Dream March 22, 2021

Based Around Run BTS Ep. 61 & 62

****

Jason Derulo pulls a black hood over his head. He looks back and forth. And back and forth again. A bunch of staff members are running around, setting up equipment. One of them asks about a missing chip.

The popular American singer chuckles to himself. He'd misplaced it on purpose to stall them. He zips the black hoodie up the middle and picks up one of the cameras. It's time to have a little bit of fun.

Derulo cracks his neck and snatches up a staff badge from a table that has various technical equipment laid out across it. One hand gripping tightly to the camera, he uses the other to quickly put on the badge necklace around his neck.

Now those loser K-Popers won't know the difference.

Unless they pull back the hoodie.

But they won't.

Derulo smirks as he makes his way from the lobby of the building toward a massive room, where the members of BTS are waiting. Probably getting mic'd up for their latest episode of that shitty reality show of theirs, he thinks to himself.

He just needs one of them to bite and cross paths with him.

Sure enough, one of them with light sandy brown hair (that has clearly been dyed recently) and deep chocolate brown eyes walks toward him. Attached to either ear is a silver dangling three-part earring. On top of his head is a strange blue towel (which is the same color as his shorts). It is folded like a cap with two large round Princess Leia-like buns on either side. He's wearing a very loose white shirt and baby blue shorts. He skids to a halt and blinks spotting Derulo.

"오, 촬영을 시작할 준비가 되셨나요? (Oh, are we ready to start shooting?)"

"Yes," Derulo says, trying to disguise his lack of Korean and ignorance. "Uh, Park Jimin."

Jimin cocks an eyebrow and tries to look in the hood for a face. "You must be new? Do you speak Korean at all?" His English is choppy, but he can speak and understand and form the sentence for Derulo.

"Sorry, I do not speak Korean much. I was sent..." Derulo turns to look behind him in the direction he came and pauses briefly. "I was sent to tell you that there is a spy in today's episode."

"Oh, really?" Jimin gasps and steps backward, his eyes going as wide as they can.

"Yes," Derulo says and then leans forward toward him and whispers, "That's you." He notices the tiny black mic attached to Jimin's shirt collar.

Jimin puts a hand on his chest. "Me?"

Derulo continues to whisper, unknowingly letting his badge dangle close to Jimin, who eyes it. "They say your mission or whatever is in the sauna room. You'll find a piece of paper with your instructions."

Jimin nods, totally falling for the act. "I'll go right away." He reads the badge name. "Thank you, Hyung Leewoo."

Derulo glances down at the name badge. He smiles. Silly stupid Park Jimin thinks that he, Jason Derulo, is really someone named Jung Leewoo. He looks back up, amused by the whole thing and sees Jimin smiling at him.

"Also, the lead producer said there was something wrong with your mic, so I can take it and fix it for you," Derulo says, gesturing and eyeing the small black mic piece clipped to Jimin's shirt collar.

Jimin nods, taking it off without question. He hands it to Derulo.

This is too easy!

"Why are you wearing the hoodie so I cannot see your face, though, hyung?" Jimin asks, maintaining the smile on his face.

Derulo taps into his mindbank, while he pockets the mic piece and then leans forward. "Really bad haircut, if you get what I mean?"

Jimin gasps, forming an 'o' with his lips. "Sorry about that. I completely understand."

No you don't, precious little Korean.

Jimin scampers off, heading down the hall toward the sauna room.

Perfect.

Derulo smirks wickedly under the hoodie and cackles softly to himself. He then sets off after him, making sure that he isn't too obvious and that no one else sees him. His game will not succeed if the other BTS members see him following Jimin.

Thankfully they are busy in the room, getting ready.

Jimin tosses glances over his shoulder, smiling to himself. I get to be the spy again! It was a ton of fun when he was one of the three spies during the village game episode back in Season Two of Run BTS.

He skids into the sauna room. There are two long rectangular tubs that look like giant bathtubs against the back wall, separated by a solid wall in the middle. And across the room, there's the door for one of the three saunas in the room.

The door is open for him and he can see, sitting on the long wooden bench inside, is a folded up piece of paper.

Bingo! The mission!

He tosses another glance over his shoulder to make sure there's no one seeing him and then he steps into the sauna room. He walks up to the bench and picks up the paper. He unfolds it and begins to read:

"Greetings BTS piece of scum."

Jimin cocks his head to one side, not comprehending the note. He reads on though.

"Let me try to repeat that in Korean for you... 인사말, 쓰레기의 조각. Better?"

Jimin gasps and spins around.

The familiar black hooded cameraperson is standing at the door, holding onto it. Realization sinks in. The evil smirk, he can see, is the only visible feature of the man's face in the hood. The man snickers.

"NO!" Jimin screams and launches for the door, just as the man lets it slam shut on him.

There is the unforgettable, dreading clicking of the lock to the door.

Jimin's hands shoot to the knob and he throws himself against the door, hoping that his ears deceived him. But it won't budge. He unleashes a grunt of frustration and musters all of his strength, slamming against the door.

He can hear the wicked laughter of the man outside. The one who'd trapped him in the small room.

"LET ME OUT, HYUNG!" Jimin wails. "지금 여기서 나가게 해줘! (Let me out of here, now!)"

Panic and terror slowly fills Jimin. He finally steps back from the door, his eyes wide and his heart racing from the adrenaline of the scenario. He looks around the room, thinking that maybe there's a vent of something he can break and escape though. There is nothing. Just the small dime-sized holes in the wall where the steam would come from.

And as if things couldn't get any worse, the temperature in the room rises. A bead of sweat trickles down his face.

The hooded madman was turning up the heat and trying to melt him!

Jimin screams in frustration, tapping into the high falsetto range of his vocals as more beads of sweat trickle down his face. "HELP!! 도와주세요!"

Meanwhile, in the room, where the rest of BTS is...

Jeon Jungkook looks up from sipping on his banana milk. His eyes are big and shimmering with innocence. He sees Kim Namjoon (RM) talking with Min Yoongi (Suga) and Jung Hoseok (J-Hope) in the far corner of the room. Kim Taehyung (V) is eating a giant plate full of red strawberries and getting scolded by Kim Seokjin (Jin).

"Jin-ssi!" Jungkook calls out and sucks the rest of the banana milk out of the cup.

Jin turns to him and V grins mischievously and jams three strawberries into his mouth. Juice spurts out and nails Jin in the arm.

"What, Kookie?" Jin whines, wiping the juice off of his arm.

"Jimin-ssi isn't back yet with more banana milk!" Jungkook shouts out and playfully pouts his lips.

Jin looks around the room, then at the door and finally at his phone screen. The Maknae is right! Jimin isn't back and it's five minutes until shooting time. He heaves a sigh and turns to RM.

"RM, we have a Jimin problem," Jin sighs.

V stops eating the strawberries and looks around the room himself. His eyes then lock with Jungkook and he mouths, "Where is he?" Jungkook shrugs in response and flicks his eyes to Jin.

RM walks over to Jin, leaving Suga and J-Hope to discuss things. "Jimin problem?"

Jin gestures to the room. "Where is he?"

RM looks around the room himself now, just as a black-hooded figure enters the room, holding a camera in one hand. "You're right..." He turns and addresses everyone. "Anyone know where Tiny Hands Mochi is?"

"I saw him talking to someone outside a little while ago," Suga reports, putting his hands on his hips. He glances toward the door and finally spots the black hooded man standing there. "Him! Jiminie was talking to him!"

RM and Jin approach the man.

"Where's Jimin at?" Jin demands, knitting his eyebrows together.

RM throws his hand out at Jin. "Easy, Jin-ssi."

"I was told to give you this," the man says, producing a folded up piece of paper from his pocket and Jimin's microphone. He places both in RM's hand and steps back.

RM and Jin both eye the man with skeptical looks, but eventually RM opens the paper up and reads the text.

Jungkook, V, J-Hope and Suga join them.

RM reads allowed:

"In this episode of Run BTS, you assholes are going to play a little game called, "Find Park Jimin." There will be various riddles and clues left for you to solve. Maybe you'll be able to solve them all in time. Just don't waste any time, because my dear friends, Jimin's survival depends on it."

RM looks up and glares at the hooded man, who is smirking at them under the black hood. "What the hell is this? Is this some kind of sick joke?"

"Not at all, Kim Namjoon," the hooded man sneers.

Suga frowns and lifts up a clenched fist. "Careful, bro, I'd hate to punch a cameraperson today."

"Jimin-ssi," V mutters, horror plastered across his face.

"Who are you?" J-Hope inquires, trying to peer into the hood.

The hooded man sets the camera down and pulls on his hood, purposefully avoiding J-Hope. "It's not important and I'm pretty sure the instructions there say 'not to waste time.' I think you should read on and take this seriously."

Jin snatches the paper from RM's hand.

"Well, we know Jimin's not in here. Perhaps you all should go to the place where people usually lift weights and sweat themselves to soreness?"

Jungkook gasps. "GYM!"

"What are we waiting for, let's go find Jimin?!" Jin shouts out, bolting for the door of the room and vanishing out into the hallway.

RM shrugs and takes off after him.

Suga, J-Hope, V and Jungkook follow after them.

V hangs back with Suga, mumbling, "This is my fault...he asked me to go with him..."

"It's not your fault," Suga mutters back, putting a comforting hand on V's shoulder. "We're going to find him. Fighting?!"

V sighs. "But I shoulda gone with him to get Kookie's banana milk. Instead, I decided to stay behind and eat strawberries. I will NOT eat anything until Jimin is okay. And I mean, alive and smiling."

Suga halts in place at the entrance of the gym room in the building. "V, you can't--"

V continues into the room and heads over to where the others have gathered around Jin, who has another paper in his hands.

"Idiots. You're all idiots! Why the hell would I hold Park Jimin in a room that is so open and has no good hiding spot? Use your brains, I know most of you are at least somewhat smart. Maybe not though, since you're reading this and standing here, wasting precious time that little baby Mochi doesn't have much of."

Suga finally comes in and joins them.

"SHIT!" RM snaps. "Whoever is behind this, is making me desperate to punch them!"

Jin rips the paper up with a passionate fury. "Fuck this, let's think about places and rooms in this building where you could hide Jimin?"

"That could be anywhere!?" Jungkook gasps.

J-Hope nods. "True. He's so small, he could roll himself inside a machine in here."

RM shakes his head. "The note said he's not in here. Granted, I don't think we should be trusting this jackass, but I also somewhat believe that he's got a point, why hide Jimin in a gym?"

"What about the kitchen?" V questions.

"You would think about food," Jungkook scolds, tossing his eyes.

V frowns and folds his arms across his chest. "No, I'm actually not. I swear. I told Yoongi, I'm not going to eat anything until Jimin is found alive and smiling."

Jin, RM, J-Hope and Jungkook all stare at him in shock.

Jimin feels his vision beginning to blur over. He stumbles and eventually collapses to his knees. Through thick sweat, he stares at the door, hopeful that it will swing open. Hopeful that J-Hope, RM, Jin, Jungkook, V or even Suga will come and rescue him.

The steam clouds the room, full of suffocating heat. Dizziness is beginning to set in and he can feel himself getting weaker and weaker by the minute. His mouth is parched. His throat is as dry as a desert.

"Please," Jimin whispers out, clutching weakly to the bench as his vision becomes foggier and foggier.

His knees give out and he slides his legs out to the side. His arms are caked with sweat, making gripping the bench that much more difficult.

"It's so...hot..." Jimin croaks, resting his head against the side of the bench now.

J-Hope, V, Suga, Jungkook, Jin and RM bolt for the kitchen of the building. There's a bowl of freshly cut watermelon triangles. This was supposed to be used for keeping people hydrated for the episode.

As they look around, V opening a pantry and finding nothing inside, they begin to think.

"Where would I hide someone that could potentially be dangerous?" RM speaks out loud, pacing back and forth and tapping his chin.

Jungkook keeps looking at the watermelon. Slowly an idea forms. "What if he's in the sauna?!"

Jimin's hand slips from his hold on the bench finally. Groaning in a weakened agony, he crashes to the steamy, warm ground of the sauna. His vision finally fading to black. He loses all feeling in his arms and legs.

Nothing.

He feels, hears, tastes, smells, sees...nothing.

"The sauna! Yes!" RM shouts out.

Jin spins around, finding the entrance to the kitchen blocked by the strange hooded camera person. Only he no longer has the camera. He is snickering under the hood. "Come on, man!"

"MOVE!" RM snarls.

"NOW!" V growls, lifting up fists.

Suga lifts fists up. "If you don't, I'll introduce you to my friends. I don't think you'll like them though!"

The man continues laughing as his hands shoot up to the hood. "You guys are seriously stupider than stupid." He lowers the hood, just as Suga charges forward at him with a battle cry. He lets a fierce fist fly right at the man's head.

Lightning fast, the man's hand shoots from the grip on his hood to Suga's wrist, halting his progress.

Suga gasps in shock, frozen in mid-striking form.

"Jason Derulo?" Jungkook gasps, taken aback.

Derulo takes the stunned Suga with him in a cocky bow. Suga stumbles on his feet, snapping himself out of his frozen stance.

"Wait, you hate us?" V questions, lowering his fists and cocking his head to one side.

"Precisely."

"You bastard!" Suga recovers, propelled by fury once more and swings his other hand at Derulo now. Derulo ducks, releases Suga's other arm in the process and casually steps to the side out of harm's way.

"Park Jimin, boys..." Derulo says with a chuckle a passive flick of his hand.

Suga hits a wall in the hallway behind Derulo, but catches himself and turns back around.

Derulo stalks past him, flashing an evil smirk.

Suga kicks out and manages to sweep Derulo's legs out from under him. "You're going to regret messing with Bangtan!"

Derulo chuckles, wiping blood from a cut on his lip. "Maybe...maybe not..."

Jungkook, V and Jin dart by Suga and Derulo.

"We'll handle this guy, you guys go find Jimin-ssi!" J-Hope shouts out.

RM, J-Hope and Suga gather around the fallen, but cocky Jason Derulo.

"Jimin-ssi!" Jungkook screams as he, V and Jin burst into the sauna room. "Hang in there, we're coming!"

Jin reaches the door and pulls at the hot handle. He yelps and draws his hand back. "It's hot!"

V's eyes go wide with worry.

Jungkook peers in through the cloudy mirror of the door. Through the thick steam, he manages to see the body lying on the ground. "He's in there! He's not moving! Get the door open now!!"

V dashes to the side, where the controls are for the room. He also spots a washcloth that has conveniently been left behind by the controls. He tosses it to Jin, who wraps his hand in it and tries the door knob again.

"It's locked! We need a key!" Jin exclaims.

"We don't have time!" Jungkook howls in a panic.

V looks around the room for a key. He finally spots something golden glittering in the water of the nearest tub. He races over and dives into the water, splashing Jungkook and Jin in the process.

"Tae, this is not the time--" Jin begins to scold, wiping his eyes. He cuts himself off as his cleared eyes land on the golden key in V's hands.

V sloshes out of the tub, drenched head to toe in water and walks between Jungkook and Jin. He inserts the key into the knob's hole and turns. There's a reassuring clicking sound that follows and he throws the door open.

Jin and Jungkook rush inside the smoky and smoldering sauna room and work together to pick up the limp body of Jimin. V watches, horrified and frozen in shock as they carry him out and lay him on the cool floor before the tubs.

Suga, RM and J-Hope enter, holding Derulo between them.

"Someone stayed too long in the sauna," Derulo snickers, earning a punch to the face from RM.

V forces himself out of his frozen state and rushes to Jimin, dropping down. Tears flooding his eyes. Real tears, not fake ones. He carefully scoops up Jimin's head and sets it on his lap.

"Jimin-ssi, please," V mutters through his sobbing as he strokes his friend's hair. "Wake up."

Jin jams the washcloth in the cool water and comes over. He kneels down and puts the cloth on Jimin's forehead. "Kookie, take Hobi and go get water! Lots of bottles and the watermelon!"

Jungkook nods and races out of the room with J-Hope.

RM and Suga hold Derulo tighter between them.

"You'd better HOPE that he wakes up," Suga growls, threateningly.

V buries his head into Jimin's pale neck, while Jin keeps on cooling him down with the cloth.

Soon J-Hope and Jungkook return with the bottle of water and watermelon. They join Jin and V and together they work to hydrate Jimin.

After a few tense moments, Jimin suddenly coughs and spits water right into Jin's face.

Jin jerks back, disgusted but relieved.

V gasps excitedly and hugs Jimin, who groans.

"Tae-Tae..." Jimin croaks out.

"HE LIVES!" J-Hope screams and jumps up to his feet. He jumps, turning around and throws his arm out at Derulo. "HA! You lost, you idiot!"

Suga chuckles and lets a fist fly into Derulo's face. "That's just because you tried to kill Jimin!"

"Yoongi, let's take him to the actual crew and get his punishment decided," RM says with a sly smirk.

Together, they drag a defiant and enraged Jason Derulo out of the room with them.

Jimin sits up, sipping on water from Jungkook's hand. Between sips, he manages to get out, "Thank you. All of you. Sorry about spitting at you, Jin."

Jin chuckles. "It's okay. I'll take one, as long as you're alive and well anyday, Mochi."

Jimin smiles at him. "Love you, Jin-hyung."

V helps Jimin up to his feet after a little bit and his approval. Just in case, he pulls Jimin's arm around his neck like a human crutch. "Now, I can eat happily knowing that you are alive and well."

Jimin looks at V with a serious expression. "What?"

"He wasn't going to eat until we found you and you were alive and healthy," Jungkook remarks.

Jimin gives his friend a look of 'awe.'