the shadows, along with Yoongi. The room was dimly lit and there was nothing inside beside a small bathroom, “It seems this is our prison,”

Taehyung was just going to open his mouth when a shot of pain went up his back. He cried out in pain and soon Hosoek took hold of him.

“Shh, calm down,” he slowly rubbed Taehyung’s back, eyes glowed lavender, “You hurt your back pretty bad, and your wrists and ankles are not in a good condition too,”

The younger only nods as Hoseok tended his wounds. Suddenly there was someone who overshadowed him and he looked up, eyes wavering a little, “Ji-Jimin-hyung?”

“I told you to run,” the older boy spat, glaring at Taehyung hard, “Why didn’t you listen to me?”

Taehyung gulped, “I—I—,”

“You could have saved us all if you didn’t get caught!” Jimin’s voice echoed through the walls, making the others startle, “But you choose to be stubborn and ran back! You even hurt yourself!”

“I’m sorry,” the younger gritted his teeth, “But I can’t leave you guys alone too! It hurts to not able to do anything!”

“With you running away could do a lot of thing to us,” he sneered, “And now look, Jungkook isn’t even back yet! What are we going to do now, huh?”

Taehyung down casted, feeling ashamed. Jimin clicked his tongue, looking away from the younger.

“If only you listen to me, Taehyung,” he continued, “We could make things less bad,”

“Then what the hell am I supposed to do now?!” the younger suddenly shouted, but Jimin didn’t even flinch, “I can’t turn back time, what do you want me to do?”

The tears that he had forgotten was now flowing again, as he repeated his question, “What do you want me to do?”

Jimin opened his mouth, but the room’s temperature dropped and the orange-haired boy knew immediately that he had crossed the line.

“Park Jimin,” Yoongi’s voice was sharp, “Go sit in the corner and cool down your head,”

The other boy frowned but turned away, moving to the corner as he obeyed the older. The five of them sit in silence with only the soft hum from Hoseok’s powers filling in the room. Soon enough the door opened again and another person was thrown in, tattered with wounds all over his body.

“Jungkook!” Taehyung recklessly moved to the younger, “Jungkook, can you hear me?!”

“Hyung,” the younger boy who’s now in Hoseok’s hold opened his eyes slightly to him, “I-I’m glad you’re okay,”

“But you’re not!” Taehyung cried, dipping his head on the crooks of his shoulder, “I’m sorry… I’m really sorry,”

“Don’t,” the wounds on his body slowly disappears as Hoseok hovered his hand over them, “It wasn’t your fault—it was theirs,”

“But—,”

“Rather than regretting what already happen,” Jungkook coughed a little, “We have… to think what are we going to do… now…,”

The silence returned to them. The facility has a very tight security and with their situation right now it is very reckless and futile to break an escape, not to mention they’re all very much tired from the attack before.

They can’t come up with anything.

“We do nothing,” Namjoon sadly says, “We do nothing now,”

*******

The whole house rejoiced when he woke up, with Baekhyun the first one who came up to him that he even took care everything for him. It felt like a glimpse of hope was given to the eight of them.

“Here’s your tea—be careful, it’s hot,” he said as he gave a cup to him, as the other was sitting on the bed with a quilt covering his legs, “We thought you would never wake up, Tao,”

He chuckled, “I’d thought the same—but something came up and I convinced myself that I have to be there when it happens,”

Baekhyun furrows his eyebrows, “What do you mean?”

“I saw something in my sleep,” Tao smiled softly to him, “Your friend, he’s going to change the future,”

*******

Days by days pass without them being safe, being tortured and experimented every time they can. Each time they struggled against the more they torment them. Like a quicksand that drowns even more with every move, it was useless for them to rebel.

Taehyung can't even count how much his heart wrenched every time he saw hi