CODE : SURVIVAL (BTS X READER)

Chapter Fourteen: Between Fire and Fame

Y/n, who'd been quiet, finally spoke up, her voice low but clear. "I used to watch your shows online. Sometimes I'd play fancams on loop when I couldn't sleep."

Taehyung chuckled. "You were one of those fans?"

She smiled faintly. "The kind who cried during encore stages? Definitely."

They laughed again, and for a moment, she let herself laugh too-genuinely.

Warmth. Familiarity. For a moment, it felt like they were just young people by a campfire, laughing about the past.

But just as quickly as it came, the laughter faded around her.

Y/n's smile dropped.

Her fingers tightened around the small notebook in her lap.

She wasn't okay.

The conversation had stirred something-a fear. They'd all remembered things so clearly.

So why couldn't she?

She was a writer. She created stories, built them like homes. She never forgot the structure of a plot. And yet... parts of this level felt unfamiliar.

The fanfiction she read-it was vivid once. She could predict what came next.

But now?

Now it was misty.

Faded.

Like her memories were being erased, piece by piece.

She quietly opened her notebook, shielding the pages from view with her knee. Her pen scratched urgently on the paper.

> "Level 3: Jungle. Army camp.
Fire. Noodles. They talked about their fans.
I laughed. I remember that.
But it's getting harder. I knew this story-why don't I anymore?"

She added a second line, her handwriting smaller:

> I have to write it all down.
Because if I lose the script... I might lose myself next.

A twig cracked outside.

She froze.

But it was just Taehyung, returning from his bathroom trip behind the trees.

Still, the pit in her stomach only deepened.

As the boys lay down one by one under threadbare blankets and jackets, Y/n sat awake, hunched over her notebook, rewriting the events of the day until the fire died out.

And in the silence, deep within the jungle's breathing night, something unseen stirred.

Watching. Listening.

Waiting.

---

:

---

The fire had burned down to gentle embers, casting flickering shadows that danced across the muddy ground. The old military camp had fallen silent, swallowed by the thick jungle night. Faint sounds echoed in the distance-an owl's cry, the rustling of leaves, the creaking of wooden beams from an abandoned outpost nearby.

Y/n sat just beyond the firelight, knees drawn to her chest, her notebook clutched in her lap. The pen dangled from her fingers, unmoving, as if her thoughts were too scattered to settle into words.

Everyone else had drifted off. Jin had wrapped himself in a tattered green tarp and was snoring softly. Hoseok and Taehyung lay beside each other, backs pressed together for warmth. Namjoon leaned against a rusted pole, arms folded and head dipped forward. Yoongi had chosen a spot near the edge, close to the bushes-ever alert, even in sleep.