┈━ ◇ ━┈

Jungkook opened his eyes, feeling the vertigo get to his head as he gripped his forehead, slowly getting his senses back.

The last thing he remembered was something, like a soft feeling somewhere on his face- was it forehead? - and then he passed out.

"Jk! Are you done yet?" his head perked up, snapping towards the voice. It only worsened his headache.

"Look at yourself, you're still in your boxers. Oh, God!" a light smack on his shoulder and some pants flying towards him out of nowhere finally broke his trance.

"Suga hyung?" his lips curved up in a smile. It had been so many days since he last saw him, so this naturally brought tears to his eyes but he wouldn't cry so easily in front of everyone like that.

Everyone!? Oh yes, Hobi and Jimin were there too.

"Uh, where is Jin hyung?" Jungkook asked him as he pulled the pants up his hips.

"Who?" Yoongi stopped what he was doing, looking at Jungkook with confusion.

"Jin hyung?" the fear and hesitation in Jungkook's voice was really prominent but Yoongi just gave him a light chuckle, muttering somthing under his breath.

"Seems like you're still sleepy." and he got back to his work.

"Guys, I got the rainbow masks for us!!" Hobi entered the living room, yelling in a loud voice.

"God!! Can't you be quiet? My ears already hurt from constantly wearing that shit." Jimin peeked from the couch where he was previously slumped over in a lazy manner.

"Oh, you're here too!?" Hobi exclaimed.

"Of course, duh! Where else can I go like this? unsecured?" Jimin got up, taking the masks from Hobi who sat down beside him.

"Got it, man! Stop being irritated!"

"Hyung? What... is this all?" Jungkook's mind was spinning from all the new information. The information which was not complete, he could only assume things.

"What? Jk, you're behaving weird." Yoongi went inside the laundry room, leaving him alone.

"Hobi hyung? What is this? Where are we going?"

Indeed, there were four, big backpacks, all ready and packed with something on the floor.

"We're going shopping, of course! Don't you remember that we've got the permit?" Hobi answered, thinking that Jungkook is probably still half asleep as he woke up not long ago.

"Yeah, Hobi even bought these rainbow oxygen masks for all of us to match." Jimin laughed, "even though we will look like we're on a pride parade, I think it's cool." he gave Hobi a thumbs up who had a proud smile on his face.

Jungkook was now getting anxious. Nothing was making sense. Nothing at all.

He was back at his apartment? He actually shared it with Yoongi but he was basically always at his studio, so Hobi and Jimin came to hang out a lot. Yet, this atmosphere surrounding them was anything but normal.

"Oxygen masks? Permit for shopping?" he let his thoughts talk.

"Kook, are you okay?" Jimin asked, concerned for the younger.

"What is happening? Why do we need Oxygen masks? Hyung, where are we? And, and, where is Jin hyung? Is he back?" he was panicking. Deep down, he was sure that this was a part of the game but... it seemed too real. He was hoping to see Jin again, even if it was just an illusion.

"Jimin," Hobi exchanged a look with him and they nodded.

"Hey, let's sit down and talk. I'll explain it to you." Hobi made Jungkook sit down on the couch with them. He needed the answers.

"I think you're having a panic attack again."

Again? That word surprised him.

"You forgot everything again?" Jimin asked, and honestly, Jungkook was getting tired of this suspense.

Jimin and Hobi, both looked like they were used to this. Had Jungkook always been having these panic attacks and he forgot everything once in a while? How did he survive like that? How did they tolerate him like that?

"We are not in university anymore, Jk. This is... well, the world is not the same anymore. We need these," Hobi pointed at the backpacks, "prosthetic Oxygen to survive. Do you see the pipes going around the walls? It's the Oxygen supplier. We can't just go out however we want like the old times, we need to ask for a permit from the government. It's not a complicated method, um... just think of it as how we used to recharge our Internet connection? Just a tap of finger on the screen, yeah?"

Okay, that was too much to take in for Jungkook. What the hell happened?!

"But who were yo talking about, Kook? Some Jin guy?" Jimin asked, calmly munching on something that looked like chips... but they were blue in colour?

"You guys don't remember Jin hyung?" he sighed, "nevermind, forget about it." but dismissed the thought.

So, they are in the future? And apparently, the world has gone through or is going through a huge crisis. Just who in his right mind can think about all this? It was like a futuristic movie but creepier because this shit felt so real.

Only Yoongi can have these unique, innovative fears. He shook his head, sighing once again.

"Okay, then, if you have anymore questions, nope, keep them to yourself. Ask on our way to the shopping sector. We're getting late." Hobi was just instructing him when Yoongi showed up.

"What are you all waiting for? Get moving already."

But... Yoongi seemed totally normal. He didn't look scared at all? Jungkook wondered.

Jungkook just stood silently, the backpack lying at his feet but he made no attempts to do anything.

"Here, I will help you put it on." Jimin volunteered to help Jungkook put the oxygen mask on.

He grabbed the colourful thing, fixing it on Jungkook's confused face, properly fixing the places that were crucial and couldn't be left uncovered or unsecured then he fastened the straps behind the back of his head, his ears feeling tensed because of the heavy mask. Jimin also helped him connect the oxygen supply from the backpack to the mask. Now, they were ready to go.

Jungkook couldn't believe his eyes. The details of this whole set up was too real that he was starting to feel scared. When they passed through the corridors of the building, not a single soul was in sight.

It made him sad for apparent reasons. First, the possibility of something like this actually happening to the world was terrifying and second, Jin wasn't here too.

The stairs were all squeaky clean, when they walked down, something like a vacuum started working, supposedly because of the sensors fit on both the sides of the stairs as it sucked up the dust without any fail. The vacuum was also fixed at the sides of the stairs.

Jungkook was low-key impressed. But was there really a need of so much cleanliness?

They didn't exit the building right away, but turned to the underground parking space which was packed with weird looking cars.

I say weird, but in fact, they were designed in such a way so that not a single spec of dust or air can penetrant inside once locked and that meant more chances for the car designers to show their art and thus, the cars all looked like they were in a fashion show.

"Get in the back seat with Jimin." Hobi instructed him and he complied without a word.

The flexible design of masks let them talk with least problems and although a little suppressed, the voice was perfectly audible.

Humans have solutions for everything, don't they? But it's a shame that they don't open their eyes until it's too late.

The car soon took off, sliding on the road without a sound. The roads were so empty that no traffic lights were needed but they were still there nonetheless.

There were trees, but around them was a protective case made from some sort of special glass material. Even the trees were caged inside the suffocating cells.

It was gruesome for Jungkook. How the once lively streets were empty. The very familiar shops and convenience stores were shut down, some of them were open but with no people in sight.

"Hyung..." he sighed, not being able to stay quiet anymore, "what has happened to our home? This is... I can't watch this all." even though he knew that this was not real, he couldn't help but feel emotional.

"He got a panic attack again?" Yoongi asked casually. Just how often did he have those attacks for them to behave this calm about it?

Hobi nodded with a yeah.

"Must be tough! Going through the same thing again and again... we moved on but he never had the chance to." Jimin spoke up, his surprised expressions gave it up that he probably didn't mean to say it out aloud.

It was all weird to Jungkook. Is it possible to forget everything after a panic attack? But who was he kidding? Taehyung was probably laughing at him, sitting somewhere in his expensive mansion right now as he observed Jungkook, struggling to put two and two together.

"We're here." Yoongi declared, noticing Jungkook's absent-minded state through the rear view mirror.

"I'll lead the way." Jimin said as he stuck his hand out for Jungkook to take. He took it with a little hesitation and they all got out. It was another basement parking lot.

"Make sure to stick with each other, yeah? Don't make me worried." Yoongi said, walking to the stairs.

"Why don't we take the elevator?" Jungkook asked.

"Stairs are better." Jimin answered shortly.

Jungkook didn't question further and kept walking.

Once in front of the shop, which looked more like a prison cell than a normal shop. They went through a long corridor. Here, their clothes and shoes were cleaned off without any physical touch, with the use of vacuums as well.

Inside of the shop was supplied with enough oxygen, so they could put their masks aside on the conveyor belt, which kept it clean and hygienic until they were done with the shopping. It was the rule everyone had to follow.

"Alright, get the things in the list. Quick!" and they split into two. Jimin and Jungkook went to the snacks section and Hobi stayed with Yoongi.

"What do we need?" Jungkook asked. He was also wondering, why nothing has happened yet?! Normally, in any previous parts of the game, he had met with a disaster soon after he entered the illusion.

"Snacks worth 2 months of use."

"Can't we just come back later when they're over? Why so much?"

They strolled through the aisles, putting things into the cart as they passed through them. Not many people were there, including them, maybe other 15 or 20 people could be seen. Not to mention, the shop was huge; really huge and yet it was almost empty.

"We can't. It's hard enough to get the permit every 2 months."

Seems like they don't allow more than a specific number of people in the shop at the same time. Jungkook just nodded his head.

"Vegetables and fruits?" Jungkook asked again.

"Hobi takes care of it."

"Alright," he then went silent, not knowing what to say anymore.

Jimin seemed distant, even though he didn't behave out of ordinary with him but something was still off about him.

Not just the way he spoke but his appearance was a little strange. Jungkook didn't know why he felt that way because on a second glance, he looked just as he was. The others were indifferent about many things which mattered and could have been a topic of discussion but they were just unbothered. It bugged Jungkook a lot.

Maybe they're not real after all. Jungkook thought and sighed internally.

They walked around a bit after that, without any word spoken.

"Hey, don't you smell something strange?" Jungkook stopped in front of the dairy section.

"Jk, you can't really smell anything, literally." Jimin laughed, not paying any mind to him.

He wasn't wrong though. Jungkook really hadn't smelt any specific scent ever since he woke up. He could just smell the faint smell of artificial gas of some sort, just like the oxygen in his lungs right now.

But Jungkook also wasn't lying. He did smell something weird all of a sudden.

"Jimin, I'm not kidding." he tried to stop him, but Jimin was unbothered. The real Jimin would never ignore Jungkook like that.

Jungkook was neither familiar with this place nor the new environment so he couldn't run around to find Yoongi and Hobi. Yoongi had told him to stick together with the others.

"Hey-" Jungkook started again, only to get shut up by a loud thud.

It was so loud, his heart sank inside his chest with uneasiness and newfound anxiety.

"Oh, shit! This doesn't seem good." Jimin muttered, looking back to glance at Jungkook who looked scared.

"We gotta get out of here."

"Huh?" Jungkook was dumbfounded.

And it was here! The most awaited disaster was about to happen, or was already happening.

"Fuck it, I'm not even done with shopping." Jimin grumbled, not caring about his tone of voice. Many hurried footsteps could be heard as Jimin led Jungkook towards the exit.

"Where are the others?" Jungkook asked, huffing as he stopped to glance inside the shop, the rows of aisles lining his vision.

He didn't know what was happening but whatever it was, it screamed danger.

The look on Jimin's face was enough to tell that this was an emergency.

"But, Suga hyung-"

"We can't wait for them right now, they'll come out soon, let's go." Jimin gripped his wrist, trying to pull him outside with him. The other people were making their way to the exit but no Yoongi or Hobi in sight. This worried Jungkook to the core.

Illusion or not, he must save his friends. So, he took off inside the shop, breaking free from Jimin's hold.

■□■□

Sneaking a chapter in between my preparations for exams. 💀 

Alright, I hope this one was good too! Any theories, pals?
Vote and comment, recommend it to your friends. <3