[BACKSTAGE]

 

        A tall male with a lanky build strode into their common room, his eyes darting about as though he was looking for someone. "Aish, that kid Seokjin," the pink-haired male sighed. "Where the hell could he be..?"

        He entered the common room, expecting to find his friend, but instead he was greeted by a loud groan.

        "UUUGGGGGHHHHH!!!!"

        Eyes widening in disbelief, he peered over the sofa which was blocking his view, only to find his Director, sprawled across the floor head-first, her laptop lying not too far from her. "Oh, Jae, you're here," he greeted nonchalantly, stepping towards her, "I was just wondering if you've seen-"

        Before he could even reply, Jae let out another groan, arms flailing in frustration. Yoongi froze mid-step, his right foot still raised. He promptly turned towards the exit. "I'll... catch you later," he quickly finished, not quite eager to linger around his friend's sudden insanity. 

         "IFT'S ROOWINED!" Jae moaned, her voice muffled by the carpet against her face. Yoongi cocked an eyebrow.

        "EFFRETHING ITHS ROOWINED! THE OONIFFERSE ITHS GUNG TO IMPLODE."

        Yoongi's face scrunched into a grimace, "Ugh, I know I'm going to regret this..." He turned around to face the Director once more. "Alright, I'll bite. What's ruined? Why is the universe going to implode?"

        Jae muttered more incoherent words under her breath, and Yoongi threw up his hands in exasperation. "Why do I even bother..." 

        Just then, Seokjin strolled into the common room, holding a 'very manly' Hello Kitty coffee mug in his hands. "What's going on? I thought I heard... oh never mind." His voice of concern turned into that of apprehension at the sight of Jae, quickly turning on his heels to walk away, but without the male even casting a look backwards, Yoongi's hand shot out to grab him by the scruff of his hoodie. 

        "We're going through this hell together," he snarled at him through gritted teeth.

        Dragging the latter into the room like a dog, Yoongi marched up towards the Director. "Now, what's the problem, little woman?" With his free hand, he pinched together a handful of Jae's hair and lifted her head up. Feebly, Jae lifted a finger and pointed to the laptop screen. "THAT!" she intoned raspily before her head dropped back onto the floor with a lifeless 'bop'.

        Both males eyed the screen curiously. "That's just the Prologue video for our follow-up album 화양연화 part two," Jin observed. "What's wrong with it?"

        "EVERYTHING!" Jae shot up from her position, scaring the hell out of the two members. "I've worked so hard to make our current story as canon as possible with the release of I Need U way back in April. Now 5 months in and BigHit releases THIS!" 

        "Riiiiight, canon..." Yoongi drawled with a roll of his eyes, "That's totally why you over-dramatised my death scene by getting crushed by EIGHTY THOUSAND POUNDS OF CONCRETE?!"

        "Your death in the original music video was boring anyway," Jin declared.

        "Speak for yourself, all you did was cradle flower petals and cry."

        "-And besides," Seokjin added, pretending not to hear Yoongi's rebuttal, "The Prologue video still isn't that different from this AU. I mean, it still has Taehyung's murder in it, and not to mention some places in these shots look a lot like Neverland too: the beach, the abandoned building, and the forests..."

        "It's not just the setting!" Jae snapped. "As much as I would like to think of the video taking place in Neverland, look at the storyline! Taehyung kills himself by jumping off the scaffolding, and he does it in front of his friends! For this to match with our current AU, the whole situation from the Prologue has to take place prior to your Ascensions to Neverland! But this would imply that you guys all know each other before your deaths, and Seokjin wouldn't even be in Neverland in the first place-"

        "-Wait, what? Me?!" 

        "Fan theories state that you're hallucinating the whole thingamabob happening in the video, so you're not exactly dead."

        Seokjin squeezed his eyes shut, feeling a headache threaten to erupt. "You lost me at 'thingamabob'." 

        Yoongi shook his head, "You're hopeless." 

        Jae lowered her head on her knees and sighed noisily. "I'm ruined. Five months of work and filling in plotholes, gone to waste. Now no one's gonna think this story is canon... WHY DOES BIGHIT ENTERTAINMENT MAKE EVERYTHING SO COMPLICATED?!" Yoongi almost snorted. "No offense, woman, but I'm pretty able to bet that none of them reading this consider this anywhere near 'canon'." He made inverted commas with his index fingers for emphasis. Seokjin shot him a glare before clearing his throat.

        "What my colleague meant to say is, it's okay if your story isn't in line with the original, but what matters most is that you've created your own unique intellectual property that you can be proud of," he comforted gently.

        "Because she isn't totally going to get her sued by J.M Barrie's ghost for using Neverland."

        "SHUT UP, YOONGI."

        Jae watched the bickering pair for a few seconds longer before slamming her hands down on the floor. "This won't do," she declared. "I'm going to revamp and edit DLMG all over again..." Her voice trailed off into panic. "But then there's school, and examinations are around the corner... I won't have time!"

        "Woah slow down!" Jin chided. "If it's time you need, we'll buy you some."

        Yoongi looked at his friend, bewildered. "We can?!"

        "Look, our comeback's around the corner, and we're probably having another tour later this year. I'm sure that's enough time to keep ARMYs distracted while you carry on with your whatitswhosits," Seokjin nodded affirmatively. Jae brightened up, throwing her arms around his neck in a grateful hug. "Oh, thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!" With newfound spirit, she whisked her laptop back into her arms and darted out of the common room.

        "Great, now that that's out of the way," Yoongi said, stretching his body across the couch, "I'm gonna get some sleep-"

        "EVERYTHING'S RUINED!" someone screeched from across the building, the unmistakable voice belonging to Jae's parter and co-director, Val. 

        Yoongi slapped the pillow he was holding back onto the ground in disgust and defeat. "Here we go again..."

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