"Am I dead?" asked Dal as he was pulled to his feet by Namjoon and Taehyung; Yoongi keeping an eye on the hall to make sure the coast was still clear. "And why does my voice sound so different?"

Dal looked from Namjoon to Taehyung standing beside him, still confused by the fact that this man had his tiger's eyes.

"Also, are you really Ember? I mean, I have to be dead if you're supposed to be my tiger, but if this is the afterlife or whatever, it's weird it looks like a hospital..."

"I know you have a lot of questions, Dal, but we have to get you out of here first. We can answer the questions later," said Namjoon.

Gemini grabbed a spare blanket that was rolled up at the end of the bed, walking over to stand in front of Dal.

"I'm sorry to do this to you, sir, but we have to sneak you out of here."

"Why?" asked Dal.

"Just trust us, okay?" said Taehyung softly as he kept his hand on one of Dal's arms to keep him steady.

"O...okay," said Dal with a nod of his head, letting out a small 'oh' of surprise when Gemini tossed the blanket over the top of his head, making him look like a ghost.

"We need to go now," said Yoongi, urging them to come towards the door. "Lets move it."

Namjoon and Taehyung each kept a hold of one of Dal's arms as they rushed with him towards the door; Gemini taking up the rear. They quickly walked down the hall with Dal, making sure to take the stairwells to avoid as much foot traffic as possible. Thankfully they didn't cross paths with anyone as they soon stepped out into the cold night air. Their feet splashed through puddles as they loaded back into Yoongi's vehicle.

As Yoongi started to drive, Dal - who was sandwiched between Namjoon and Taehyung - swiveled his still blanketed head back and forth between the two of them.

"Can I take this off now?" asked Dal.

Namjoon nodded as he moved to yank the blanket off Dal's head; his hair slightly askew from the static.

"Why did you have to sneak me out just now?" asked Dal as Yoongi muttered under his breath, "Here come the questions again..."

"It's because you did die, Dal," said Namjoon, "and you don't look the same way you used to."

"I don't? Am I a zombie?"

Gemini swiveled in her seat up front by Yoongi to look at Dal as he reached up hands to run along his face. Taehyung smiled softly, reaching out a hand to grab one of Dal's from off his face.

"When we get back home, I'll show you...okay? Until then, just know everything is alright now," said Taehyung.

Dal brought his other hand down from his face, nodding his head and falling silent as he dropped his head to look down at the ground. When Yoongi arrived back at the book shop, Namjoon went ahead of them to unlock the door before rushing through it to the back to unlock the apartment.

"Take him to the bathroom first," said Namjoon as he turned to see that Gemini and Taehyung were staying on either side of Dal as they walked towards the bathroom; Yoongi shutting and locking the front door of the book shop.

Namjoon flicked on the light in the small bathroom just as Gemini and Taehyung rounded the corner with Dal. The moment Dal's eyes made contact with his reflection, he let out a scream.

"AHHHH!"

He stumbled backwards; Taehyung and Gemini managing to catch him and keep him upright.

"What the...why do I have that face? Who am I?! That's not...I'm..."

Dal's face turned as white as the hospital gown he was still wearing as his eyes rolled into the back of his head; his body crashing towards the floor as he fainted. Taehyung managed to catch Dal's body before he made full contact with the floor, scooping him into his arms.

"I'm going to take him to his bed," said Taehyung.

Gemini followed on Taehyung's heels as he carried the still passed out Dal towards the bed, gently laying him down on it.

"You should go home and get some rest, Gemini. You've done above and beyond for me today," said Taehyung as he turned to look at her hovering nearby. "I mean, I can't remember the last time I've been human for this long."

"Are you sure?"

Taehyung nodded with a small smile on his face.

"I'm sure. Besides, I think Dal is going to need something familiar when he wakes up."

It was Gemini's turn to nod. She entered the room, standing in front of Taehyung; the two of them locking eyes.

"See you tomorrow then," said Gemini softly.

"Same time, same place," he responded.

Gemini moved to give him a hug then, surprising Taehyung who took a moment to hug her gently back. Neither of them said anything for a moment as nothing really needed to be said to be communicated.

When Gemini pulled back from the hug, she turned to see that Yoongi and Namjoon were standing in the doorway.

"Namjoon, I told Gemini she ought to go home and get some rest," said Taehyung. "Before she goes though, can you please bring in the 'yes' and 'no' papers? I want to communicate with Dal when he wakes up."

Namjoon nodded, vanishing off into the apartment and returning with them. He put them down on the bedside dresser.

"You ought to get some rest too, Namjoon," said Taehyung. "I'll be okay here with Dal. I've been a tiger for most of my life anyways."

Slowly but surely they all began to part ways for the night. Gemini and Yoongi left to head home; Namjoon standing in the bedroom doorway as he watched Taehyung transform back into a tiger, shutting the door as Taehyung moved to jump up onto the bed beside Dal. He laid down beside him, looking at him as he remained passed out.

'Everything will be okay, Dal,' thought Taehyung. 'I promise.'

Taehyung didn't remember dozing off, but the next thing he knew he could feel someone's fingers stroking through his fur. As he opened his eyes, he saw that Dal was sitting up in the bed.

"Ember, I just had the strangest dream..." said Dal before pausing, reaching up his free hand to touch his throat at hearing the foreign voice again.

Taehyung moved to sit up next to Dal, nodding his head towards the papers Namjoon had left on the bedside dresser. Dal turned his gaze to look at the bedside dresser. When he saw the papers, he reached out to grab them and saw that 'yes' was written on one and 'no' was written on the other. Dal laid them out on the bed.

"This isn't a dream, is it?" asked Dal, watching as Taehyung put out a paw to touch 'no'.

The sudden communication between him and his pet tiger came as a shock to Dal as he looked over at him.

"Were you really human earlier?" he asked as Taehyung hit his paw on 'yes'.

"I wish we weren't confined to 'yes' or 'no'," said Dal softly. "I have so many questions..."

Taehyung noticed the sad look in Dal's eyes, moving to gently lean his head against Dal's shoulder. Taehyung wished the same.

'I know. I have so many things I want to say to you too,' thought Taehyung.

It was then that Dal turned his head to look at Taehyung with wide eyed shock.

"Did you...did you just say something?"

Taehyung shook his head as he looked at Dal. He hadn't said anything, but he had thought something. It was then that Taehyung froze.

'Can you hear my thoughts, Dal?' asked Taehyung as a wide-eyed Dal slowly nodded his head.

"I think I can," he said.

A grin came across Dal's face at the revelation.

"Well, I say it's about time we can communicate! We've certainly been together long enough," stated Dal with a chuckle. "So, what's your real name?"

Taehyung flattened his ears against the top of his head as he looked down at the bedspread. It had been hard enough telling Gemini everything earlier, but in many ways she was still a stranger. Telling Dal everything would be one hundred times harder because he was family.

'My name is Kim Taehyung,' he thought.

"That name sounds familiar..." Dal mused as he looked at Taehyung; his eyes suddenly lighting up. "Wait...I remember...there was a man by that name that supposedly got killed by a tiger back in the eighties!"

Taehyung kept his head down as Dal came to the revelation. It had been big news at the time, and he and Dal hadn't been that far apart in age when they had first met.

"Whatever you have to tell me, I'm not going anywhere," said Dal softly. "We're family and family sticks together through thick and thin."

Taehyung felt a tear slip down his cheek as he felt the bed shift beneath him. Dal was soon leaning on his side so that he had one arm about Taehyung in a move of comfort.

'I wasn't killed by a tiger. I was cursed into being a tiger because of what a jerk I was during my life. My actions even led to someone getting hit by a truck.'

"Who cursed you? Was it the person that got hit by the truck?"

'No. It was her murdered brother, Min Sung-ho. He said it was my actions that drove his sister to stand in the road and get killed.'

"That wasn't fair to say," said Dal, "And it certainly wasn't fair to curse you...goodness, I mean, exactly how long ago did this all happen?"

'Forty years ago,' said Taehyung as Dal tsked.

"That's excessive and unnecessary," said Dal.

'Maybe not. I wasn't a good person before. The night you met me, you saved my life and throughout the time we've gotten to know each other, you've changed it and me.'

"I don't believe that. I believe you were always a good person deep down, Taehyung. I was merely the person who was able to unearth that treasure."

Taehyung turned his head to look at Dal and the soft smile on his face. Dal readjusted to sit back up, looking down at his new body.

"This is going to take some getting used to...I still don't know what happened here. The last thing I remember was going to look for you in the storm."

'We found you,' thought Taehyung, 'And brought you to the hospital. You were about to die, but I begged Chan-mi to save your life.'

"Chan-mi?"

'Sung-ho's sister. The one that I...well...'

Dal nodded his head as he moved to put a hand to his chest where he felt his heartbeat pulsing steadily and healthy.

"Well, guess I'm sticking around for a while now," Dal said with a chuckle.

'Seems we both kept secrets from each other,' thought Taehyung as Dal smirked. 'You kept your health condition a secret and I kept my curse a secret.'

"Lets promise each other right now that there will be no more secrets then," said Dal.

'Promise,' thought Taehyung, grinning at him the best he could as a tiger.

"I probably will have to come up with a new name now too," said Dal. "How about you name me?"

'Me?'

"Yes. It's only fair since I named you Ember all those years ago."

Taehyung looked at Dal for a moment, wondering what name would fit him going forward.

'I think you should have my last name,' thought Taehyung, 'And for a first name...what about Seokjin?'

"Kim Seokjin," said Dal out loud, testing the name. "Why Seokjin?"

'Because of what it means,' thought Taehyung. 'It means 'a great treasure' and that's what you have been to me.'

Dal grinned even wider, nodding his head.

"Then Kim Seokjin it is," said Dal as he moved to hug Taehyung. "We'll figure this all out. I promise."

Taehyung nodded, swishing his tail against Dal's back to try to hug him the best he could in return.