Ignore mistakes, please

Third person POV

The soft mattress was alluring, and the calming scent of candles he used for the night to finally get some good sleep after so long. A gleam of happiness and hope danced around his eyes as he filled a glass of water and popped two pills into his mouth, taking a sigh of relief once they were washed down his throat.

"Good night, Taehyung. Sleep tight." The little smile stayed on his lips as he could feel the medicine started to work pretty quickly.

"Everything good, Tae?" He heard Namjoon asking about his well-being, and all he could manage was a thumb up while snuggling inside the blanket with heavy eyes.

The taller male looked hopeful as well, Taehyung was almost half asleep. Muttering a soft good night, he closed the door of the room and went to his own, hoping for the best.

The clock struck 2 in the morning when a little rustling broke the silence of the room, accompanied by the growls and then barking of a dog. The shadowy figure crawled at a slow pace, halting near the peaceful boy, sleeping by cuddling the pillow close to his chest, blanket halfway covering his frame.

The odd sound resonated inside the same room like someone was groaning in pain, crying... the sadness and desperation in each muffle cry was so disturbing and somehow irritating to keep the boy asleep anymore.

Peeling his heavy lashes off, Taehyung stared around the room in a sleeping daze, not fully awake yet. The room looked darker than he left before sleeping, almost lulling him back to sleep when another cry caught his attention. The voice seemed to be coming from the bathroom, and it was enough to wash away the remnants of sleep from his eyes.

Gulping thickly, Taehyung tried to find the switch of the side lamp only to realize that it was the power cut... something rarely happened in their area. When another cry echoed, followed by a painful groaning, he hastily searched for the phone, and luckily, it was near his pillow.

It took him a little moment to leave the bed when the cries turned into gasps as if someone was being choked inside. Nothing else came to his mind when he rushed and barged inside the bathroom to feel his skin freezing at the coldness lurking inside the space.

The torch of his phone roamed around the whole place to find the source of cries only to halt at the mirror that seemed different. Involuntarily, his feet dragged him toward the mirror to hear another muffled cry coming right from there.

A thick lump stuck in his throat, not even allowing him to take a deep breath just as he reduced the distance between himself and the mirror. The light reflected back on him when he directed his phone to look into the mirror, and when he did so, the cries died instantly, leaving the whole space dead silent once again.

Small shallow breaths left Taehyung's parted lips who was focusing on the mirror once again but shaking his head when suddenly he thought to look inside the cabinets nearby.

The cabinet was right beneath the mirror and basin, so he decided to look first before going to the other one near the door. But there was nothing unusual, just his toiletries and first aid box, nothing else... except for a stained cloth lying there.

Frowning at the article, he stretched his arm to see it clearly, and when he took it out of the cabinet, it slipped down from his shaking fingers because it wasn't dirty... it was wet, soaked in crimson blood.

"What the heck!" The loud crash made him flinch so hard, and it sounded like from very close to him, but he found nothing broken there. Everything was fine, except for a moving thing behind the mirror.

The urge to just close his eyes and never look there was so high, yet he couldn't follow his heart... his body was rebellious, as if controlled by something else.

His lips trembled like a dry leaf in the harsh wind, but contrary to the air, he felt suffocated, his insides churned in an unexplainable feeling.

Help~

Help me~~

The cries were back, this time with words of plea, and Taehyung stood there, fighting hard not to look at the mirror where he was sure nothing was pleasant to see.

Help me, please...

The wetness on his cheeks was a mixture of sweat and tears, something he was oblivious to till now. The increasing blurriness was another hint of his tears, and those tears weren't of sadness... but of fear.

Please ~

The shaky pupils finally managed to look up at the mirror only to have his eyes widened in horror at the view. It wasn't the normal reflection in the mirror... it was nothing normal at all.

There was a boy, strangled in tight grips of black hands all around him, his face pale and messy, his clothes littered with red blotches all over and even some fingers trying to enter his mouth through parted lips that trembled in fear and agony.

The view wasn't the only reason to have Taehyung's breath stuck in his lungs... but the boy there was the reason because he was no one else but...

Himself!

He saw himself in a pitiful condition...

Bounded- restricted - in pain.

It was him.

The person inside the mirror cried more when the fist pushed its way more into his mouth, tearing his lips in the process, and it was unbearable to even watch.

But why was he seeing it? Where is Namjoon? Why couldn't he hear it all?

None of it made sense. Heck! Nothing made sense.

The phone was hanging between his fingers when his legs gave up. If not for the support from the wall behind, he would have fallen. The inner voice screamed at him to run, to hide, and maybe call for his brother... but at the same time, his mind was numb, not allowing anything to do.

The muffled groans turned into painful screams, and it didn't take long when everything was silent again as the person inside the mirror had his head dropped down, all the hands leaving him slowly in the same state.

The ragged breath of Taehyung was all that could be heard in the dark bathroom.

You didn't help me.

The voice blamed, sounding more husky and even disturbing.

You couldn't help me.

"No... no... no, no, no." Taehyung dragged his numb body as far as possible from the mirror when the person inside cracked his neck, slowly moving it to look at him.

You can not help yourself, Taehyung ~

The change in voice was so abrupt, and like every time Taehyung recalled all the previous experiences with the same voice. He was stuck again.

The voice started laughing, and it turned shrill to have Taehyung's ear almost bleed all while he tried to get away from the person who seemed like coming out of the mirror now. The face was changing as well, in something horrible, and he wasn't ready to watch it.

Hehe... look at me, Taehyung~

"No, help... hyung. Please." Words dropped out of his trembling lips like whispers in the abyss, disappearing right there before entering someone's ears.

The loud thud indicated the person had come out of the mirror, and Taehyung felt trapped again. With blurry sight, he didn't know how he did so, but he got up on his wobbly legs and rushed out of the bathroom and his room. His phone fell during the process, leaving him in all darkness and getting bumped into many things.

Lock after lock, and soon, he found himself standing on the street of their house. His clothes were soaked in sweat even in the early winter night, and his face was white as a paper sheet.

With terribly shaking hands, he covered his face, still trying to process whatever he witnessed and felt a few moments ago when a sudden loud horn and a screech had him jolt in his place.

"Dude! What are you doing in the middle of the street?!"

Pulling his hands away, Taehyung peeked at the source of the voice to find a male coming out of a car and now standing there with a stoic face. "Hey! Can you hear me..."

The strict tone faded away when Taehyung completely let go of his hands, making his face visible to the stranger. The male in front of him frowned, examining him from head and toe before extending his hand to which Taehyung flinched back.

"Calm down." The soft voice spoke, and Taehyung felt totally out of it. He blinked twice while gazing around to find himself in the moderately lit street. Even his house had power now.

"Are you alright? Where do you live?" And once again, Taehyung felt lost. Things slowly escaped his mind, leaving him like a blank canvas.

The opening of a gate had the stranger look behind to find a woman in her early fifties coming out to them with a smile that soon turned into a confused face. "Is everything good?" She subtly pointed toward the dazed and pale Taehyung.

"I don't think so, mom. I just saw him standing there. He isn't saying a word." The stranger said to the woman, who frowned as she closely observed Taehyung, who was trying to remember what he was doing there.

"Oh, he is the younger brother of Kim Namjoon. Our neighbors." She exclaimed a bit, excited that soon toned down looking at the condition of the said male.

Taehyung couldn't hear much as the stranger soon left to somewhere, wait - he was walking to his home. But why didn't he want to go to his own home??

"Dear, are you alright? Come, come with me." When Taehyung gave her a confused look, she warmly smiled. "I'm your neighbor, kid. Min Haera. Look, this is my house and the boy you just met is my son. Min Yoongi." She elaborated to loosen up the confused boy.

"H- hi. Mrs. Min." Taehyung didn't like how his voice sounded so drained.

The older woman smiled, kind of relieved to see him respond. "No need to be formal. You can call me Auntie."

"Taehyung?!" A huge body collided with his cold one, and the scent was of his brother, so he involuntarily hugged him. The rest of the event was out of his memory because all he could recall was that he almost collapsed in his brother's arms, who rushed him to his room with help from the other guy.

When he reached his room, he felt the need to see the bathroom only to find it all tidy as ever, and the clock struck 11:30 pm. It means he barely slept for an hour again.

Those medicines did nothing. He lost hope.

Now, sitting in his favorite little garden after his morning classes, he felt bad for his brother who was awake by his side for the rest of the night, talking, engaging him in some ways because he was again unable to sleep. And when he told Namjoon to rest, he looked petrified, saying that sleepwalking was something he never did before, and can't risk anything.

Yes, sleepwalking. Namjoon was sure that the medication worked but not fully, and as a result, Taehyung ended up sleepwalking in the night.

Clutching his throbbing head in his right palm, he got up to leave for the next class when the world spun in his sight, and he fell down, but strangely, nothing hurt as he predicted. Rather, it felt warm and soothing.

"Are you alright?"

What was that? That voice was softest, warmest, and most beautiful one he ever heard. And now, when he noticed, the scent was there, the same scent that left him in awe for days.

Opening his heavy lids slowly, he was met with a pair of beautiful onyx eyes staring down at his soul in the most soothing way.

The boy was hovering over his frame, and he realized his position when the other male moved his body a bit forward, straightening his back. The distance between their bodies was reduced to inches, and he could feel the scent overwhelming his senses.

"You look exhausted." The boy spoke again. His petal-like lips moved so elegantly as each word slipped out of them, and Taehyung was bewitched.

"Here, sit down." The male guided him to the bench just like the last time, and Taehyung let him handle his body like a doll.

With heavy eyes, he watched the other taking a seat beside him and looked back at his face, avoiding his eyes.

"What is your name?" The male inquired softly, his gaze fixed on Taehyung's rest of the body except for his eyes.

As if under the spell, Taehyung softly muttered his name. "Taehyung... Kim Taehyung."

The stranger gave a soft smile, nodding his head. "Beautiful name." And Taehyung felt something move inside him. Is that called flutter? 

The boy licked his lips before meeting his gaze with Taehyung's for a short moment before speaking again, in a little different tone than before.

"I'm Jungkook. Jeon Jungkook."

~~~~~~~~

Assalam o alaikum. Wishing you all a blessed and blissful 2025 ♡ 

Also, Happy belated birthday to our winter bear.