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Chapter 1: The Cypher – September 12, 2020

Namjoon opened his eyes to a new day.  A brand new day.  He chuckled.  There was a BTS song for every situation now.  When he stopped to count the number of songs they’d released, it simply blew his mind.  Sometimes it still felt surreal.  Their popularity.  Their accomplishments.  The love they’d received from their fans.  From every corner of the world. 

All he had wanted initially had been to touch Korea.  But his voice, his thoughts, his affection had reached the wide world.  South America, North America, Australia, Europe, Africa, Asia.  Antarctica?  Were there perhaps polar bears bopping to Boy with Luv?  He laughed at the absurd thought.  He could just see the music video now.

Today was his birthday.  Another year older.  What a bizarre year it had been.  A disappointing year.  A year to try the strongest of them.  But in the most unexpected of ways.  As though someone had known they needed a long rest and decided to enforce it.  Against their will.

But it had been good for their art.  They had all used the time to express their creativity.  They’d released several beautiful – and now beloved – songs.  And more were in the works.  Soon to be unleashed on the ARMYs who seemed to be always panting for more these days.  Namjoon smiled as he remembered the days that they’d stood on street corners begging people to come to their free concerts.  Now they were so popular that the world embraced both their group releases and their private ones.  This year, Yoongi had finally finished his mixtape.  Some of the other boys were still working on their personal projects. 

At the beginning of this year, Namjoon had questioned what waves it would unleash.  But he’d had no idea what was coming.  Tidal waves of separation.  Walls of water that stood between him and his most avid fans.  And closer to home, man-made barriers that isolated BTS from their oldest fans.  The ones who had been with them from the very beginning of their crazy journey into stardom.  Namjoon missed them all. 

He sighed.  He was looking forward to their upcoming online concert.  At least, they had some fun to anticipate in a few weeks.  He was crossing his fingers, still hoping that they’d be able to accomplish the live concert with their fans in Seoul.  But lately, the chatter had been that it too would have to be canceled.  Like so many other events had been scheduled and then postponed.  To the great disappointment of them all.

However, Namjoon had purposed to count his blessings today.  He and his friends still had the privilege of working.  Of creating.  Of writing songs and releasing them to the world.  The COVID pandemic had led to the loss of a lot of jobs.  Many people around the world were suffering financially as well as emotionally.  But he and the other members of BTS were still releasing music and breaking records.  They could still do interviews.  Even if it was through a computer screen instead of in person.  The money was still rolling in.  So was the love.

Of course, he and his brothers still had each other.  And their management team.  If anything, this time had served to draw them closer to each other in some unexpected ways.  They’d had time to relax and do V Lives and radio shows together.  To simply enjoy each other’s presence. And delight in these other personalities.

Speaking of those six personalities…  Namjoon wondered what they had planned for him today.  Yesterday, they had all insisted that he take today off from work.  Yoongi had threatened to steal his computer.  Jungkook had promised to leave a pile of books outside his door this morning.  Knowing his favorite way to relax usually involved a book.  Or an art museum.  But those were off limits right now.  A book would have to do.

He climbed from bed and dressed in some clean clothes before opening his door.  He stepped forward and tripped over something.  As he grabbed the doorframe, he glanced down to see what he’d caught his toe on.  A box.  Covered in shiny green wrapping paper.  It was quite big.  He bent over and picked it up as a smile spread across his face to unleash twin dimples.  They danced as he turned around and entered his room again. 

His curiosity wouldn’t wait.  He was going to open it right now.  He remembered what had happened to Jungkook when he’d decided to wait for his gift.  Namjoon wasn’t going to risk misplacing this box.  Though as he considered its size and weight, he realized that was unlikely to happen.  It was so heavy.

He set it on his bed.  Then he pulled on the verdant ribbon enclosing it.  As it fell away from the box, Namjoon lifted the lid.  To reveal…

…a stack of books.

He chuckled. 

Jungkook.

Namjoon began to pull them out, one by one.  He read their titles and thumbed through their pages.  Jungkookie had done well.  Each one of these books piqued his interest.

But he noticed something unusual about the books as he thumbed through them.  Every so often, a word had been circled, boxed in by a neat rectangle.  Furrowing his brow, he turned back to the first page of the first book.  He began to turn each page as he searched for circled words.  He read them in order.

“My…hero…my…best…friend.  Big…brother…till…the…end.”

Wait a minute! 

Had Jungkook left him a message?