Okay, so I have kept my other post updated as time has passed with information about the car crash arc, but I (finally!!!!) recieved my copy of The Notes 2 and, um, it's going to be easier to talk about this in a new post. Let's not waste any more time then, and get into it! Because this post is liable to be quite long and rather text-heavy. Recap and basis The last line of my previous post was "whether or not it was intentional, the fact remains that Seokjin might have done it. And this could have drastic implications on the BU timeline." And this could not be more true than it is right now. The Notes 2 starts on a new time loop of April 11th, Year 22. The first Note we get from Jungkook about the accident is from June 13th, Year 22, which is the day the boys find out and go to visit him. He repeats his line from a few loops ago, where he says: "I couldn't tell what was real, what was [a] dream, what was [a] memory, and what was [an] illusion. Everything seemed faint." He also reiterates the part about the Odd-Eyed Cat. (Check my OEC post and the part 1 of this series for more information!) Later on in the Note, the police officer comes to talk to Jungkook and sheds a little bit of light on the matter. Jungkook says, "He showed me the surveillance camera of the accident. [...] The car disappeared from the screen, and I couldn't tell whether it stopped or not with its red taillights barely visible. And a couple of seconds later, the light disappeared as well. The officer said the car rammed the guardrail after hitting me. And he asked if I remembered anything. [...] I looked at him. I realized it was Seokjin's car. The officer said, "even if it's a small thing..." I shook my head and said, "No, I just have a headache."" We don't get another Note from Jungkook until June 20th, Year 22. The officer has returned to the hospital to give us some more info! "A witness had stepped forward. [...] He had no choice but to tell me that the witness had come forward but had not provided much information except that the car was imported, and the driver was a young man in his early or mid-twenties. The detective asked me again if I remembered anything. I said nothing. It was a lie." Later on in the Note, Hoseok comes to visit Jungkook. Jungkook thinks that Hoseok knows what happened with Seokjin and he feels uneasy around him. The next related Note is from Seokjin's point of view, on July 11th, Year 22. The police officer calls Seokjin and asks for the black box video from his car from May 22nd, the day of the accident. Seokjin reflects, "May 22nd was the day I had an accident on the way back from the beach. The officer said it was a hit-and-run, so it could've been Jungkook's case. I couldn't believe it, but I agreed. I had nothing to hide." After the accident, Seokjin checked his car at a nearby car center. The center owner asked him what happened and eventually reported it to the police. Seokjin basically threatens him and the chapter ends there. We never find out if the police checked his black box. We never find out if he's guilty or not. the next step... Here's where things start to get interesting. We start with a Note from Jungkook from July 20th, Year 22. He walks to the top of the hospital building and teeters around on the railing for a little while (while still!! in! a! cAST!!!!) before getting down. He says, "I wouldn't die even if it were to make someone happy!" Interesting. Cutting back to what the Cat asked him during the accident, could this possibly be his response? "It will be more painful to live than to die. Are you sure you want to live?" This is interesting, though--because if that is his response to the Cat, then it's possible he just signed some sort of contract like Seokjin did. The OEC asked Seokjin if he thought he could save his friends. All Seokjin said was "yes" and he got launched into a time loop. ...I'm definitely keeping this in mind, because the OEC has a tendency to try to ""help fix things"" that people didn't exactly ask to be fixed. (For an interesting connection to this, check my Faustian Bargains and a Bad Deal thread on the +U--it's not related to the BU, but I'm planning on making a second part soon including the BU, so it helps to have the background info!) The next Note from Jungkook is July 22nd, Year 22. In it, he sees Jimin and Yoongi leaving the hospital from going to visit the man in the psychiatric ward (although he doesn't know that). He wonders why they came and left without visiting him and calls them, watching out of his window as he does. Jimin lies and says he's walking home alone on his way from hagwon. (a hagwon is an academy or cram school!) Jungkook questions why he lied to him. We also get a new piece of information from Mr. Police Officer--there was a witness to the accident. "The officer had said the witness called three times, all from a public phone. He sounded urgent at first, but later on, he went back on his word and said he couldn't remember. Was the witness one of my friends?" Jungkook is slowly beginning to suspect his entire friend group of foul play. The next Note is on July 24th, Year 22, from Jungkook's point of view. It's in the middle of the discharge party the boys threw for him, and Hoseok and Seokjin were fighting about the orphanage and the redevelopment plan. (I say fighting, it was more like Hoseok was pleading and Seokjin wasn't gonna hear it...sorry my feelings are strong here back to Jungkook--) Seokjin walks out of the container and Jungkook follows him onto the small porch, watching as he drives off into the distance. This is where the information from MOTS:P comes in handy: "From behind all the hyungs, I watched Seokjin get in his car. The car reversed easily, and then sped off. The light from inside the container skimmed over its frame. The marks of an accident on the bumper were briefly visible before they were covered by darkness. What was strange was that seeing [it] felt like nothing, even if it were a confirmation of what I already knew. It seemed that in front of a hard truth I might feel something complicated or at least be shocked, but in reality it wasn't like that." Suspicions build August 2nd, Year 22, from Jungkook. "My phone rang. It was Taehyung. He said Seokjin had texted, and we should all meet at our classroom. I put the phone face down on the desk[...]. Was it really Seokjin? Did everyone know it? What I thought to be completely preposterous suspicions were becoming real. The dent on Seokjin's car bumper and the lies my friends told me...Thinking about these [in] my head, I blackened a notebook page with a pen. [...] They knew what kind of person Seokjin was, but they [had] lied to me and were in it together." It doesn't flat-out say whether or not Jungkook decides to go to the classroom or not, but I suppose he must have, as he wakes up there later. Note that it is now August 3rd: they spent the night in the classroom, with Seokjin regaining his memories. Ah, by the way--Seokjin had been losing his memories. As he states later on, it had to do with the final deal he made with the Cat. "I suddenly remembered what the cat had said: "There will be a price to pay." This was the price. having the happiest memories disappear from me and forgetting the precious people around me. I realized what kind of horrible contract I had signed up for." While Seokjin has an existential crisis in his bedroom, Jungkook heads out to a PC cafe. This is where the Note from MOTS:7 comes into play with the boys turning into the video game characters. (Check Part 1 of this thread to read it!) He continually returns to the same cafe, and one day (August 7th, Year 22) Hoseok finds him there. Hoseok watches Jungkook game for a few minutes, and almost taps him on the shoulder, but hesitates. "What had happened to him? I had become afraid." On August 11th Year 22, Seokjin finally makes the decision to tell the boys everything about what has been going on--and I mean everything. The time travel, his father, all of it. Hoseok practically has to drag Jungkook out of the PC cafe to get him to come. The boys all go to Namjoon's container to talk and sit on the couch outside. All the boys listened and accepted Seokjin's mistakes and explanation...except one. "I had to snicker. Y[eah], like any of what he had said made any sense. Soon after Seokjin started telling us his story, all the others looked as if they totally understood what he was saying. Understood what? [...] Seokjin had lied to us since high school. He fed us some wild story about things he claimed he had done for us. The others didn't even ask questions or point their fingers, and accepted all of it. I stood up from the very end of the sofa. I hurried out to the main road." Eventually, Jungkook cuts to the chase and explains why he's so upset about the explanation. "Seokjin had not mentioned it even in the end. After mouthing off like a person of great moral character disclosing his father's immoral acts, he had never uttered a word about the car accident that night. Liar. I looked back. They were going back into the container one by one. No one looked out. They had no idea I had left." I have to give Jungkook a little bit of the benefit of the doubt here, as it was very...sudden. Most of the boys accepted the explanation with no questions, even if they didn't entirely understand it. If I walked up to you and said "hey, a cat gave me the power to go back in time and I've been trying to save all your lives," would you believe me? No. You'd say "you're a crazy person, get away from me." (Okay, maybe you wouldn't, but just go with it.) And the fact that none of them noticed he had left doesn't exactly sit right with me either. Not to mention...why doesn't Seokjin remember the accident? My options As of now, I'm stuck with two theories. 1) Seokjin still doesn't remember the accident. It would have been a really traumatic experience for both him and Jungkook if it was him, so it's understandable that that memory may take longer to recall. 2) It wasn't Seokjin. Earlier on in the story, there is a Note from Seokjin on the 22nd of May, the night of the accident. Seokjin is driving home from the beach when suddenly... "I opened my eyes at the loud honking sound and saw the headlights right in front of me. As a reflex, I turned the wheel. The tires skidded against the asphalt and shook the whole car. I stepped on the brake, but it took a while for the car to halt. The car crashed into the opposite guardrail and finally stopped. I heard a scraping sound, but I didn't think it was a serious accident. I opened the car door and stepped out. [...] The road was empty of cars. The car that was flashing its lights was also gone. I felt frustrated." Unfortunately, I don't know if this is a translation issue or what, but this Note is a little vague. "The car crashed." Which car? His car? Or the other car? Until this is answered, I have no peace between these two theories. The final information Jimin, August 11th, Year 22, shortly after Jungkook leaves the container. ""Where is Jungkook?" Hearing me exclaim, the others looked around only to find him gone. [...] I phoned him, but I got voicemail. [...] Suddenly, there was a loud honking sound. A shrill, nerve-wracking sound. I turned to where the sound came from. A boy who had been jaywalking crouched on the road with his hands over his ears. He was surrounded by the headlights of the cars coming to a screeching halt." ... Um...sorry, what? Again with the vagueness!!! Is that supposed to be Jungkook? I have no idea. On August 30th, Year 22, the boys all go to the firework festival. Everyone is watching, except Jungkook, who is...still gaming on his phone. Yoongi notices him first and realized "Jungkook had not dropped by my workroom or called me ever since he got out of the hospital." After that, he tries to talk to Jungkook, but Jungkook ignores him. "Why had I come? This was stupid." Jungkook thinks to himself. "If they could've told me the truth, they would have a long time ago. I felt as if they had all left and I was the only one left behind. I got up. Even if they were to tell me now, nothing would change. If you make a fault, there will be consequences. If you lie, you should be ready to pay the price. Someone called me back, but I didn't turn around. [...] An evil intention cannot be camouflaged. A lie spoken with a pretty face still cannot be forgiven." ...when did Jungkook get so bitter? If we look back, his personality starts to change around May 22nd, the day of the accident. Right after the Odd-Eyed Cat speaks to him. Coincidence? Possibly. But let me talk about the final Note in the book. Jungkook, XX XX from Year XX. (No, that's not me censoring, that's literally how it's written. Curse you, Big Hit.) (credit to scans from armytheoristssociety.wixsite.com/mysite ! Please check them out for AWESOME theories about the BU!) ...you know, I'm not even gonna lie to you here, I have no idea what this is supposed to mean.
So, uh, lame ending, but this means the BU is definitely NOT over! The other six boys' arcs basically wrapped up in this book, with a hint that this wasn't the end. But Jungkook's feels like it's just starting. Fixing the others messed up Jungkook, and now Seokjin has to figure out how to fix it. The Cat said he had to save everyone, remember? Thanks for reading! - Ilona O'Connor
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