Bell Buddies: Taehyung & Jungkook’S Palace Trouble
Chapter : 1
It was supposed to be a normal shoot.
Bright lights. Fake smoke. Fake cherry blossoms taped to metal stands.
And Jeon Jungkook, barefoot on a glass stage, wearing a hanbok worth more than his old car.
Staff Member
Okay, again from the top!
Jungkook lifted his chin, spread his sleeves, and reached up toward the crane holding a fake moon.
Director
Don’t blink, Jungkook-ssi!
Director
You need emotion! You’re the last prince of a star kingdom. You lost your lover. Feel it!
Jungkook dropped his arms.
Jeon Jungkook
Hyung, I’m standing on plexiglass above a fish tank. My lost lover is… a boom mic.
Makeup rushed in with lip gloss..
A stylist steamed his hanbok while he stood there
Staff Member
Storm’s coming in 15 minutes. We need this shot.
The assistant director whispered.
Jungkook peeled fake petals off his sleeves. Rain tapped the skylight above.
Director
I said celestial melancholy, not… sarcasm.
Jungkook laughed tiredly.
Jeon Jungkook
You want a sad alien prince? Try giving him more than four hours of sleep.
His manager ran over with a phone.
Manager
You’re trending again. Dispatch posted that old VR opera picture. People think you’re in a real period drama.
Jungkook grabbed the phone.
Jeon Jungkook
I’m not in a drama. I’m in desperate need of a sandwich and a nap.
Manager
They say you looked… haunted..
On the phone was a still photo of him. Moonlight on his face. His eyes distant, almost like he was seeing something invisible.
Jeon Jungkook
That? That’s just me trying not to sneeze. The fog machine had mold.
But the picture… it looked different. Real. Like him but not him now.
He handed the phone back.
Jeon Jungkook
I’m going outside.
Jeon Jungkook
Five minutes.
Outside, the air smelled like rain and paint.
The fake cherry trees sagged in their buckets.
Jungkook pulled the hanbok tighter and walked past the trailers to the back fence, where ivy climbed a half-broken pole.
Something caught his eye.
A paper flyer.
Pinned to the rusted pole.
Wet, but still there.
One symbol: two stars, twisted together.
And a handwritten line beneath:
YOU ARE NOT WHERE YOU CAME FROM.
No date. No website. Nothing else.
Jungkook touched the paper.
For a second, everything stopped.
The rain froze midair.
The neon lights flickered.
Even the wind held its breath.
His headset crackled: “Jungkook-ssi? Back on set, please.”
He tore down the flyer and slipped it into his sleeve.
Jeon Jungkook
Yeah, coming.
But his eyes stayed on the spot where the flyer had been.
Like maybe it hadn’t been him who found it.
Chapter: 2
The flyer wouldn’t leave Jungkook alone.
It sat in his jacket pocket like it had glued itself there. Even after he changed out of the hanbok and into a hoodie and joggers, his hand kept reaching for it.
The paper was wrinkled now, the ink a little smudged, but it still felt… alive somehow. Not just curiosity. Something deeper. Something old.
The message was short. Only few words:
"YOU ARE NOT WHERE YOU CAME FROM."
Jeon Jungkook
What does that even mean?
Of course, he looked it up. Jungkook wasn’t reckless.
(Okay, maybe a little reckless. But smart reckless.)
A quick search threw him into a rabbit hole of weird folklore blogs and dusty forum threads. Most were written by bored history majors with too much time.
But one post stopped him cold:
A blurry photo of a moss-covered altar in the woods of Gangwon-do. The exact same star-knot symbol as the flyer.
The caption said only:
“The Star Shrine. Not on maps. Not on GPS. You find it when it finds you.”
Jungkook stared at the screen, heartbeat quickening.
Jeon Jungkook
…Well, that’s not creepy at all.
But the decision was already made.
Jeon Jungkook
Guess I’m packing a bag.
He drove east for two hours.
By the time he hit Yangyang, drizzle had turned into heavy rain. His phone signal cut out halfway up the mountain. The wipers squeaked across the windshield like nails on glass.
Still, he followed the sketchy directions a Reddit user named historian-420 had posted:
'Turn past the deer statue. Count five telephone poles. Stop where the road ends.'
Just a muddy trail into the woods, half-blocked by a fallen log. Perched on the log, a raven stared at him like it was judging his life choices.
Jeon Jungkook
Perfect. If I get murdered, I’m haunting Dispatch for eternity.
He tightened his raincoat, slipped on waterproof boots, and left his phone in airplane mode.
Jeon Jungkook
No GPS. No distractions. Just… pure bad decisions.
The path grew narrower, climbing uphill under tall pines. The air smelled like wet bark. His hoodie clung to his skin within minutes. Raindrops stung his eyelashes.
He slipped not once but twice.
He cursed, then quickly added.
Jeon Jungkook
Sorry, sorry!
When a squirrel darted past him.
Just when he was about to turn back, the forest opened.
Ancient stone, cracked but still standing. Four pillars, one broken, the others leaning like tired guardians. Ivy tangled along the walls. Moss softened the platform in the center.
The rain seemed to hesitate at the clearing, falling softer, almost reverent.
At the heart of the shrine: a stone slab carved with two interlocking stars. One pointing outward. One curving inward.
Jungkook’s chest tightened, like an invisible string had pulled him closer.
Jeon Jungkook
...Seriously? Why do I always touch the mysterious thing?
Still, he stepped up and pressed his palms against the stone.
No rain touched it. Instead, the slab vibrated faintly, like it was humming under his skin.
The air around him blurred. A whisper tickled his ear...wind, maybe. Or not.
Jungkook spun around. No one. Just the silent trees. The shrine. The stillness that made his skin prickle.
He looked back at the altar. Hesitated.
Then, bracing himself, he pressed both palms firmly against the stars.
A shock hit him...not outside, but through him. His teeth rattled. His bones sang.
Lightning split the sky, blinding him. Thunder roared so loud the forest shook.
Lines of light spread from the star, running like veins across the altar, crawling into the ground, threading through tree roots. The forest pulsed. The rain froze midair.
Jungkook couldn’t move. Couldn’t breathe.
The earth beneath him seemed to sigh.
His chest heaved. He opened his mouth...maybe to scream, maybe to laugh, maybe to beg...but no sound came.
The world tilted. Not forward. Not backward. Inward.
Colors melted. Sounds twisted. His vision collapsed to a single white thread, pulsing like a heartbeat.
Not down. Not through.
Elsewhere.
His last thought before everything turned to starlight was:
Jeon Jungkook
This isn’t the first time.
Chapter : 3
There are many ways to wake up.
A bird shrieking poetry at 5 a.m.
Jungkook, however, woke up to the feeling of floating.
Not the gentle kind, like drifting in warm water.
The “I’ve lost gravity and may already be dead” kind.
He said aloud. His voice echoed strangely, like it was bouncing off glass.
Jeon Jungkook
Okay. Okay? What the actual—
His words stretched, bent, and came back to him warped, like someone was playing them on a broken speaker.
The world around him wasn’t quite dark. It wasn’t light either. It looked like the inside of a glowing crystal, moonlight caught in silver, static buzzing in the air.
Above, stars flickered on and off. They didn’t twinkle. They stuttered, like a bad computer screen.
Below him (if “below” even existed) shimmered a flat surface, like liquid glass. His reflection rippled faintly across it. But it didn’t feel like a mirror. More like… a memory pretending to be one.
Jungkook turned in midair. Or maybe the whole place turned around him.
Jeon Jungkook
This is… new...
His eyes landed on a constellation shaped like a rice cooker.
Jeon Jungkook
Okay, weird flex, universe.
Jungkook spun so hard he almost flipped upside down.
Jeon Jungkook
WHAT—who—hello??
No one was there. Only the hum of the static sky. But the feeling of being watched was so strong, it prickled down his neck.
The voice came again, calm but heavy, like thunder inside a whisper
“Not your fault. It’s broken. Has been for centuries."
Jungkook blinked rapidly.
Jeon Jungkook
Okay, creepy ghost-voice, hi. What’s broken?
“The seal. The stars fell too soon. The gate opened too wide.”
Jungkook muttered, crossing his arms in midair.
Jeon Jungkook
Thanks for the explanation, very TED Talk. Totally clears things up.
The voice sighed. A sigh so massive the air itself seemed to shake.
“You weren’t supposed to remember.”
Jeon Jungkook
Remember what?
Dark, steady eyes. A sharp jaw. A mouth that almost smiled. Robes the color of midnight.
The name exploded in Jungkook’s chest like a drum.
The voice grew louder now, booming and raw:
“YOU WERE NOT MEANT TO ARRIVE THIS WAY.”
The sky cracked open with a sound like breaking glass. A jagged line of light tore across the stars.
Blinding white spilled out, burning his eyes.
Jeon Jungkook
NOPE! This dream is defective! I would like a refund, please!
And suddenly, he was falling.
Not floating. Not drifting. Falling.
Through a blur of clouds. Past rivers that shone silver. Palaces glinting gold in the distance. Forests stretching endless and green.
Ancient. Alive. Too real to be a dream.
When Jungkook opened his eyes again, he was face-down in mud.
Around him, five startled farmers gawked, wide-eyed.
The goose screamed at him.
Jungkook, panicked, screamed back.
The farmers, equally terrified, joined in screaming.
Finally, an old man with no teeth but a sharp tongue whacked his stick on the ground and barked,
Old Men
Enough! Stop hollering! Let me see him.
The goose honked one last time for dominance, then sulked away.
Jungkook pushed himself up, drenched, dizzy, hair plastered to his face. His hoodie was glowing faintly, sparks of static flickering across the fabric.
“It’s shining!” whispered a teenage boy, clutching a hoe.
“Did the gods drop him here?” asked another farmer nervously.
“Looks more like a drowned chicken to me,” muttered a third.
The old man leaned closer, squinting at Jungkook. He poked Jungkook’s hoodie with his stick.
Old Men
are you the star bride, or the war general?
Jungkook blinked at him, dazed.
Jeon Jungkook
I’m… an idol.
The farmers exchanged uneasy looks.
The boy whispered, “Maybe he’s an omen.”
Another farmer muttered, “Maybe he’ll curse the harvest.”
The goose hissed again, as if to agree.
Jungkook groaned, too dizzy to respond. Then his eyes rolled back, and he collapsed face-first into the mud again.
The old man sighed deeply.
Old Men
Yep. Definitely the gods’ problem, not ours.
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