Okay, I was lazy with this one and set it in an actual maze but writer's block is a bitch sue me. also I was researching phobias and this sounded cool so here we are

(Love Maze)

"Got it?"

Everyone nodded. The producers just finished explaining the concept for the next Run episode and it was…let's say interesting. They were put into two pairs and a three. They were put in a maze. A huge one. The goal was to get to the middle, retrieve an object and find the way back to the entrance they came in (for example, Seokjin and Hoseok weren't allowed to leave through Yoongi, Jimin and Jungkook's entrance). The last group out suffered a forfeit. Simple, right?

Maybe not. The maze was full of stuff designed to scare them. Beehives, nursery rhymes, mannequins, and so forth. Specifically tailored to their known fears and ones they don't have yet. There were also tasks that had to be completed in order to open gates to let them pass. Taehyung was already nervous. There were a few things that everyone knew he was scared of, like bees. But there were other things that he was praying wouldn't be in the maze.

The teams were announced: Seokjin and Hoseok; Taehyung and Namjoon; and Yoongi, Jungkook and Jimin. A pretty fun mixture. Seokjin and Hoseok wouldn't get 10 feet without screaming their heads off, which was something that the others were looking forward to. Yoongi and Jungkook would hopefully ground Jimin, who was pretending to be unafraid of anything. Liar.

Taehyung and Namjoon went to their entrance on their side of the maze. It was gigantic. The producers estimated that they would be walking about a mile and a half in total. That is one big maze. Taehyung really didn't want to go in. Namjoon told him it would be fine; it was just a bit of fun after all. Taehyung let out a breath and smiled. There was no way anyone would guess his biggest fear and shove it in the maze. No one would be so confident that they were right.

The buzzer sounded and Namjoon ran into the maze, Taehyung following close behind. They stopped at the first intersection and tried to make a game plan. Namjoon said,

"Okay, I know you're scared of bees, right?" Taehyung nodded. "Anything else?" Taehyung didn't want to say. It was such a stupid fear but he really couldn't help it. Besides, it was so obscure that it was unlikely to be there. So instead, he settled for,

"Nope, just the yellow fuckers. You?" Namjoon shrugged.

"Just the usual stuff. Jump scares, dolls, that kind of stuff. So which way?" They set off to their left, having no reason to. They spent a while just walking aimlessly through the maze. They didn't encounter any challenges before they came to their first gate. Namjoon picked up the card and read it aloud,

"Neither of you can laugh during this challenge. Each of you must stand on one leg for one minute straight without support. Both of you must complete the challenge. Well dammit." They lasted thirty seconds before Namjoon fell over, making Taehyung laugh. They tried again and failed. The third time, they just about made it past a minute standing on one leg in silence. When they both fell at the end, they burst into laughter and the gate opened.

As they progressed slowly, wary of the challenges, they heard faint screaming. It sounded like Seokjin and Hoseok had encountered their first fears. Namjoon laughed at them. Taehyung joined him. Around the next corner, the ground was splattered in what looked like red paint. They stopped. A few feet on, realistic disembodied limbs dotted the floor. Taehyung looked over.

"Are you scared of gore?" Namjoon paused.

"I mean…I'm not fond of it." Taehyung nodded.

"Keep walking forward and don't look. Close your eyes and I'll tell you when it's over, okay?" Namjoon smiled and kept looking down. Taehyung slowly walked him forward, examining the well-made props. The blood looked real, but the flesh looked fake. The knives were definitely real, though. They made it past their first fear and hi-fived each other. This was going well.

Until Taehyung heard something. A low, quiet humming sound from around the next corner.

"Oh hell no." Namjoon looked around first and looked back cautiously at Taehyung. So it was a beehive. Great. Taehyung walked slowly, not speaking and trying not to anger the insects. But when he felt something brush against his arm, he panicked and sprinted to the next corner, squealing. He heard Namjoon laugh and saw him jog to catch up. Taehyung hit him. "Shut up." Namjoon smirked.

They went through two more challenges, centred around water and slime. It was gross, but Taehyung was just relieved that they were almost in the middle and he hadn't seen any sign of his worst fear. The centre was a big circle. It was mostly empty, aside from a table with the objects on it. As they were about to approach the table, they heard movement from a different path.

Yoongi and Jimin emerged, holding a rather shaken Jungkook tightly. Taehyung walked over to them.

"He's really scared of clowns. Like, really scared of clowns," Yoongi explained. Jungkook hit him weakly.

"They're terrifying, okay?" Yoongi just nodded and rolled his eyes. Namjoon walked over.

"Tae, I got the thing, let's go." He held up the object. And Taehyung's blood froze.

He stumbled backwards until he hit the wall and curled up into a ball, trying to surround himself with comforting darkness. Because the object just had to be a crucifix. And crucifixes triggered something within Taehyung that made him unable to breathe. Or swallow. Or live. He hadn't thought that maybe they were so unassuming that they put it in the maze by accident. But he wanted to just get away from it. Next to that thing, bees seemed beautiful and innocent creatures.

Maybe it was a past trauma or a subconscious something or other, but Taehyung had known about his irrational fear of crucifixes since he was fourteen. They gave him bad panic attacks and he didn't know how to stop them. It wasn't even that he was against Christianity, but he could not deal with that particular symbol. And he wouldn't. He felt a hand on his shoulder and flailed his arms to get rid of whoever was trying to disturb him. He was shaking and crying and could not do this here.

"Taehyung..." The voice was faint but definitely there. He clung on to the sound for life and tried so hard not to let it go. Slowly, his blood stopped bubbling in his veins and he regained some form of control over his muscles. He raised his head to find that his vision was blurred and dark. He wiped his eyes with a shaking arm and found that his sight was still blocked by something. He managed to focus and he saw that it was just Namjoon and Seokjin kneeling next to him. He noticed that Namjoon was talking and tried to listen.

"…sorry, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry. Taehyung, please talk to me, I'm so sorry. What happened? Can you talk?" Taehyung looked up at him but felt that he was too suffocated to speak. He tried but no sound came out. Namjoon touched Seokjin's arm and the elder stood up and left. More light entering his vision made him feel better. He tried to talk.

"S-s-st…" Taehyung stuttered. He shook his head and tried again. "St-staurophobia. Ir-rational f-fear of crosses and cr-crucifixes. I sh-should hav-ve said. I'm s-sorry," he managed. He watched as Namjoon chucked something that was in his hand as far away as he could. He gently placed his hand on Taehyung's shoulder.

"It's okay, it's gone. I'm sorry," Namjoon whispered. "Hoseok! He's alright!" he called to Hoseok, who was presumably calling for help. Taehyung attempted to stand up against the wall and Namjoon helped him. He was leaning heavily on his hyung but at least he was up. It was better than his breakdown as a teenager when he seized in his room for two days.

"How long was I…" Taehyung looked at the floor. He didn't have a great sense of time when he was in panic mode and he didn't really know how long he had spent this time. Namjoon frowned and fixed Taehyung's hair.

"About twenty minutes," he answered. Taehyung was impressed. Breakdowns didn't usually last less than an hour. "Come on, let's get you out of here. We won't upload this episode, though. We might try again next week if you're up for it. Sound good?" Taehyung nodded. He held on to Namjoon's arm and they left the centre. Namjoon had a map on his phone that one of the producers had sent him showing how to get out.

They managed to leave the maze without encountering any bees or limbs and instantly there were people all over Taehyung, wondering if he was okay, trying to force feed him water and checking his temperature. Namjoon pushed them away. Taehyung thanked him silently since his vision kept fuzzing and blacking randomly. He didn't want to deal with people.

They got back to the dorm and Namjoon took Taehyung straight to bed. He didn't want to sleep. He knew he would have a nightmare. He didn't know what it would be about but it would be the same as every other time. He just didn't remember what that was. But Namjoon had done so much for him and he didn't want him to worry. So he went to sleep. Mistake.

When he woke up, it was dark. He was alone. So alone. He was sweating and shivering and his throat hurt. And he still couldn't remember. His door flung open and Namjoon ran in. He was down by Taehyung's bed in a second, in his night clothes and with concern etched into his face.

"Taehyung! Are you okay? You screamed really loudly, is that why you woke up?" Taehyung was already crying. Because he couldn't remember. Because he was so scared. Because Namjoon was being the best friend he could ask for. Taehyung didn't answer and just shook his head. Namjoon pulled him into a tight hug and Taehyung gripped him close. The others were at his door, obviously also really worried. Namjoon saw and waved them off. Yoongi shut the door and it was dark again.

Taehyung held Namjoon's hand and dragged him into the bed. Namjoon just stayed with him until he fell asleep again. Taehyung didn't have any more nightmares. When he woke up the next morning, Namjoon was there and he didn't know why. He quietly got up and left his room. Jungkook, Hoseok, Jimin and Yoongi were in the living room. They looked at Taehyung curiously.

"Tae, are you alright? Did you sleep okay?" asked Jimin. Taehyung was confused.

"Um, yeah…why?" The other three looked between themselves.

"Because you had a panic attack in your sleep last night…?" relayed Yoongi. Taehyung thought back. Had he? He didn't quite remember. That would explain why Namjoon was in his bed.

"Did I?" he asked. Everyone nodded. "Oh yeah, I had a nightmare. I'm fine now tho- " he stopped because he knew he was lying. "Okay, maybe I'm not. But I won't break down again for a while. Unless I get triggered again. Not fun." Being casual made things easier, but he could tell it weirded out the others. Jungkook sat properly.

"Do you mind if I ask what triggered it? All I know is we were having a normal conversation in the maze and suddenly you were on the floor shaking and screaming for Namjoon in your sleep." Taehyung sat down.

"Well, the thing is…wait, what?" The others shrugged. "I called for Namjoon?" They nodded.

"Yeah, that's why he went in first," answered Hoseok. "You were crying for ages before that but we didn't know if it was safe to wake you up. So we were waiting outside the door but then you screamed and shouted 'Namjoon' so he ran in. Do you not remember?" Taehyung shook his head.

"My nightmares get erased from my head as soon as I have them. I think it's like a protection thing like I automatically block stuff out if they're going to trigger me." Seokjin walked in and paused when he saw Taehyung. "Okay, sit down, I'll explain." Everyone did so.

"So I think when I was little, I must have had some really traumatic experience in a church because since I was 14, I've had something called staurophobia. It's the fear of crucifixes. Whenever I see them I just freak the hell out for a while. But I don't remember what it was that caused it because I can only remember it when I'm triggered and when that happens, I'm not really in the mood for thinking properly or logically. In my breakdown period, I get nightmares if I fall asleep. And it's always the same one, I know that much, but I don't ever remember what it is when I wake up. Otherwise, I'd be having attacks all the time. It hasn't happened recently for a while. I didn't think I would ever have to tell you. I've never called for anyone before. I think I'm by myself in the dream. I don't ever have backup or anything. Interesting."

Everyone took a minute to process all of this. Taehyung understood that this was a lot to just drop on his friends. They looked kind of taken aback and Taehyung knew that it really wasn't a normal thing to have panic attacks at the sight of crosses. Like, that was strange. But his friends weren't laughing, which he felt so eternally thankful for. When they still didn't say anything, Taehyung just said,

"Anyway, have fun processing that, I'm gonna go back to bed." He turned back to his room and shut the door behind him. For some reason, he was still shaking and really didn't feel like talking about it anymore. Namjoon was sitting on his bed, waiting for him. He stood up and walked to hold Taehyung's hands.

"You need to tell us before any of this kind of stuff happens. You know I'll try to protect you." Taehyung nodded and hugged Namjoon closely. Namjoon stroked the back of his hair and Taehyung shivered against the warmth. Namjoon pulled back and looked Taehyung straight in the eyes. Taehyung didn't know if he just felt alone or vulnerable, but whatever it was drove him to close his eyes and kiss Namjoon as softly as he could.