sweet temptation | p a r t f i v e

SEOKJIN WOKE UP IN A DAZE. "Huh? Why do I feel so weird?" Groggily, he sat up, rubbing his tired eyes awake.

"When did I fall asleep?" he mumbled.

His blurry vision from sleep soon faded, only to then be blinded by a bright light coming from the open window beside him. Seokjin scrambled to shield his eyes with his blanket as he mumbled something incoherently under his breath, the bright light stinging his tired eyes.

Strange. I always close the curtains before falling asleep.

Suddenly, a thought occurred to him as his brows drew together in confusion.

Wait a minute.

I don't even remember falling asleep in the first place.

Seokjin blinked hard to chase away the drowsiness, questions increasing the more he awoke; Why am I so tired? Did I drink too much at the company dinner? No, I don't remember drinking more than two glasses. So, why do I feel so--

A voice interrupted him, breaking him out of his thoughts. "Wake up already, Jin-hyung! We'll be late for the entrance ceremony!"

Seokjin's eyes widened upon hearing the male's voice, one so familiar and distinct it couldn't have been anyone else. It can't be. That voice sounded like...

Seokjin whipped around harshly, hurting the back of his neck in the process. He winced as he rubbed the back of his neck, trying to ease the pain.

That voice...

It's not possible, he thought in horror, recognizing the voice.

He's dead.

"Ah, that must have hurt. What, are you possessed, hyung?" he jested laughing at his own joke. The amused tone he always carried, the deep voice he missed so much, it was all there.

Seokjin didn't want to look up, to see him standing there with his grin plastered on his face, only to wake up all alone in his cold apartment once again. He'd lost count how many times he had had that same dream, over and over the past few years. He couldn't bear to go through that again. So, instead he kept his eyes glued to the wooden floor boards in front of his bed.

"... Taehyung?" Seokjin whispered out loud, half-expecting to wake up in cold sweat. But he never did.

Instead Taehyung blinked, confusion evident on his face, and answered him. "Yes?"

달콤한 유혹 | sweet temptation

Seokjin looked up and he was right. It was Taehyung. He couldn't believe his eyes. Taehyung was there, standing in the middle of the doorway, arms crossed wearing his signature grin on his face.

Taehyung was there.

Looking at him standing in front of Seokjin as if this were reality, it felt surreal. If he didn't know any better, Seokjin would have thought this was in fact reality.

Don't kid yourself, his inner-voice reasoned. This has to be some illusion, a mirage -- anything! There's a plausible explanation why this all seems to real because there's no way he could actually be there.

"But," he paused. "How are you here?" Seokjin said, voicing one of his thoughts out of the chaos that was his mind.

Taehyung laughed lightly, a sound that was like music to Seokjin's ears. "Well you are the one who invited me to sleep over yesterday, weren't you? Now, please hurry up or we'll be late! The others are already waiting at the school." he spoke lightly as he made his way out the door.

Wait a second. That door. Seokjin recognized the door before him.

Frantically, he got up and looked around the room. It was his room. His room from all those years ago when Seokjin was still in high school.

Last he heard, this house was given away to someone and demolished a long time ago, so why was he there now? His mind ran a mile a minute as he tried to come up with possible explanations why he was back in his old room.

Maybe this really is a dream? Seokjin immediately started pinching his arms and cheeks, but it came to no avail, he wasn't waking up.

An idea occurred to him; he quickly jumped up from the bed, ignoring the nausea and lightheadedness, and ran to the bathroom.

He looked in the mirror and saw the old Seokjin in the reflection. Instead of his light brown hair, his hair was now dyed a light pink shade — the same colour he had in the senior year of high school.

He remembered having dyed his hair in the school bathroom along with the other guys, deciding to dye it some crazy colour together, each choosing a vivid crazy colour to piss of the adults in their lives (all except Namjoon and Hoseok).

Seokjin chose a light pink because he liked the shade and it was a way to give a jab to the ones who called him "girly" or "weak". Despite his father's rage and threats to kick him out onto the streets, Seokjin kept the colour as pink and proudly showed it off to the school for the rest of the year with the support of his friends.

Though they were good memories, Seokjin had to change the colour back to the light shade of brown his hair originally was when they moved back to America, and his father made him become the successor of the family business the next year when they returned to Korea.

Nonetheless, this only confirmed it. This was real, he was there.

"Maybe," Seokjin said aloud hopefully, "Maybe everything that happened back then was just a dream? Was I just dreaming this entire time?"

He looked to Taehyung once again where he stood, standing back in the middle of the doorway as he watched Seokjin with a puzzled look. Seokjin couldn't help himself. He needed to know if this was real. But more than that, he missed his friend.

Seokjin walked to his friend and wrapped his arms tightly around him. Taehyung smelled lightly of pine and cigarettes. Though it was a smell he was not too fond of, it brought back many beloved memories he had locked away before.

The familiarity was all coming back to him; he missed this so much, it drove him insane.

Taehyung stiffened, having been caught off guard. "Woah, what happened? Did you have a weird dream or something?" he spoke cautiously.

Seokjin sighed as he let go, shaking his head lightly as if dismissing his thoughts. "Yeah... a dream. That's all." He looked to Taehyung, who only nodded slightly as if he understood but was still confused. Seokjin waited a while, carefully analyzing his younger friend's expression.

"Okay, then." he back away slowly, raising his hands up and taking comically large steps back as a joke, "Anyways, we really do need to get going or we'll miss the ceremony." Taehyung grabbed some clothes lying behind the foor and tossed them to Seokjin, which he barely caught before falling. "Please hurry up and get ready, or else the guys will get really pissed."

Seokjin looked at the clothes in his hands. They were the same clothes he wore to the first say of his senior year to high school. He knew in that moment that this couldn't possibly be a coincidence.

"Taehyung," Seokjin called out before he left. He didn't know why he didn't think to ask the question before. Maybe it was the because it so was so much to take in at once, that it completely slipped his mind. Maybe he missed his friend too much to care. Probably both.

"Yes, hyung?" Taehyung answered back as he began fixing his uniform tie.

Seokjin gulped hesitatingly. His heart began spreading up as every beat echoed loudly in his chest. With a burst of courage, he asked, "Taehyung, what year is it?"

Seokjin could hear subtle shuffling in the hallway as Taehyung made his way to the doorway, where Seokjin stood, and threw him a puzzled look. "Hyung, are you feeling okay? Is it because you're sick? Or—"

Seokjin interrupted him, "Just answer the damn question, Taehyung!"

Taehyung stared, frowning at his friend's loud tone. Seokjin didn't blame him; he even scared myself. He'd always been the more composed member of their friend group, besides Namjoon, but then again as the saying goes, desperate times call for desperate measures. He took in a deep breathe, resting his rapidly beating heart.

"Sorry, Tae. Just... please just answer me."

Though surprised and somewhat skeptical, Taehyung answered. "Hyung, it's 2015." he paused. "April of 2015."

[ In that moment, I knew there was something more ominous at work here. ]
[ 그 때 나는 직장에서 더 불길한 것이 있다는 것을 알았습니다. ]