Date posted: 20240608

This isn't a new one-shot, but an alternate version of the very last BTS Fanfic I'll ever write in my lifetime. I've said before that I've quit writing fanfiction about them. I just forgave myself only because it's their FESTA season. (and feeling emo over the BangBangCon. Damn that WINGS Tour Final)

Also this was long overdue. 

If you're satisfied with the first version, don't read this anymore. It'll break your heart. Unless if you're into angst and unhappy endings.

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"What if... I don't let go?"

"It would hurt more if you still hold on to me... to us."

This is what happens if she doesn't let go...

~

"Nurses!!" Mona yelled. MC pulled her back, sternly looking at her.

"Here." MC handed Delle's sister with a buzzer. "It would be better if we press that."

"How can we help you?" The doctors came asking both girls.

"Ate Delle stopped breathing!" Mona sobbed, covering her face with her palms. The two went out to the halls to wait. They sent Delle on a stretcher to the ER.

Mona stared blankly on the shiny cream floor. She looked certain about what was going to happen. MC patted her back.

"She'll be back," she assured.

"I don't trust you would say that, I mean..."

The doctors came back to them, sadly frowning at the two closest to Delle.

"I'm afraid we have some bad news about our patient, Delle."

Without letting the man in front of them continue, Mona fainted, with MC's broad shoulder catching her every tear. "Hey!" MC screamed. And her eyes were emptily looking straight at you, yes you, the reader.

How could you leave us!? How!?

"Someday, I'm going to see these seven." Delle was holding a magazine with her favorite group as the cover. She was showing it to MC, holding a soft serve cone on her right hand. "It's my biggest dream! I can't wait to see my love, Jimin."

"I.. hope I can support you! But, I don't have money to give you tickets..."

"That's okay, MC. I'm sure my siblings will give me, I'll just ask!" Delle stated. "You can always support my fangirling."

"Yeah, I just wish I was close enough to my mom..." bemoaned MC.

"Oh, shoot. Sold out?" Delle frowned upon seeing the announcement on social media.

"Nee-chan, don't be sad, there's always next time," MC patted her back. "Besides, Drei gave me tickets to the Epilogue Concert!"

"That's not fair!" Delle complained, throwing her hands at her. "Ask Drei to give me his ticket!" They both wrestled playfully on Delle's pink bed. MC just laughed.

"It was a prize!" MC refuted. "You're gonna get yours. Soon."

When no one else was there for her, only she, MC, stayed by her side... even in her darkest hour.

But that dark hour pushed her on the brink of death.

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN, 'NEXT TIME?' THERE WILL NEVER BE A NEXT TIME, MC! NEVER. EVER!"

She flinched. She's never seen Delle this mad, shouting at the top of her lungs.

"Please, calm down Nee-chan! I'll... I'll hold a listening party–"

"Go home," Delle ordered her.

"It... it won't solve anything, blaming your sister won't solve your problem–"

She saw Delle's finger pointing at the door.

"We waited at the ticketing office for nothing. I've had enough." She shook her head. "If you don't go outside by the time I count to ten, consider us over, Marie Claire."

Delle didn't get tickets for the Wings Tour because of her pregnant sister. Her siblings don't have anything left to give her.

And this is why she is still here. MC wanted to make sure to let Delle stay with her faves, to be happy together stanning BTS. Whenever they meet, Delle always feeds MC this sad face.

Even in tenth grade, her fourth year in high school, she brought that 'didn't go to my favorite group's concert' face. She's more miserable than she ever did last year. But her loyalty towards her biases didn't bend, not even once when it was tested the following year.

The crab mentality, and hostility of the fandom, according to the outsider's perspective, makes her want to quit. At that point, she wants to forget about her favorite seven. But...

What about him?

Delle fell asleep thinking about those. And it took her back. To all of the happiness that she never had.

~

Should I stay here?

Blood, sweat and tears. Delle was one with the crowd as she witnessed her idols sing one of their hit tracks today. She was smiling from ear to ear. She has all the merch, the Army lightstick, she was so happy to see them.

"Girl, I've been searching so long in this world..." Jimin sang.

Wait... that wasn't on the setlist! It's one of her most favorite love songs at the moment. She closed her eyes hoping that this was a dream, a misunderstanding. All she saw was darkness, when she opened them again.

"That's your future with us," whispered a familiar voice.

"I... I don't see anything!" she replied.

"Exactly!" he said mockingly. Then everybody started to laugh... she didn't understand at first, but it dawned at her that it was her they were laughing at!

No... I shouldn't stay.

"Enough!" she yelled, breaking away from those mysterious hands. Delle found herself in her room upstairs. Tears staining her cheeks.

I can't... stay here either.

Her sibling was right there, scolding her for her irritable behavior these days. It annoyed them so much. She couldn't look this specific family member in the eye. Not that she's guilty, but it looks like she's disappointed them again.

"You're immature!" that person yelled.

"How was I—"

"How dare you answer me back!?" And she received a slap. "Not another word, Delle!"

"I—"

She gets pushed back to her room, making her fall to the bed on her head.

"GOD DAMN! CAN YOU ACT YOUR AGE, DELLE!? YOU'RE NOT A CHILD ANYMORE! YOU'RE EMBARRASSING US HERE!!"

I just want to be with people who can love me... with people who care about me...

And she's not finding it here.

The shrill voice of that blood relative was replaced with sweet voices of those unrelated to her. The scent of the car freshener made her a little bit dizzy.

"We're here at the venue, Delle! Is your ARMY Bomb ready?"

She's wearing her white polo with a purple collar. She made sure that her scrapbook is with her, that specific one to give to her ultimate bias. Delle's lightstick has the BT21 Chimmy hood.

She went out of the car to step out of what looked like a mountain cliff. She turned around to see the car disappear.

Am I unlucky not to see them in this lifetime!?

I can't stay... I should have gone away.

I have to let them go...

"Delle?" a guy's voice called.

Don't talk to him, please...

The two made eye contact.

"What are you doing here, Jimin?"

She tried to walk, but the ground around her is already crumbling. She fell, but held to one edge while her other grabbed the scrapbook she's going to give him.

"H-help me!!"

A pair of hands grabbed her arm. It pulled her back to the ruin. A guy sighed beside her.

"You're heavy," he grunted.

She rolled away from the boy, groaning. "I was trying not to consume too much carbs these days, how could you say–"

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have." Jimin looked away, and again at Delle.

"You should be at the concert right now." Delle looked skeptical. "What brought you here?" she asked, hugging the scrapbook.

The idol brought his hand out.

"You want us to be friends or...?" Delle questioned.

"Let go," he bluntly said.

"What do you mean by... let go?" she asked

"You're letting us go, right?" Jimin inquired her back.

"That's not what I mean," Delle shook her head. "What if... I don't let go?"

Jimin just gave her a grin, his eyes smiling along with it, it made her eyes widen. Her eyebrows furrowed.

"It would hurt you more if you hold on to me... if you hold on to us."

Soon, she just grabbed the boy's soft hand.

"Wha–"

"Then I'll stay."

What's the point of staying?

"D-Delle... you... you don't have to do this!"

There won't be anything waiting for me if I stay longer.

He was right, it hurts if I still hold on.

"I believe it's easier if I stay with you, because it's hard to let you go."

"You're staying with us?" Jimin's eyes widened at the sight of Delle dissolving into dust.

"I'm staying with you, Jimin..."

And there's nothing I could see. It's all white. Am I back?

No!

I... I can't move!

I can't see...

I feel... c-cold...

M-my... b-br-breath...

~

Soon, the emergency room began to fill up with Delle's grieving relatives.

"Stay out!" one of them shoved MC.

"How dare you do that!? She's family too!" Mona whined.

"You have no voice in this family, if I were you, I'd shut up." The relative left to try apologizing to Delle's lifeless body.

MC saw that Mona's hand began to turn white.

"I... hate them," she sneered. "They made us miserable!"

"Hatred doesn't solve–"

"Don't you have anything else to advise me? Your 'doesn't solve anything' isn't helping!" Mona complained. "I thought you're a great friend to Ate? You just let her be! She never got to finish that book..."

MC tried hugging Mona but she just got pushed in the end.

"Do you know how they treated us back then!? You failed to be the sister Ate never had!"

"You have every right to get mad–"

"I've heard quite enough today!" Mona turned back leaving MC dumbfounded in the hallway.

40 days later, MC ranted on Facebook that Delle's relatives are capitalizing off of her memorial only because they published her final BTS book called "Bring The Soul" without finishing it. A lot of people didn't buy it and some of Delle's supporters accused her of being bitter towards her best friend especially. And how would she apologize to her family? MC said that they should've said sorry to Delle first while she's still alive!

~

"Delle!" he called. And like that, she's gone. She's blown away by the wind.

Jimin's eyes are beginning to flood with tears that run down to his cheeks.

"AUTHOR!!"

His scream made the birds at the trees fly away. Like the water on the rock, he cried his heart out. His eyes widened at the sight of the scrapbook that she left on Earth.

Jimin opened it. It was his first photo as a BTS member.

"It started with him.

Park Jimin caught my attention with his red hair in their music video for DOPE. At that time as well on another TV channel, I saw the replay of his breathtaking MAMA 2014 performance where he ripped his shirt off."

Jimin chuckled, still crying his eyes out. He turned to the next page.

"It continued with them...

When V said that I should give love to the other members, I listened. And I gave each and one of you every ounce of my love and loyalty that I have for you. It wasn't easy, but I have to admit it isn't. It's difficult for me..."

"Aw, you shouldn't have to..."

He skipped to the last page. It contained nothing. But just a picture of him from his new era. And a few words.

"But it ended with him."

Jimin looked confused. What... ended?

"You're Jimin, right?"

This tall guy had blonde hair, his mint eyes stared at him for long. He has a pink guitar strapped to him.

"How do you know my name?"

"I don't know... And why I'm here is that I don't even know either. Like we're gathered here by an entity." The blonde guy's eyes traveled to the scrapbook Jimin was holding.

"I see, I was supposed to be... wait. Why can't I remember?" Jimin cupped his head.

"It ended with him. Cheesy," commented the guitarist, reading the scrapbook. "I know why we're here."

"Oh, the scrapbook told you," the idol stated sarcastically.

The blonde shook his head. "What's your name again?"

"I'm Jimin of –"

"No, you're not."

He was dumbfounded.

"You see, we're just figments of an author's imagination. We're created to make decisions, those that will affect the flow of the story. Delle's story didn't end with Jimin, rather it continued. Because she stayed. That's her decision." The blonde landed a finger on the idol's chest.

"Wh-what's your name?" he asked.

"I won't be here for long, brother." The blonde began to walk away from the pink haired. The surroundings are starting to dissolve into white. He turned sideways to say, "I'm Colson, by the way. It's nice to finally meet you, Ryu."

From "Bring The Soul: Epigraph"

This isn't a love letter, but a goodbye letter to the seven that I love with my whole heart. If you're reading this while being their fan, that means, I used to be one with you cheering the boys on their journey. I didn't write this to tell them that I'm letting go, but rather I'm staying with the one who brought me here and the one that got me into the group. He's still the one. I wrote this not to move on with them and forget, but to remember the happy times that never were. They shaped the person that I am today.

FIN