4 A World Without Them: Part 4

Taehyung froze.

On top of the world.

He clenched his fists, nails digging deeply into his palms.

How could this be the top of the world when his family was nowhere to be seen? When half of his life vanished within a single night?

To others, what Taehyung had was a dream come true—endless fame, fans, and money.

To Taehyung, anywhere without his family was a true living hell. Living without the knowledge of where everyone went; living in a world where no one remembered his brothers.

Silence filled the room for a moment too long; the tinge of awkwardness seeping in.

David guffawed, putting an arm around Taehyung.

"A bit star-struck, are we?" He said, dispelling the awkward atmosphere immediately.

Taehyung came back to his senses and let out a small chuckle, grateful for David's quick reaction. He slid out of David's embrace awkwardly, and cleared his throat.

"Yes, it's a lot. We worked day and night to make it here."

David looked at him curiously.

"We?" he questioned.

A light flashed past Taehyung's eyes. Without skipping a beat, he replied cheerfully.

"My fans and the team working behind me. We made it here together. I would be nothing without my fans," Taehyung said carefully, covering up his mistake with a sunny smile that did not quite reach his eyes.

"Wow." David sucked in a breath. "You're very humble."

Taehyung laughed and shook his head.

How could he take credit?

But, he couldn't afford to make that sort of silly error again. Brushing away all thoughts of the disappearance, he put on a mask. A fake smile, of someone who was supposed to be happy that he was on top of the world.

They talked a bit more, discussing songs and albums that Taehyung supposedly "sung" by himself over the years.

"It's so impressive how it sounds like there are seven voices," David wondered.

Taehyung gave him a tight-lipped smile.

"Just a good editing team," he replied.

What used to be seven voices was now replaced by one voice—Taehyung's voice. The songs sounded alien to him as the host played it on the radio, for everyone to listen to. He wanted to yell; to scream that this wasn't the actual song. He wanted to destroy that fake version of their true song.

"That's all the time we have today! On behalf of New York, let me welcome you to New York with a classic, Welcome to New York by Taylor Swift!" David ended the interview with just as much gusto as he had at the start.

David put up an ok hand to the recording team to indicate the end of the session. He smiled warmly at Taehyung.

"Good job there. Taehyung, right?" he asked.

Taehyung nodded and gave his thanks with a light bow.

Manager Eun came into the room with her iPad. Despite not being tall, there was still something intimidating about her. She was like a ball of fluctuating energy, always tense and rushed.

"Sorry, but we're on a tight schedule," she said in fluent English.

David grimaced. He had hoped to speak more to the Korean star, see if they could get him to perform live on the radio. With someone of Taehyung's popularity, they were sure to get more listeners on their channel.

Manager Eun turned to Taehyung and spoke in Korean. "Good work. You have some free time to practise now. After lunch, there's another interview at 2:30PM. You also have a concert in Citi Field after that."

"Thank you." Taehyung bowed his head softly and headed out the door, hands in his pockets.

Manager Eun stared at his retreating back, a little dazed.

There was something about Taehyung that had changed, but she couldn't put her finger on it. It felt like the aura surrounding him had a certain sense of melancholy and bitterness. It tugged at her heartstrings. He seemed like an aloof god, detached from the secular world; gazing upon all knowing that time would take its toll. Or, maybe, a fairy Crown Prince who had been torn from his right to the throne on the day of his coronation and banished from his kingdom.

She shook her head. No time for daydreams, she thought as she hurriedly caught up to Taehyung.

The black limo stopped outside a nondescript building.

Taehyung's heart leapt into his mouth. The clean cream sandstone, the oak doors. Manager Eun bought him upstairs, around the corner, and into an all too familiar room. A private studio the view from the window directly overlooking Central Park, soft sunlight streaming onto the polished wooden floors. Floor length mirrors covered the side, making the room seem twice as bigger as it actually was.

A piano stood in the corner, in the exact same position as he had remembered it to be.

"I'll leave you to it. If you want to go anywhere, call or text me." With those words, the door closed softly with a click, plunging Taehyung into an uncomfortable silence.

This was where everyone trained yesterday.

Was it only yesterday? It had only been a few hours since Taehyung found out about their disappearance, yet it felt like years had passed since that day.

He sat in the middle of the room, breathing in the faint hint of lemon that the cleaners used.

Slowly, his eyes flitted shut.

He could almost hear Jimin's voice, yelling at Jungkook for making fun of his height again, and Hoseok trying to calm them down.

Namjoon was fiddling with the music player. Seokjin played out a cheerful tune on the piano, the notes filling the room. Yoongi was attempting to rap along to the piano, which was a pursuit he soon gave up on.

Everything was lively, and bright.

Taehyung felt his heart calm down, thudding hard in his chest. He placed a hand over his heart, feeling the rhythm beneath his fingertips.

He will get them back.