— "i've never heard something
crazier before!"

NOVEMBER 8:
MIN YOONGI

==

the funny thing about being a part of the society is the closeness you immediately develop to the members around you, despite knowing them for such a short amount of time. you begin to speak, theorize, and relate with people halfway across the world and people sitting in the chair beside you. it's incredible, honestly, the way all of these people manage to constantly develop and add to this complex system, unfazed (at least by first glance) at the fact that they are a mere drop in the pond of the population. they aren't fueled by monetary incentive or fame. it's purely the need to help, and yoongi finds that deeply admirable.

"the way first and second witnesses...become witnesses in the first place is mostly random, in a sense," gunho says, his face grainy through the computer screen. they're all gathered in namjoon's apartment, jae and mrs. kim included, on skype with haewon, isuel, and gunho still in useol. the latter is absentmindedly scrolling through haewon's laptop, presumably looking at news articles and papers: a normal habit. "well, obviously the strong spirit is taken into account—taehyung, for instance—but that isn't something you can actually control, or even notice. it's mostly the aura of a person, their planetary demeanor compared to dimensions such as the other world."

the statement makes roughly ten percent of sense in yoongi's brain, but he decides to roll with it.

"so naturally, being a witness isn't something you can exactly choose or expect. we hardly know the way the other world works either, so we can't just write out a foolproof formula of what makes a witness be a witness."

"so it's just random? there isn't a specific order to it?"

"there isn't anything in our research that suggests some sort of pattern. we obviously don't know every single witness in the globe, and first witnesses technically only know if they're witnesses when they see a physical form of abraxas, which is an 'if' in itself. but the only explanation that makes sense is it being random."

mrs. kim lets out a small "oh", wrapping her knitted shawl around her shoulders closely. it pangs yoongi—how must it feel to not even be able to see the monster that tormented your son?

"could taehyung not like..." jeongguk fumbles for the right words. "decide that? through his subconscious in abraxas's physical form or something? was there any way for him to decide who saw 'his' form or not?"

"it isn't likely. and remember, all of abraxas's previous forms were of dead second witnesses—subconscious interference wasn't heard of before taehyung. it's not a characteristic that abraxas nor he has."

"what about jimin, then?" namjoon asks. "was he just lucky enough—" if you can even call it that —"to have the ability to see abraxas's form of taehyung, then?"

"...i suppose he was."

a stretch of silence follows, save for the occasional clicks of gunho's fingers on the keyboard. "where are jimin and taehyung, anyway?" seokjin finally asks, gesturing around the room. there's a slight look of unease on his face that doesn't go past yoongi.

"said they couldn't come. i called jimin about it this afternoon, but he didn't go in depth about it: probably a private issue." jae's face softens sympathetically. "i wouldn't pry. it's bound to be something important between the two of them."

but the question still drifts through all of their minds, clearly even jae's; why didn't taehyung tell his own mother?

mrs. kim clears her throat dismissively, sitting up. "so, um...where's abraxas right now, then? why hasn't it approached us this entire time?"

"that's what i was wondering," murmurs namjoon. "it's always been quick to track and find us in his physical form of taehyung, but ever since his coma, we haven't seen it since."

"man, i wish taehyung was able to come," hoseok sighs. "he seemed to know a bunch since he woke up—it's kind of strange actually, right?"

"wait, what do you mean?" haewon's eyebrows furrow. "did he remember anything else?"

"well aside from that one night left, no. he just...seems to understand all of these things now, putting them together and clarifying things for us. it's hard to explain. i don't know, it's like his coma somehow heightened his understanding, or something."

"that's strange," iseul mutters. "but, well, it's not arbitrary. it isn't like we've ever witnessed a situation like this before."

"do you think abraxas is still even in the city?" yoongi asks. it's a good question; abraxas hasn't gone this long without destroying in a physical form. maybe it has something to do with its true form.

"i was actually meaning to talk to you guys about that." moments later, a notification lights up on all of their phones, clearly from haewon. it's an online news article, written a mere hour or two ago, with a grainy photograph of a blocked road above the text. "a highway that connects sunab to several western districts and cities became blocked this afternoon, supposedly from randomly uprooted trees that fell on the road. the weather was fine, and the soil didn't seem bad enough for erosion, so it came across as another surprise." she pauses. "i know it's kind of a reach, but..."

"what better way to wreak havoc than block one of the country's most prevalent highways?" iseul finishes.

jeongguk runs a hand through his hair, sighing. "you're kidding me. honestly, that's more of nuisance than anything. what the hell is that supposed to achieve?"

"it's actually a smart move," murmurs gunho worriedly. "blocking the highway disrupts all sorts of things—work schedules, emergency services, especially in a country like this. and that's the problem. abraxas is able to complete calculated moves like this. and with its true form as its physical form now, it can put those ideas into full potential. especially with..."

"with what?"

"with janggwu directly on path of that highway. abraxas has targeted pivotal cities—sunab and useol—so naturally it would aim for another big target if it's trying to cause as much destruction as possible. that's abraxas's ulterior motive; i don't know why, or what it gains, but that's what it does. destroy."

"wait, wait—" hoseok's voice interjects urgently, and yoongi turns to see his expression. "janggwu? that's where abraxas is going next?"

"it's highly probable, considering—"

"ah shit," he mutters, eyes wide. "and you said—you said now it can cause more destruction? more than it did b-before?"

"hoseok, what—"

"janggwu's my hometown. practically my entire family still lives there. generations of them, and friends too, all across the city."

there's a ringing in yoongi's ears.

"oh god, dude, i—" namjoon struggles to find his words. "maybe we can try contacting them? tell them to evacuate before abraxas tries to—"

"evacuate from what? they'll never believe me if i tell the truth. and how can i just tell all of them to pack their bags and leave the entire city?" hoseok realizes his sharp tone and retracts, fingers fidgeting. "s-sorry, i just...i don't know what to do..."

a stretch of slow silence passes before iseul clears his throat and speaks again. "well, the smartest move is to stay where we are. there isn't exactly much we can do. we don't know for a fact if abraxas is going to target janggwu, and..." he bites his lip. "and even if it does, we can't...stop it."

yoongi immediately opens his mouth to protest, to call that complete blasphemy, before he realizes the heavy truth in those words. when have they ever been able to stop abraxas, even when it was in its physical form of taehyung? all their successes encompass them being able to run away from the demon. when it comes down to it, they're powerless against abraxas. what's the use of flooding into janggwu with no ability to stop anything, just rushing into danger? when they went to useol, they at least had questions, some sort of plan, and that allowed them to find the society. but going to janggwu is useless.

"but—" hoseok opens his mouth, closes it, opens it again. he's caught in the same mental predicament yoongi is. "but my family, i can't—"

"i know, so just try informing them and pressing them to leave—"

"they won't, i know they won't!" he curses softly, relaxing slightly when jae takes his hand and massages it slowly. "i just...there isn't a solution to the situation, dammit! it just keeps getting worse. a-and i should have seen it coming. we all should have. but now the whole c-country is involved and abraxas is completely—"

"wait," seokjin blurts, nervousness immediately flooding his face. "wait. we shouldn't...act rash right now. i think there might be a way to fix this."

"what?" gunho's voice crackles through the speaker. "what do you mean?"

"it's just a gut feeling. i don't know, but—" seokjin turns to the others around him. "remember when taehyung woke up in the hospital, and he knew all that new stuff? i don't know, but there was this, like...look on his face, like he had something he wanted to say but couldn't, you know? he kept pausing and looking down, and...and when jeongguk asked him that one question, he just sat there with this expression on his face. i don't know what it was of, but..."

he swallows thickly. "i probably sound insane right now, i know, but i think we should wait a while. whatever jimin and taehyung are talking about is probably important—more important than just between the two of them. i just have this inkling about it. i feel like...taehyung knows what to do."

then why won't he tell us?

"but what if abraxas attacks s-soon?" hoseok stammers. "what if it goes to janggwu tonight or something—"

"it took all these weeks to just back up a highway. abraxas is taking its own time; it clearly isn't in a rush. the likelihood of something happening tonight is slim."

"...i'm gonna trust seokjin on this," namjoon says after a while. "his inkling last time turned out to be something major in useol. and besides, iseul is right. there's not much we can do in our situation at the moment."

silence.

"okay," hoseok responds quietly. "we'll stay and wait, then."

==

this a bland ass chapter lmaooooo
i can already hear the comments chasin after janggwu yall im try i n wit these city names give me sum slack🤧🤧
dont try to lie u love em
nyway bye yall have a lovely day drink lotsa water & be happy!!❣️