"We're singers," said Jin, obtusely blinking between the many computer screens that were open and facing towards him, streaming many of their performances, both in Korea and all around the world. Jimin was sniffling while watching a concert and Yoongi was scrolling down Twitter, his mouth dropping open every now and then. "And my nickname is 'worldwide handsome?'"

"Don't tell me you're surprised," snorted Yoongi. He had earlier tried to sing a ballad... before learning that he was a rapper of the group.

"We are thieves," said Hoseok, tears in his eyes. "We stole all the awards in the MAMA."

"LOOK!" yelled Jungkook, holding up his phone. "Our music video DNA has one billion views!"

Namjoon looked up from watching his UN Speech to squint at the colorful video. "That looks like the portal we traveled through."

"And watch this," Jungkook said, dashing towards the TV. He opened it to a video of fans singing 'forever we are young' in a gigantic stadium.

Watching that video of them standing tearily on stage to a thousand lights that looked like stars singing to them, Hoseok and Jimin burst into tears the twentieth time that day, and Jin, looking baffled with puffy, red eyes, left to find more tissue boxes, but there weren't anymore because of Jimin and Hoseok.

Firstly, they learned that their fans were called 'army.' Second, they learned that their theme color was purple and that their slogan was 'I Purple You.' Perhaps that was why the DNA portal opened when Jin blurted the word 'purple.'

"We've spent so much time together," said Hoseok, after they had watched a round of Run episodes that had made them nearly float to the ceiling from cringe. Jin's ears were redder than a spoiled, rotten tomato.

"I hope we stay like this for a long time," said Taehyung in a perfectly serious voice. "I wish to see all your sons and daughters one day and spend time together..."

Namjoon and Hoseok threw into coughing fits, Jin's ears (unable to grow redder) looked like they were about to fall off, Jimin fell from the couch, Jungkook cleared his throat loudly, and Yoongi smirked.

"I'll translate that to we'll spend a long time together," Jin said, embarrassed. 

Taehyung's eyes darted toward a pair of sandals lying in the corner of the room. They looked like sandals his feet would wear on a daily basis for the next twenty years. "Oh sandals!" he yelled, standing up and running towards them. Right when he was about to grab them, someone... or rather, something, chose to sit on them.

A small dog.

"Who's this?" he asked, picking the dog up. The fur was brown and soft. He nuzzled his nose into it as the dog barked contentedly.

"This dog is cuter than all of you combined," smiled Taehyung. "I wonder who he belongs to."

"Um, excuse me. RJ is cuter," stated Jin. 

The dog snarled at Jin, scaring the wits out of him as he jumped up screaming and jumping onto a very uncomfortable Namjoon. 

Namjoon pushed him away. "Ugh, get off me bread Jinnie."

"At least I know how to cut onions, pornessian parrapio," Jin retorted.

Their search to uncover all the details of their celebrity lives continued from there.

"We need to find that girl," whispered Taehyung to Namjoon later that day. "We need to thank her. And maybe ask her if she knows how we can get our memories back."

They were all shocked, perplexed, amazed at themselves, thrown back by a reality that was impossible to accept all at once. They wanted to meet their true families. They wanted to meet the Bighit staff and the owner, Hitman Bang. And they wanted to meet their fans, army. Before that could happen, Bighit staff arrived at their apartment to pick them up and transport them elsewhere secretly before reporters would hunt them down. They felt overwhelmed and shy at first, especially when Yoongi was caught singing another ballad in the living room, standing on the couch, at the expense of their healthy, working eardrums, just to confirm that he really was only a rapper.

"Do you think she left any clues of where she lived?" Jin asked the next day, arms wrapped around his white llama cartoon character, RJ. (Apparently his extreme love for RJ was already a famous saga amongst ARMY).

For safety reasons, they had been transported to a newer living resort, their newest home, a more private apartment complex where they could spend some time together before greeting their families and greeting the world.

"I don't think so, but I asked staff about keeping us informed for any phone calls they receive from any fan who asks to speak with us," Namjoon replied. 

Jungkook smiled slyly. "Don't you think the phone would forever be ringing from how many fans would want to speak with us?"

"I don't think so. She's smarter than that. She'll find a way."

The door burst open and a Bighit staff member wearing a white face mask walked inside to where they were all sitting.

"Good morning boys," he said. "We will transport you to your families soon. Just make sure to cover your faces and ignore the reporters outside right now. The company is taking measures to not reveal anything about what happened. We... are confused as well. Also, before you see your families, Mr. Hitman Bang requested a short meeting with you all."

They all nodded in agreement.

"Did you hear from any girl asking for us?" asked Namjoon.

The staff member frowned. "We did, which is odd... but I highly don't recommend.."

"Is she here?" Jin asked, kneeling forward.

"No. On the phone, she said something about traveling to an MV world and throwing you guys into a 'young forever' maze. I highly doubt she is sane..."

"THAT'S HER!" yelled Jin, jumping up.

"Yes, it is!" said Taehyung, jumping up with him.

The staff member was taken back by their eagerness. He took a deep breath, stepping back. "We don't have much time, but if she doesn't live far, we can bring her in for a few minutes."

When the staff member, the door shutting behind him, Hoseok scanned their faces, looking worried.

"I don't think anyone knows that we've lost our memories," he said, face pale with dread and worry. "I'm supposed to be a pro-dancer but I haven't mastered the windshield wiper hand move of our latest comeback."

No one knew how to reply. If J-hope did not know how to dance, the sun was a conspiracy theory.

It was not long before the door opened again and the girl they had all been waiting for stepped inside.

She grinned at them warmly.

"See? I told you guys that wasn't the real world."

In the MV world, she had looked almost perfect, with flowing hair and neat clothing. But in the real one, her hair looked skewed by electricity, her clothes were oversized, and she wore broken, round glasses over squinting eyes. Though she looked very different and much more normal, wearing a long coat, and hair messily tied back, seeing her seemed to pull the MV world closer to them.

They all stood up to greet her and thank her, trying very hard not to cry. They asked all company staff to leave them alone for a few minutes so that she could sit down comfortably and narrate her story.

She sat on a chair, and they all sat on the couch or floor, listening to her carefully as she spoke.

"I don't know when it started," she explained. "But at first I thought they were dreams because I am a huge MV theorist. I would travel through the portal and appear in your world. Maybe my actions were restricted because I just played along with the storyline. I still can't believe I was actually playing the girl from 'Boy in Luv,'" she said dreamily. 

"Yeah, from then on, when you appeared out of nowhere, our lives turned into a mess," said Yoongi. He sighed, eyes turning mellow... probably in bittersweet remembrance of all the wonderful shopping carts he had burned down.

"But it was not a dream. No More Dream, get it? When I realized that it was all real, it was too late. 'Save Me' had already happened. So I did research and found the place where the maze from 'forever young' is. In the comeback 'On' Taehyung walks with a representation of ARMY through opening maze walls, so that's how I realized that I had to walk into that maze with Taehyung. Then I teleported back and here I am. You guys have been missing from this world for almost a whole year now."

Almost a whole year. Those words hung in the air like stages would if they floated.

"Do you think you know why or how this happened to us?" asked Yoongi.

"And how can we get our memories back?" asked Hoseok.

She shook her head. "No clue." But she looked very confident saying that.

"How can we repay you?" asked Namjoon instead, holding a glass of water he was drinking. 

Jin raised his arm and laughed. "Free front seat concert tickets for every concert. And I'll give her a life-supply of RJ's and the picture I took in that one show in the photo booth."

"She should get a job in Bighit as a composer," said Jungkook.

"You can visit us whenever you like," Taehyung said. "You are always welcome here."

"What would you like?" asked Hoseok.

She grinned toothily. "Oh that's simple." Out from her bag, she pulled out a white folder-book with paper inside. "I'd like one of you to sign this."

Jimin giggled and pushed himself forward to see what it was. "Is it an album? I can sign it. But isn't that too littl—"

"—uh, no, it's a marriage contract," she said blandly as if it was the most obvious answer in the world.

They all recoiled back in shock and surprise. Jimin blushed, Yoongi's mouth dropped open, Namjoon dropped his glass of water and it shattered into a million pieces, and Jin looked like his great ancestors had been mortally offended. Junkook gasped, revealing that he definitely wasn't the international playboy everyone knew him to be.

She stood up nonchalantly and pinned it to the wall. "I'll give you all some time to think about it. Also, I'm not as young as I look." She turned back to look at them. "My brother is an army too. He'd maybe like to try playing some video games with one of you. Here is my contact information if one of you ever needs someone to talk to. And yes, I cook."

The door burst open and a staff member walked inside. "It's time to leave."

"Guess that means I have to leave too," she said to them. "But it's just goodbye for now."

She winked at Jin as she opened the door to leave. He recoiled in shock and ducked behind Hoseok. All the boys grinned devilishly and Jungkook poked Jin teasingly, as she shut the door behind her giggling.

After the farewell, (a shrewd indication of which BTS member would be the first to become a groom) and trying to subtly ignore the haunting marriage contract pinned to the wall, they pulled on their coats and face masks and walked outside to where hundreds of cameras pointed at them flashed and snapped and the onerous voices of reporters filled the air.

"You think this whole thing happened for a reason?" Taehyung asked Jin quietly, as they walked past the reporters a little shyly. Jin pulled his light brown hoodie over his head. 

"Yes, of course," he replied. "Everything happens for a reason."

"We experienced a tragic youth in the MV world and returned here as more experienced adults?"

Jin laughed. "Us? Adults? I'm the oldest among us, but I'm young at heart. Adulthood is only a persona, a mask to hide your childishness."

Taehyung grinned. "And I learned that despite our hardships, we should always be grateful. I know what it feels like to be poor."

Jin ruffled his hair. "That's right, good boy. We should be grateful, we should love ourselves more now, and stay young at heart."

"You're right, worldwide handsome," Taehyung said, nudging his hyung and grinning boxily. "Look at you... so old and wise now, but a school-bus thief at heart, eh? And a future groom-to-be."

Jin looked at him from the corner of his eye and dramatically whispered, "Forever we are young."

The End

There's an epilogue.

(2223 words)