NIWIS [S2]Ch.14: "Strategize."

[Warning: This chapter contains mild language.]

As the van slowly drove away from the complex, I caught myself continuing to stare at the building. I had watched her go in to make sure that she was safe.

Ah. So she's a student? These are student housings.

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My eyes lingered for a bit too long. Because I was suddenly jolted out of my thoughts by Seokjin shaking me. I blinked profusely and snapped my head over to him.

"Huh? What?" I say absentmindedly.

Seokjin laughed when he saw me so bewildered. "Are you okay, Namjoon? Why are you staring so intently over there?" He asked curiously. I cleared my throat.

"Oh, sorry. I was just lost in thought. I've got a lot on my mind." I say as a half lie. His mouth turned into a frown. He picked up on the way I brushed it all aside as if it didn't matter. But he wasn't the type to say anything about it. Jin was too reserved. It wasn't like him to press matters. He stared at me for a few seconds to process my statement and then nodded his head.

"Yeah, I don't blame you. There has been a lot going on with everything that has happened." He sighed. I had to smile and pat his arm to reassure him.

"It's okay, Jin. We'll figure this out. I promise."

"But will it be that easy?" Jin sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. I sank back in my chair and looked up at the roof of the car.

"Honestly? No. Look at what we're up against. How are we going to defeat something like that?" I lower my voice so our driving manager wouldn't hear us. He took a moment to mull over what I said and then spoke again.

"You've got a point. But I'm not sure. We'll think of something." He shrugged and sunk into his seat. "If we can't, then... well... we will just have to rely on y/n and trust her to come up with a viable solution." He chuckled nervously like he didn't believe what he was saying himself.

"I just hope you're right. For all our sakes."

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**TIME SKIP**

(Later, at the dorm)

[Author's P.O.V.]

All the boys arrived safely at the dorm. They piled into their rooms completely exhausted. Dawn had just broke so the next day could start. However, for them, their day was just ending. After everything that had transpired within the period of the last twenty-four hours, it felt as though the weight of the world was pressing down on all of them. Slowly crushing and suffocating all seven of them. After witnessing exactly what they were dealing with, the managers thought it would be best if Jimin stayed at the dorms instead of the hospital. Even though not everyone believed their crazy story of sentient lights, animated cords gone rogue, and entities from another world, at least they knew what the real truth was. They know what they saw with their own eyes. There were witnesses. Nothing was going to stop them from thinking up a plan to fix this. It was imperative. It had to be done and had to be done FAST.

"So what do we do now?" The youngest asked his hyungs as he bounced his right leg nervously. They had gathered in one room to discuss their plans and what they could come up with. Hoseok rubbed his face. He looked a bit worse for wear. Even more so than any of the others.

"I can't even think right now. Shouldn't we sleep or something first?"

"I don't think I can. I have way too much on my mind." Jungkook sighed. "After what we've seen—"

"Jungkook's right. How would any of us be able to sleep? Sleep is important but from everything that we have discovered and witnessed, I don't think we are getting any shut eye any time soon." Namjoon intervened. The others looked at each other. Some nodded, others remained silent.

"I would love to hit the pillows, but we need to think up a plan." Seokjin added. He had his index finger raised. Taehyung lifted a brow and stared at Seokjin.

"But don't we have another show tomorrow? It's a new day. It's after 5 a.m. How are we going to solve this mystery whilst also preparing for another concert?"

Suddenly, the door to the room opened up as their CEO, Bang Sihyuk walks in the room.

"That's why we are cancelling all promotions until further notice. The shows are postponed." He had his phone in his hand. He jiggled it in the air. The boys all had shocked faces. They weren't expecting him to pop up unannounced. At first, they didn't even know what to do or what to say. They frantically looked around at one another thinking of what the hell to say to get him to understand. How could he possibly know what really happened? All of Bangtan were so surprised, that they started talking over each other.

"W-wait, Sir—" Seokjin began.

"We can't do that over something so small, right?" Hoseok laughed while rubbing his neck.

"I d-don't know what you saw, but-" Jimin added, but was quickly cut off by Namjoon.

"Yeah! Look, I—we aren't in any danger. We can still perform. There isn't anything going on. I swear-"

"Alright, kids. Settle down. Don't act like I'm stupid. Okay? I know what happened. I know the gist of what is going on. Especially about that girl." He crossed his arms in front of him. The whole room went silent. At this point, they were all petrified. Frozen. All they could think about was if they were in trouble or not.

Sh*t. How can we explain this?

Hoseok said to himself.

'Uh-oh. This isn't good. How is he involved? I thought we made sure he wouldn't find out.'

Namjoon said silently.

The others also had panicked responses they kept within the bounds of their mind. Their boss simply stepped forward to their sitting circle of ideas, ponderings, and secrecy. Or what Bangtan alone thought was secret.

"Look, this is a serious issue. Whatever this ghost, entity, mumbo jumbo is, we need to take immediate action. I have to do everything in my power to make sure you boys are safe. No matter what. That is why I have cancelled the rest of the tour."

Jungkook shot up, his eyebrows flying up to the middle of his forehead.

"Wait! What about everyone else? What will people outside of all this think?"

Namjoon sighed.

"Jungkook's right, Sir. It makes me think of what the media thinks about the situation. Or what they will say. How will we control them?" He raised a brow, looking longingly and nervously at Bang PD. Their CEO merely smiled and slowly sat down onto the floor. Hoseok and Seokjin helped him.

"Well, don't worry about all that. I have a press conference ordered in a few hours I have to attend to. I'll be going there to speak."

"Seriously? Isn't that a bit dangerous to do that alone? Shouldn't one of us go with you?" Yoongi chimed in. He had been fairly quiet through all of this so far. The others nodded, agreeing with the quiet Daegu rapper.

"Yeah. Yoongi is correct. There is no way we are letting you attend by yourself. What if that... thing attacks it?" Namjoon added.

Bang PD sighed, removing his glasses momentarily to rub his nose.

"I know. I'm aware. Whatever that said 'thing' is, I will make sure I am careful. I won't be going alone. I'll have the bodyguards with me. As well as someone I know personally. I cannot risk any of you getting hurt." He smiled while reaching over to pat the leader on the shoulder.

"I appreciate your willingness to help. But with this, it's a matter only I can handle. You understand, right? You know I would let you assist me with anything else I was deciding on."

Namjoon looked at him for a moment. He kept quiet to mull over his words.

"Yeah, I get it. I understand sir." He then looked to his other to get their confirmation as well.

"Do you guys understand?"

Even though they didn't like the idea, they had no choice but to obey. They all silently nod their heads in unison while looking at one another. Some with disgruntled facial expressions. Not everyone was on board with this plan.

"Yes, sir."

"Alright. Now that's settled, I am going to go to bed." He slowly got up to his feet and glanced around the room. "I suggest you do the same. Let me take care of this." He moves to head for the door but he gets a thought so he freezes and turns around.

"One last thing! About that girl..." His sentence trails off.

"Y/N?" Taehyung added onto his thought. Namjoon and Yoongi looked at Taehyung and then back at the CEO. "Yeah what about her?"

Bang PD bowed his head slightly and laughed. "Well, I got my hands on the footage from the concert. Something did seem off about it. But I can assure you she had nothing to do with those lights. We do owe her for saving Jimin. I don't want to know what would have happened if she didn't have enough time to push him out of the way. If she is willing to go out of her way to risk her life for saving other people, than I strongly believe we can trust her. I think it would do you all some good to have somebody like that on your side. I have spoken to the managers and the police about the incident. It is all cleared up. So, if you have some way of ing her, then I suggest you do so. Perhaps she has some insight on what is happening."

Namjoon scrambled to his feet and bent his upper body down a 45° angle to bow at his superior. "O-oh, yes sir! Thank you sir."

The other gasped and covered their mouths in shock. They really couldn't believe he would be willing to accept that girl and try to get her in on everything.

"W-wait, what?" Hoseok said. He was surprised. Taehyung's face was frozen in complete astonishment at Bang Sihyuk's selflessness.

"You did? Really?" He smiled wide.

"I honestly can't believe that." Seokjin murmured into Jungkook's ear who was nodding his head profusely. "Yeah. Not something I was expecting."

"Yes. Well, I feel as though everyone deserves a second chance. I think she was highly misunderstood. It's only right to make amends. Now, I must be off. Clean up and get to bed, okay?"

All of BTS got to their feet and bowed. They waved their humble, caring, and kindhearted CEO out of their dorm. When they knew for sure that he was out of the building, they all scurried back to the room they were holding the secret meeting at. Namjoon had a wide grin plastered on his face. "Now, we aren't actually going to bed are we guys?"

Jungkook shook his head. "Not a chance."

"There is too much to be discussed." Yoongi mumbled.

"Too much to be discovered!" Seokjin added.

"Well, I guess that is settled then. We stay here to try and formulate a plan. I'll write down everything we know so far. What can happen, what does happen, and the items that this entity can effect." Namjoon pulls out an empty journal and grabs a pen.

"As for tomorrow? We try to Y/N. Maybe we can get her over here to bounce ideas back and forth. Since she seems to know a bit more about it than us, she is our best bet."

Taehyung scoffed. "Don't forget that you need to properly apologize to her for being a jerk. Both you and Yoongi Hyung."

He narrowed his eyes at the leader and the second oldest. Who both cleared their throats and looked away in shame.

"Aish..." Yoongi grumbled while scratching behind his ear. Namjoon clicked his tongue and repeatedly clicked the pen on and off.

"Yeah. I know. You are right, Taehyung-ah."

"I know I am. Neither of you gave her the benefit of the doubt. Right off the bat, you accused her, despised her, and tried to get her arrested. She is ARMY. No way in hell you should treat one of our fans like that. Y/N deserves better." He folds his arms in front of him. He shook his head in complete disgust just thinking back to their negative actions.

"Seokjin and I were really the only ones who had her back and heard her out aside from Jimin who is now unconscious and sleeping in the other room. The rest either shunned her or stayed back and said nothing." He snarled slightly. His words were laced with poison that felt like tiny needles puncturing Namjoon's heart.

"Taehyung, I know, okay? You don't have to keep reminding me. I know I messed up. Please don't keep bringing it up. I'm aware what I have to do!" Namjoon snapped while practically throwing his journal and writing utensil down onto the carpet.

Yoongi cleared his throat as loud as he could to get everyone's attention.

"Okay, stop. Let's not argue. We don't have time to be bickering and fighting amongst ourselves. That's what this demon wants."

"Yoongi's right again, guys. Let's put this nonsense away for now. We need to buckle down and get sh*t going." Hoseok intervened. Namjoon took a deep breath and picked the book back up again.

"Yeah, I understand. I agree. Let's get going." He smiled weakly. Taehyung groaned. They could tell he was still up in arms about what happened with Y/N, but he was willing to leave that alone for the time being. "Okay, fine. Let's start then."

After burying the hatchet, putting aside their differences, they start coming up with a plan of attack. It was a mutual effort. They could not break their bond by going after each other. It wouldn't work that way. Fighting one another wasn't the solution to figuring out the problems of the evil that loomed over us all. This had to be done discreetly, perfectly, and with all of their mental states intact. Therefore, they did just that. No sleep. No showers. Only hard work and determination.

[END: CHAPTER 14]