“Jungkook, you’re a little bit out of it aren’t you? Assuming we’re talking about the same Jimin, he’s not in Bangtan remember? He got cut from the group at the last minute, how could you forget?”

The way Taehyung said it, and the way he looked at Jungkook; Jungkook almost believed him. He would've believed him too had it not been for how ridiculous the words that came out of Taehyung’s mouth were.

“Yeah right hyung sure. Looks like all your practice for Hwarang is really paying off, for a second I almost believed you. Did the hyungs put you up to this? Some sort of punishment for what I did?”

If anything, after that response Taehyung seemed to look even more confused. Jungkook had to hand it to him, Taehyung seemed to be keeping up with the act, and he was doing a pretty damn good job at it. “Hwarang? Acting? Kook what are you talking about? Seriously are you ok? Maybe you should stay in bed.. Jin hyung will understand, maybe.”

Fine, if this was the game that Taehyung wanted to play, then he wasn't going to lose. He knew he was wrong for what he did to Jimin, but going as far as pretending he was never in the group to teach him some kind of lesson was going too far in Jungkook’s opinion.

“Ah Tae hyung, let’s just forget what I said, I was still a little drowsy from sleeping but I'm ok now, let's just go get breakfast. After all you're the one who said Jin hyung wouldn't be happy if we were late right!” Taehyung could keep up this act all he wanted, but there was no way that he would be able to keep this up for long. There was no way any of his hyungs were gonna let Jimin miss breakfast, especially if he was on that diet he mentioned previously.

“Um, ok.. If you say so..” Taehyung said uncertainly. He didn't really look like he believed Jungkook, but he let it go, worried more for Jin’s wrath than Jungkook’s odd behavior. He followed behind the now-eager maknae toward the kitchen table where the rest of their hyungs were waiting.

“Good morning hyungs.”

When they got to the kitchen, four of the other members were already seated around the table. Yoongi & Hoseok hyungs sat on one side while Namjoon & Seokjin hyungs were on the other. That left the remaining two chairs for Taehyung and Jungkook. Taehyung quickly took a seat, while Jungkook stopped by his chair before taking a look around the table at the other members. On one side, Hoseok and Yoongi were attached to the hip, not an inch of space between them(Jungkook gagged a little inside, it wasn’t like he was jealous or anything). After giving Jungkook a little smile and wave, Hoseok returned to what seemed to be him coddling a half asleep Yoongi, sharing his food and feeding the older because the older didn’t seem to be capable of taking care of himself in his current state. On the other side, Namjoon was quickly shoveling food down his throat, clearly enjoying his breakfast while Seokjin was looking expectantly at Jungkook, probably wondering why he hadn’t taken his seat yet. Jungkook quickly took a seat before Seokjin could say anything. None of them seemed to act like anything had happened last night. It just confirmed Jungkook’s suspicions that they had all conformed to teach him some sort of lesson.

“Taehyung, what took you so long to wake him up? I thought I told you to wake him up quickly. Look, Namjoonie’s-” Taehyung flinched a little at the nickname. “-pretty much done eating already.” Seokjin said. Jungkook was surprised at how cold the tone of his voice was, especially since he was talking to Taehyung.

‘Did they get into a fight? Taehyung was acting a little weird when I brought up his relationship with Jin hyung.’

Bowing his head in embarrassment, Taehyung replied. “Sorry Jin hyung, Kook was acting a little strange and I was just making sure he wasn’t sick or anything.”

Jin just frowned at him, but didn’t scold him. “Just don’t let it happen again.”

After the two youngest got settled in, the 6 of them continued to eat their breakfast, minding their own business. It was weird, even without Jimin around the group was friendlier with each other than just this. Jungkook took this opportunity to start up a conversation, bringing up (what he thought to be) the elephant in the room. “Hyungs, by the way, where’s Jimin hyung?”

As soon as he asked the question, all heads turned toward Jungkook, even Yoongi who up until now looked like he could pass out from exhaustion at any given time. Taehyung quickly spoke up, looking eagerly at Jin. “See hyung! He keeps asking about that Jimin! It’s all he was talking about earlier.”

Hoseok spoke up first. “Ooh I remember Jiminie! We used to spent all night practicing dance routines together. He sure was a cutie, I really miss hi-OW! Yoong, what was that for?”

For the first time this morning, Jin’s face softened a little. “Jungkook ah, why are you asking us?”

“He was the one who said he was dieting so shouldn’t we make sure he eats? Plus after what happened last night I’m really worried.”

“Since when were you two friends? Hell, when did you two even start talking again?” Yoongi asked, speaking for the first time this morning.

“Yeah, ‘talking.’” Jungkook mutter under his breath.

“And what’s this I hear about last night? Did you sneak out again?” Namjoon added on. “Look, I get that you’re the maknae and you want a taste of youth, but you should still let us know. I know we’re all not that close to each and every member, but we’re all members of the same group so we need to rely on each other.”

Jungkook was getting tired of this act. Why did they keep acting like Jimin was just some acquaintance they all knew? How did asking about Jimin’s whereabouts turn into Namjoon giving another speech about “how teamwork makes the dream work?” So many questions, but will he get an answer to any of them? He had to give it to the others though, it made him a little happy to see that the other members were willing to go through such lengths to take care of Jimin--something he always failed to do--by putting up this act. The subject of Jimin however had to be dropped when their manager arrived at their dorm to pick them up for another long day of comeback preparations.

As they went through their schedule packed day, Jungkook couldn’t help but notice the absence of his shorter hyung. He had a bad feeling about the lack of Jimin. Did he somehow hurt himself last night? Is that why he was absent for literally every schedule they had today? The more the day progressed, and the more schedules they fulfilled--Jimin being absent for all of them--the more that bad feeling from earlier grew. Everyone was functioning naturally as 6, and whenever Jungkook asked a random staff member about Jimin, they would just give him a confused look.

After all that’s happened today, he’s had plenty of ideas as to what was going on, and he wasn’t a big fan of any of them. It wasn’t until the end of the day when they had dance practice that Jungkook realized what that bad feeling from earlier was. He ignored it when they were shooting promotional pictures(because they were individual shots), and he ignored it when they went into the recording studio(because Jimin could always record his lines at another time), but this, he had no excuse for this one. As any other practice, they began first by warming up and then went straight to practicing the choreography for their music, both new & old. It was when Jungkook actually heard the music that his heart sank and he felt like throwing up.

Jimin’s voice was not in any of the songs. For each line he had in their songs, it was either him, Taehyung, Jin hyung, or surprisingly, Hoseok hyung singing his parts. He desperately wanted to believe that this was all some elaborate prank that the 6 others had set up to teach him a lesson the night before, but it was all too much for it to just be a prank. He could hear his own voice singing lines he knows he's never had.

As much as he wanted to keep denying it, he couldn't do it anymore. Jimin was no longer a member of the group. No, Jimin was never a part of the group, and he knew that it was somehow his fault. He didn't know why it was happening, but he had a sinking feeling that it had to do with what had happened last night. The vile feeling he’s been having all day had become unbearable at this point.

Without warning, he dashed out of the room right in the middle of the song. He could hear the members’ confused chatter, probably wondering what was going on with him. Their choreographer wasn't going to be happy with him, but that wasn't really important to him at the moment.

Reaching the nearest restroom, he threw himself toward the nearest toilet stall and threw everything up, emptying his stomach of whatever he had stuffed himself with today while tears were running down his eyes. He was in a world where Bangtan was 6, a Bangtan without Jimin, and the others members didn't seem bothered by this fact at all. After he was done, he remained hunched over the toilet bowl, just in case he needed to barf again, still silently sobbing but he stayed mainly because he didn't really want to go back outside and face this new reality.

He was taken out of his thoughts when he heard someone knocking outside of his stall. “Jungkook ah, is everything ok? Come on out, let's talk.”

“Jin hyung?” In all this mess, Jungkook had a little flame of warmth fill himself. Jin was always the best(apart from Jimin) when it came to comforting him.

“Mhmm, now come on out.” Jin spoke, sounding a little uncomfortable. “Please?”

“Ok hyung, just give me a minute.” Jungkook responded. Not wanting to keep the eldest waiting he quickly cleaned himself up and stepped outside.

As soon as Jin noticed Jungkook was decent, he quickly turned away, muttering a quick “follow me” before walking out of the restroom. Jungkook quickly went after him as to not upset his hyung and followed him until Jin walked into an empty practice room.

When they were both settled down and Jungkook was able to take a good look at Jin, he noticed that the older looked as uncomfortable as he sounded earlier. He sat there, posture stiff and avoided eye contact with Jungkook.

“So.. Jungkook. Is everything ok? Did you go through a breakup recently? You've been acting strange today. We’re worried.” Jin asked, placing his hand on Jungkook’s shoulder in an attempt to comfort him. It wasn’t really working.

While he appreciated the attempt, it didn’t help. Clearly there was more that was different from this world than just the lack of Jimin in the group. This Jin hyung was also very different from the one he knew. The one he knew loved Taehyung a lot, but this one from what he noticed seemed to be very uncomfortable with him. He didn't think of it much earlier, but after his discovery it’s become much more apparent. While his Jin hyung could be stern, he was also very warm and welcoming, they were close. Not only to him, but also to the other members. This Jin was just cold and awkward. Jungkook could only wonder how much different the other members were. They all seemed to be the same from what he's seen, but he hadn't spent enough time around them to be really certain.

“I'm ok hyung. It's nothing.” It wasn't what Jin wanted to hear Jungkook figured, but he wasn't really in the mood for this.

“Look, I know.. I know I'm not good at this and that we’re not as close as we should be considering we’re in the same group,” Jin replied, a little frustrated. He took a deep breath then continued, “but it's exactly that. We’re in the same group. Regardless of everything, you can trust me with your problems. I know I seem cold, but it's my job as the oldest. Namjoonie can’t handle everything on his own. I forget how much younger you are compared to me, so I'm sorry if I’m too hard on you sometimes. I'll try to be more understanding ok?”

Jungkook couldn’t help but to widen his eyes in shock at Jin’s little speech, it almost resembled the Jin he knew in some way. To begin with they were the same person, so he deduced that it just must’ve been from the different experiences they had that changed them. It made him wonder how different this Bangtan’s experiences were from the Bangtan he came from. Maybe Jungkook could trust in this hyung, just a little.

Deciding he had nothing to lose, he asked what was on his mind. “Hyung, can you be honest with me? What happened to Jimin hyung? Why isn't he in the group? Taehyung told me it’s because he was cut from the group at the last minute, but why? What happened?”

Jin just frowned at him in return. He put the back of his hand against Jungkook’s forehead, like Taehyung had earlier before. “Jungkook really, what’s going on with you? You already know what happened. Big Hit just thought there was already too many members, and they thought he didn’t contribute anything. I’ll never forget what they said, ‘Hoseok was already a better dancer, and that you and Tae were good enough for our main vocals that we didn’t need another one.’”

Jungkook’s blood ran cold hearing Jin’s words. It was almost identical to what he had told Jimin the night before. If he wasn’t already feeling bad, this just made everything that much worse. The guilt was weighing down on him endlessly. He just wanted to take back everything he had said. Just because he wasn’t the greatest didn’t mean he didn’t have any talents at all. Jungkook could only wish he could tell his hyung about how talented he already was rather to than criticize him on the talents he still lacked. Jimin knocked himself down enough as it was. In fact, Jimin was one of the hardest working members in the group, always trying to improve in what he lacked.

“But hyung! You know Jiminie hyung’s talents! Of course he brought a lot to the group! He was, no, he is a member of the group! He worked so hard for this!”

“Jungkook, I’m trying to be nice, but you need to stop being a brat. Really what has gotten into you all of a sudden.” Jin replied softly, but Jungkook could tell he was holding back from scolding him if his balled fist were any indication of anything. “Don’t you think I know that? We all know how hard he worked to debut, he deserved it so much. You’re being disrespectful by saying things like this.”

“But I’m not lying..” Jungkook whispered to himself, quiet enough so that Jin couldn’t hear it.

“Jin hyung, please, can we talk about something else?” Jungkook asked louder this time, shoulders slumping in defeat. If there was even a trace of denial left, it was all gone now. All he wanted to do now was to distract himself, anything to keep his mind off of everything. “You said we weren’t close. Well then, let’s get closer.”

Jin seemed surprised about the sudden change in subject, but he didn’t deny Jungkook of that. He’d have to look more into the maknae’s behavior later. “Ok sure, what do you want to talk about? Ask me anything.”

“Are you seeing anybody right now?” Jungkook asked, looking at his hyung with curious eyes. He needed to know what else was different about this world compared to his own.

Jin blushed at the question, turning a deep shade of red. Jungkook guessed he wasn’t expecting something like that. “Well.. we were supposed to keep it a secret until things got more serious, but since we’re bonding and all, I’ll let you in on it. Namjoon and I are seeing each other.”

“Namjoon hyung, really? For some reason I always thought it would’ve been Taehyung.”

Jungkook had his suspicions, with Jin’s nickname for Namjoon hyung and all, but having it confirmed like that was a little disappointing. His Jin hyung back where he belonged was in a serious relationship with Taehyung, so dealing with more changes didn’t help with his adjustment. As much as he loved Namjoon hyung, he loved Taehyung just a little more. Plus, he was pretty sure his Namjoon was only into girls, but with this news maybe he had to rethink that one. He wasn’t certain if the Taehyung of this reality had the same candle for Jin as he did back in his old world, but if they were anything alike(as best friends Jungkook really hoped so) then it was probably the same situation, except this Taehyung wasn’t with the one he loved.

“Taehyung?” Jin asked. “Hm, I’ve never really thought about it before. It’s not like we really talk to each other unless it’s about work. He’s not really my type. Namjoon is my type, clearly.”

“But Taehyung’s a nice guy! Maybe you should give him a chanc-” Jungkook was interrupted by Jin putting up his finger, telling him to be quiet.

“Ah ah ah. I know we’re trying to bond but let’s not push it, ok? It’s nice to see you care for Tae so much but I’m happy with the way things are with Namjoon and I’m sure he is too.” Jin said sternly, his cold facade coming back--only softening at the mention of Namjoon. “Anyway, I think this is enough of that. Don’t think that just cause we had this little talk about my love life that I’ve forgotten everything. I still don’t know what’s gotten into you with all this Jimin nonsense. I thought it was another one of you and Taehyung’s tricks, but not even you’re dumb enough to keep a prank going this long.”

At the mention of Jimin’s name, Jungkook’s spirits lowered once again as he no longer had anything to keep him off his mind. Jungkook just looked down in shame, and spoke softly, almost whispering. “I’m honestly not too sure myself, I just know that I miss him. So much.”

“Jungkook…” Jin whispered, giving said boy a sad look. “It’s getting late, we should head back now. Maybe a good night’s rest is all you need.”

“Ok hyung, maybe you’re right.” Jungkook humored him. He didn’t really think things would get better, but it was what Jin wanted to hear, so he said it.

The rest of the trip back to their dorms was spent in silence. Jungkook wouldn’t call it comfortable, but it wasn’t bad.

“Good night Jungkook,” Jin said, a genuine smile on his face this time. “Whatever you’re going through, just know I’ll try my best to be there for you.”

“You too hyung.” Jungkook smiled back, albeit much weaker.

As soon as the two split their ways, Jungkook quickly walked back to his room, which he thankfully still shared with Namjoon. Taking a quick shower and entering into his night garments, Jungkook crawled into bed. He tried his best to fall asleep, but he could just not do it with Jimin constantly on his mind.

It took him a while, but he finally managed to fall asleep, deluding himself into thinking that this was all some sort of lucid dream. He prayed that he’d awaken to a reality where Jimin was still in the group. He didn’t know if he could handle living a life where Jimin wasn’t in the group with him.

-

Jungkook was later awoken to the feeling of his sheets being pulled away from him. Still exhausted from yesterday’s events, he tried yanking it back, hoping to catch a few more minutes of sleep.

“Um, Jungkook?”

‘That voice..’ Jungkook’s eyes immediately widened. After hearing that voice, whatever drowsiness he had left in his system had disappeared and he was wide awake. He couldn’t help the grin that was growing on his face.

“Jimin hyung!”