seokjin lay still on his bed, staring at the lonely lightbulb above. due to his worry for jungkook, he couldn't find the peace to fall asleep.

SEOKJIN
"oh, jungkook . . . where could you be?"

SEOKJIN
"big brother misses you . . ."

SEOKJIN
" . . . "

a silence. seokjin pondered for a while, his mind filled with thoughts. he thought about namjoon — oh how strange the doll maker was, with his top hat, cane and cape, along with a dimpled smile that was as bright as the sun. he thought about jungkook — his poor brother, where could he be at this very moment? was he warm like he was right now?

seokjin smiled and hummed a tune before fiddling with his little bag. he peeked into it and sighed with relief upon seeing all of his possessions inside. although namjoon had been hospitable, he still had to be cautious.

and being cautious also meant suspecting.

SEOKJIN
"namjoon is kind, yes, but he is also a stranger."

SEOKJIN
"for all i know, he could be . . . "

SEOKJIN
". . . a murderer."

seokjin went silent and listened for any footsteps, sighing when he realized that namjoon was probably asleep. kicking off his sheets, he tiptoed towards the door, opening it carefully as he slowly stepped into the hallway.

his gut told him that jungkook was in this house. he was going to find him, no matter what.

spotting a hat-clad shadow from a candle lit room across the hallway, seokjin immediately hid himself behind the open door of a room a few feet away from the bedroom. his heart pounded as footsteps rang once, twice, until they faded away.

seokjin sighed loudly. he faced the open room next to him curiously, noticing that there was a small desk at the corner of the room and there was poor illumination. he could hear something dripping into what sounded like a metal bucket, along with creaking wood, but it was too dark for him to see.

the lonely candle on the doll maker's desk. seokjin eyed it like it was a pot of gold.

SEOKJIN
"this doll maker needs to work on the lighting in this place."

seokjin mumbled to himself as he blinded made his way across the room, the creaking turning louder by the second. he noticed doll parts scattered across the floor, buttons, string and weird looking yet unnaturally smooth cloth. it stank. he turned away.

snatching the candle, seokjin was suddenly filled with dread. now that he had more illumination, he could now see the contents of namjoon's desk. there were pictures of young men taped to wall, some marked with red circles and some not. on the table was a doll who closely resembled the red headed boy whose picture had a red X on it

one of the photos was of jungkook, who looked peaceful in his slumber.

seokjin stared.

SEOKJIN
" . . . "

SEOKJIN
" . . . heh."

seokjin continued to laugh to himself as he turned around, spotting jungkook with his head bent downwards, his clothes a beautiful mixture of bright colors.

jungkook was silent, awfully silent, and so was seokjin. one looked down, one looked up. the dripping continued and so did the creaking.

reaching up, seokjin caressed jungkook's rough cheek with his hand. the floor beneath his feet felt squishy.

SEOKJIN
"i finally found you."

seokjin smiled.

SEOKJIN
". . . little brother."