Vote and comment if you would sell your entire family and your best friend all for Jimin to look in your direction for two seconds, or if you like peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. No one will ever know which one.

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Jimin

All Jimin wanted was a fucking Kit Kat.

Jimin thought a camera was about to pop out and say surprise, but nope, instead, he came into contact with a hotel, and why? He had no idea. Last he remembered, he had put two dollars into a vending machine to get a Kit Kat for his girl, and then, creak creak. The vending machine had tipped over and sent him with it.

Did Park Jimin die to a fucking vending machine?

There was nothing more embarrassing than that, but considering all that had happened in the past thirty minutes, there were no other explanations.

Jimin had woken up in front of a hotel, tried to figure things out, and then randomly woke up again. He had heard a scream the second time he had woken up, went to investigate but got sent back before he could figure out what the hell had happened. Then, not knowing what else to do, Jimin had ventured into the hotel to seek help, leading to him getting shot.

Twice.

That brought him to his predicament: a woman. A woman with bulging eyes and fists curled so tightly he thought he was about to get beaten to death despite his experience with martial arts. He had learned from experience that it didn't matter how many black belts he had; if a woman was angry, he was fucked.

And, no, not in the fun way.

"It's your turn, y'know. Who are you?" Jimin asked, holding up his hands to show he was no threat. He eyed the way she wore a leather jacket in such brutal weather, but he didn't comment on it.

"Alana."

"Nice to meet you, Alana. Are you normal, or are you about to kill me like those guards?"

Alana uncurled her fists and fiddled with the ends of her braids, which were pulled into a long, thick ponytail. "I don't think so."

Think.

Wow. That filled Jimin with confidence.

Jimin took a breath to observe her. Something Taekwondo had taught him was a well-informed fighter would win, and part of informing oneself was observation.

Before him stood a woman no taller than five foot five inches, if he had to guess. Although they were about fifteen feet apart, he could tell he had a few inches on her. Jimin dreamed of reaching six feet, but no amount of heeled Chelsea boots would change the reality of him being five foot nine. Though, in that case, at least he had the height advantage, just in case she tried anything.

"Alright, decent start." Jimin lowered his hands but didn't move any closer. "Any chance you have any idea what's going on?"

"No. I was just driving home when..." Alana slumped against the hotel's wall and continued fiddling with the ends of her braids. "I woke up here."

"What was the first thing you did when you got here?"

"I went inside to look for help." She used one hand to tap the side of the wall while the other remained buried in her hair. "They weren't very helpful."

"I heard the shot, and then I woke up here. Then I heard a scream, another shot, and woke up here again." Jimin paused to motion to the concrete behind him. "And then I tried looking for help and got shot, too. Woke up... again."

"Are we linked somehow? I woke up after I heard a shot. You getting shot, I assume."

Jimin didn't want to consider it, but it was a possibility. But how? How would they be connected in such a place? And was there anyone else there? Considering he hadn't snapped awake yet, he assumed the two of them were the lone survivors of whatever that hell was.

"It's possible. Might be stupid, but what if you walk in and I watch you get shot?"

"Me?" Alana's dark brown eyes bulged, and thanks to Jimin's plethora of experience with women, he knew he was about to get slapped if he didn't shut up. "Why not you? You're a gentleman, aren't you?"

"Gentlemen don't get shot in the forehead, Alana."

"You can change that. You got a big one, after all."

If Jimin weren't so desperate for answers, he would curse her out for that, but he sighed and realized there was no point arguing about it. She was right; if he was so sure, why not do it himself? So, he stomped forward, grabbed her hand, and went to the side door not too far away. He opened the heavy metal entrance and stormed inside, clicked his heels, and yodeled like an asshole.

"I'm here, bitches. Come shoot me."

Inside was the lobby, where four men in suits were. They spotted Jimin in a flash, and just as fast, a bullet fired and hit him in the chest. He didn't have a second to wheeze, seeing as the second bullet came and ended his life.

And then he woke up.

Jimin didn't waste any time, not even to rub the side of his aching head. He hopped up and whipped around to look for the woman, and a few beats later, Alana came running from around the side of the hotel, her eyes wide when she approached him.

"We're linked. We have to be," she said, and he didn't protest.

"So what does this mean? What are we supposed to do?"

"No clue, but we won't figure it out going through the lobby over and over. There's gotta be another way inside."

Jimin agreed and peeked around the side of the hotel, feeling each crack and bump on the wall. Nothing of note came to him. No way to force the barriers down or find a creative way inside.

"Safe to say we should avoid the side and front doors, right?"

Alana nodded, so Jimin took it as quiet agreement and led her to the back of the hotel he hadn't explored yet. In the back wasn't anything special. He expected a pool or some sort of amenity, seeing as it was a hotel (duh). But no. Nothing. No guards, either.

"What do you think is happening here?" Alana asked, staying behind him by a hair.

"No clue." Jimin hadn't had much time to process what had happened, though he doubted time would help him understand. What universe were they in? It couldn't be home. "You?"

"I wish I had an answer."

Jimin glanced back and noticed her fiddling with the ends of her braids again, and although he didn't know her, he felt the need to step closer and place his hand on her shoulder, holding them up for a moment.

The shadow of the hotel blocking the sky painted her with darkness, though her eyes remained bright all the same. The whites of her eyes contrasted the deep hickory resting inside and swirling up a chocolate storm for him to witness. They were the same shade as his, though she wore them better than he ever could.

"Hey, it's okay." He dropped his voice to a whisper and kept his grip on her loose. "We'll figure it out. Together."

Alana cracked a smile at that. She had a little dent on her right canine, and her smile crinkled her sharp cheeks. "Yeah, together." She paused to shake her head. "My sister would tell me I need to step up and figure it out myself."

"Well, your sister's not here, so you're stuck with me. I guarantee I'll be more annoying."

"I doubt it. My sister makes it a tradition to throw ramen at me once a week."

Jimin shot both his brows up. "Do you at least catch it with your mouth?"

Alana laughed, and he did, too, though his was softer. If he laughed too much, he couldn't see. Besides, he wanted to observe hers. Knowing the ones around you could help you in the long run. That was a motto Jimin kept to himself, so he took the opportunity to scan over her expression as little hiccup-like squeaks came from her.

Her long braids bounced, and her lips parted so much they almost folded in on themselves, showing off her straight teeth, aside from the abnormal canine. Though, he had a messed up tooth, too. Maybe they were tooth buddies. But teeth problems aside, he noticed above all else that her hands didn't know where to go. They flailed by her sides, pulled at the end of her jacket, and ended up in her hair as she dialed down.

"We should focus," she said after she finished, though there were a few tiny squeaks left in her voice. "I want to get out of here."

"Eager to leave me, huh? Alright, Princess Alana, let's get to it, then."

Jimin saluted and continued his search of the back of the hotel. Smooth walls and windows with curtains blocking his view of the interior surrounded him. The walls guarding the exterior of the entire lot were the same way.

"Should we mark the paths we've taken?" she asked, and Jimin shrugged.

"Doesn't hurt."

Alana used the end of her zipper to make a scratch on the wall. It was tough to do, considering the thickness of the structure, but the mark stood out compared to the otherwise untouched surface. A pale scratch painted the corner of the building, and Jimin made a mental note to look for it if they ended up waking up again.

Jimin scoured the landscape and found a door in the corner, near the next curve of the building. He approached and pressed his ear against it. It was a single metal door with a silver handle. Like a maintenance door. No identifying marks to say the name of the hotel, if it had one. If they were in a parallel dimension, he doubted the hotel would possess a name.

No sounds came to him. Jimin nodded to Alana, who had her fists raised in a terrible fighting pose he almost laughed at. She made the rookie mistake of curling her fingers around her thumb instead of laying her thumb over the fingers. She'd break her thumb if she punched like that. But that didn't matter; he had a door to open. If he had time, he could teach her later.

Jimin opened the creaking door and spotted a tiny room appearing like a storage area. It had buzzing generators, dim lights hung on the ceiling in rectangular shapes, and various cleaning supplies on the wooden shelves attached to the stone walls. He stepped in and searched, but no people were around. That allowed him to have the confidence to beckon Alana inside, and she shut the door behind them, shielding them from the outdoor light.

No words came. Both of them stayed silent, which Jimin was thankful for, and he tip-toed his way over to the next corner of the room with another door. Again, he pressed his ear against it, listening. Nothing. No distant footsteps, no voices, and no signs of life, like coughing or heavy breathing. The only heavy breaths were his own.

Jimin opened it, peeking his head out. What awaited him was a hallway with ugly yellow walls and carpets with multiple dark colors jammed together in circular patterns. Dark red, brown, and green. It looked like a failed Christmas party.

He shimmied his way to the corridor and held Alana up so he could investigate. Down the hall were doors on either side. About eight doors total, four per side, and all of them were wooden with golden handles.

Creak!

Jimin jumped as soon as the sudden sound burst out, and one of the wooden doors opened to reveal a woman with a ponytail and fair skin. Her freckles and sharp blue eyes contrasted the darker color scheme of the rest of the hotel, same with the dark suit she wore.

"Hello, are you-"

She pulled a pistol from out of her blazer to cut him off, and Jimin realized anyone wearing a suit was far from on their side. That had him sighing as he gazed down the barrel of the weapon and didn't bother running.

"Shit."

And then, he got shot.

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