My brain was scattered as I made my way back to the common room. What happened with Jin had my insides stirring unpleasantly. It felt like I'd been peering into the eyes of two different people at once. The first was a man I recognized and cared for, the one who had swept me off my feet and carried me when the waters of life felt too high to tread alone. The second was a stranger, a man who seemed bitter and unhappy and all too desperate to win some sort of approval from me.

It had crossed my mind that perhaps Jin hoped to earn more than just acknowledgment from me. Jungkook's words about him echoed hauntingly in my head, "I just think you have the hardest time moving on out of all of us."

What if Jin really hadn't moved on from me? Would that have been motive enough for him to send anonymous letters? To stalk me? The writer certainly seemed to be familiar with me in some way, and Jin was the only other person I had a history with besides Jimin.

But then wouldn't you have recognized his handwriting?

It wasn't difficult for someone to alter their style of writing enough that I wouldn't recognize it. Whoever the writer was, they seemed too calculated to use their natural handwriting, so it was an unreliable method to narrow anything down. I had to find more substantial clues.

As I made my way back to the common room, I formulated my next plan of action. I would continue with the game, ask insightful questions, and pay attention. After returning to the dorm, I would grab the two notes and take pictures of them to have digital copies. Tomorrow, I'd bring them to the Student Safety Services and see what they would do to help. I probably should have gone to them sooner, but it had only been a day since finding the second note, and I still doubted that they would be able to do anything for me without a name or any full-blown threat.

"Where's Jin?" Namjoon was the first to question me once I'd returned.

"He's not feeling well," I responded half-heartedly, positive they'd all see through the lie.

"Well, what do we do now?" Jimin asked, running a hand through his midnight blue hair as he glanced around the room.

Hesitating for only a moment, I decided to take Jin's abandoned spot next to Jungkook. I knew it might boost the dancer's ego, but that's why I did it. His reaction was something I wanted to gauge.

And just as I'd anticipated, he leaned back, meeting my eyes while his arm rested along the top of the couch. His lips tilted up in satisfaction and I had to restrain my eyes from rolling.

"I say we continue," I suggested, turning my attention to the others.

"I guess we've got nothing better to do." Namjoon looked around the room before adding, "What do you guys think?"

"Sure," Taehyung spoke up.

"Alright," Yoongi drawled.

Jimin shrugged. "As long as we keep it interesting."

So we resumed from where we'd left off. Since I was in Seokjin's spot, I was the next to go, though I spent a minute trying to come up with a question worth asking. When I got one, I went over to Yoongi, careful to speak low enough that only he would hear.

"Who's the biggest romantic?"

Though they were far from it, the letters had been written in an eerily romantic fashion. I wanted to see if any of them were known to be the romantic of the group.

Yoongi turned to side-eye me, raising a brow before answering, "Can I choose myself?"

"No," Jungkook said.

"Fine, then I guess Namjoon."

My gaze snapped to the steely lilac-headed male, searching for any sign of deception or secrets veiled beneath his orbs. He noticed my stare and drew his eyebrows together, seemingly confused as to why I was looking at him so intently.

"Someone flip the coin," Taehyung said in his deep tone.

"Oh, right. Where did it go? Jin threw it somewhere." Jimin got up and looked around, finally finding it on the floor near the fireplace. "Heads," he announced after tossing the coin.

"She asked who's the biggest romantic," Yoongi informed the group.

"You picked Namjoon? I'm pretty sure I'm more romantic with the ladies than he is," Jungkook argued.

Yoongi scoffed. "You don't have a romantic bone in your body, playboy."

I went to return to the spot beside Jungkook, and his dark gaze briefly found mine before looking back at Yoongi.

"You're wrong," he said as I sat down. I didn't miss the pointed undertone in his words - it was evident that he didn't want me to believe Yoongi's words.

The game carried on, but none of the questions asked seemed helpful. The coin stubbornly landed on tails more times than I could count, preventing me from gaining any further insights. Names were thrown out left and right, but they were all meaningless without context, and the only questions that were revealed turned out to be trivial anyway.

Once we'd run out of ideas and the game fizzled out, we slowly fell into regular conversation.

"So Taehyung, you said you had a class with Jangmi?" Jimin questioned, mistrust seeping into the recesses of his tone. The wariness he spoke with was obvious to me, but I knew to others it may have been undetectable. It seemed Jimin still felt suspicious of the raven-haired male ever since we'd first run into him at the girls' dorms.

"Yes." Taehyung peered at him blankly through his satin curls, saying nothing further.

I cleared my throat, deciding to fill the awkward silence he created. "We have Dance Composition together."

"Oh, I remember that class. Me and Jungkook had it together last year," Jimin commented, looking at me. "Do you have any ideas for your project?"

"Project?" Yoongi's head tilted to the side.

"Yeah, we have to put a whole dance routine together. We have to choose the music, the choreography, the dancer who will perform it... And whoever gets the highest grade will win a spot in the winter showcase."

Namjoon brought his hand to his chin, his index finger resting on his full lips as he thoughtfully glanced from me to Taehyung. "So you two are competing against each other."

"Yes," Taehyung confirmed.

"That's a lot of work. I'm at your service if you need any help," Jungkook said confidently like he was sure we'd accept his offer.

"I don't need help," Taehyung replied rigidly.

My mind immediately jumped to the deal I made with Hoseok. It was the perfect opportunity to tell them about it, and though I hadn't yet decided if they were trustworthy, I felt safer knowing that several people would be aware that I was meeting him. My deal with him was likely already unwise, but it would have been even riskier to not inform a single person about the time I would be spending with him, alone.

"Actually, I already have someone helping me," I said, pausing when Taehyung's eyes snapped to mine, full of that same determination and fierceness I'd seen from him before.

"Someone already offered to help you? Who?" Yoongi's piercing gaze sliced right through me.

I let out a breath, preparing for the uproar that I assumed would follow.

"Hoseok."

My prediction was wrong. Instead of chaos, the room was doused in a heavy silence. The flames of the fire flicked and whipped in swift motions, reflecting the brimming anger that the men around me were trying to keep at bay. The temperature of the room heightened and the tension followed, each feeding off of the other. The air grew thick and my lungs constricted in fearful anticipation.

"What did you say?" Jimin asked dangerously, his eyes glinting with protectiveness and disbelief.

"Hoseok is going to help me with the project." I lowered my voice, speaking quickly.

"You're kidding, right? The guy who glares at everyone and barely says two words unless he's snapping at someone is going to help you?" Namjoon inquired with a deep frown.

"Why would he want to help? What's in it for him?" Yoongi's tone was rough with suspicion.

"He wants to train me to perform some of his dances," I answered apprehensively.

"And you agreed?! Why?" Jimin raised his voice, sitting on the edge of his seat. He looked like he was resisting the urge to come to me and shake me until I came to my senses.

"I don't know," I mumbled, unable to explain that I wished to find out if he was my obsessive secret admirer or not. "He doesn't seem to be close to anyone, and nobody else puts any effort into getting to know him. I just want to find out more about him."

It wasn't a lie. I did instinctively want to be the person who could help the masked student open up, show him that he didn't have to polarize everyone he came across. But that would only happen if I could confidently cross him off my suspect list.

"Jungkook, what do you think about this? You've worked with him on performances before, you know him better than the rest of us," Jimin said in desperation, "Don't you think it's a bad idea for her to be meeting with him alone?"

Jungkook's eyes latched onto mine, our proximity allowing me to see the hues in his irises, like dark roast coffee with a light brown foam swirling along the rim. Dark and deep and intense, but a hint of warmth in them. They were mysterious yet tempting, mirroring my exact impression of him.

"He's cold and closed off, even when I work with him. He's harsh and he is definitely keeping secrets, but I don't think he's dangerous. If he wants to train her, there's probably nothing more to it than that. He wanted to work with me because he saw potential in me, and I've learned a lot from him. So I don't necessarily think it's a bad idea," Jungkook pulled his attention from the others, shifting it to me. "You will improve under his guidance, but I would still be careful."

I was as surprised as the rest of them. Each of us stared at Jungkook wordlessly, caught off guard by his unexpected response.

Images of a red-masked Jungkook dancing on stage played through my mind. I saw once again how beautifully intricate each movement of his was, how sweepingly breathtaking the lines of his body had been. The sudden powerful strength in his steps escalating with the music, like each note had controlled him. He'd almost been like a puppet, only he wasn't stiff or emotionless. He'd been guided, molded to perfection.

Is Hoseok the one truly behind the beauty that so enraptured me that night?

If so, I wanted it. I wanted to be as graceful and precise as Jungkook had been. I wanted to be a dancer who ignited her audience and set stars in their eyes like Jungkook's performance had done to me.

So even as the other males tried to change my mind, I felt my resolve grow stronger. I had more than one reason to stick to my deal with the infamous choreographer. Of course, investigating was still my first priority. But along with that, I had the foolish desire to peer past his walls, to be the first to see beyond his mask. Then, finally, there was the irrepressible yearning to learn from him, to improve and grow as a dancer. If I wanted to be the best, I had to be willing to humble myself and accept help from the best.

Hopefully, help was all he wished to bring me, as Jungkook seemed to believe.

~

Namjoon and Yoongi bid the rest of us goodnight since their rooms were located just down the hall. Once they'd left, I tried to insist on walking to my dorm alone, but Jimin wouldn't have it. While we were bickering about whether he should come with me or not, Jungkook cut in.

"We're walking you to your dorm. End of story."

"We?" Taehyung echoed, looking at Jungkook and Jimin carefully.

"Yes. We all have to walk to our dorm together anyway, so we might as well drop Jangmi off on our way there."

"What? No, just go straight to your place. I'll be fine," I argued, but it was no use.

"It's three against one. Just give it up, Cupcake," Jungkook said with a smirk.

"Cupcake?!"

"Cupcake?!"

Jimin and I both cried out simultaneously, sending him incredulous looks. Taehyung watched us quietly.

"Yeah," Jungkook said casually, his hand reaching to brush my hair over my shoulder. His finger brushed my collarbone and chills spread over the skin. "The color reminds me of red velvet-"

Jimin smacked his arm away from me, moving between the two of us. "Don't just touch her like that. It's weird."

"Alright, I'm sorry," Jungkook raised his hands in surrender, though his eyes still twinkled with mischief. "Does Velvet sound better? Or maybe just Red?"

Jimin shook his head and scoffed. "Don't act like you're so close to her."

"Why are you so upset, Jimin? I'm just teasing. I'm her dance partner, we have to get used to each other sooner or later."

"You can do that without touching her like a creep," Jimin snapped, and I saw a flash of hurt strike in Jungkook's eyes.

"Jimin, it's alright, okay?" I tugged on his arm, trying to calm him down. "It's not a big deal. Let's just go."

So the three of us ended up walking in awkward silence until we reached my dorm building. They attempted to follow me to the entrance, but I turned on my heel to glare at them.

"I'm good from here. I don't need to be seen with male escorts bringing me to my door."

"As you wish," Jimin caved, probably too tired by then to argue with me any further.

Jungkook and Taehyung gave me one last glance before following Jimin towards their dorm.

When I made it to my room, I was quick to lock my door behind me. True to my plan, I went straight to my nightstand, pulling out the top drawer and digging through it to find the program of the show from that first night. When I found it, I grabbed it and opened it, expecting to find the two folded up notes that I had placed inside.

But they were gone.

The pounding of my heart grew stronger, faster as I frantically shuffled through the drawer, searching for the letters despite my gut already twisting with the knowledge that I wouldn't find them. My hands began to tremble in fear and rage, knowing beyond a doubt that they should have been there.

I felt sick to my stomach as I thought of the only possible explanation for their disappearance.

The writer took away the only weapon I had against them.

~

I couldn't decide if dawn came too soon or not soon enough. My night was sleepless, and for that, I couldn't wait until the darkness was over. But another part of me dreaded the morning, because with it came the inevitable dance lesson that I would have with Hoseok. We'd agreed to meet just after daybreak, as he'd already seen that I was an early bird.

By the time I arrived at the studio, it felt like my entire being was warring against itself. I was both excited and afraid, determined and hesitant. There were too many motives vying for my primary focus, and it left my head feeling swarmed and unclear.

Yet the moment I pulled the door open and my gaze collided with his, the battle raging inside me ceased, overtaken by his insistent presence.

His onyx mask left most of his expression a mystery, and his eyes were difficult to read, but I could still sense the odd magnetic tether he seemed to feel towards me. Somehow I knew that he was constantly fighting to not give in to the inexplicable draw I had over him.

What I didn't know was if he realized that he had the same invisible pull over me.

• • •

Author's Note:

Sorry for the longer wait than usual. School has kept me quite busy and then by the time I'm able to sit down and write, my brain wants to take a vacation.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter! The next one will be a nice detailed chapter of Jangmi and Hoseok interacting, so who's excited?!

Also, I'm curious. Have any of you noticed that the description of this book includes 'Fantasy' as a genre? Have you wondered how/when the fantasy aspect will come into play? You'll start seeing some of it soon, I promise ;)

As requested, I wanted to include a reference that gives a general idea of how I imagine Hoseok's mask:

(**Fan art is by darr_choi on instagram and is not for this story**)
This is the shape of his mask, and I also imagine the material to be hard and not flexible like the typical cloth ones. There are intricate patterns craved into the mask as well, but I hope this helps you picture it a bit better! (And yes, I'm aware this is Taehyung and not Hoseok)

Finally, I'd like to share this lovely edit done by I_Cant_Jimout120! Thank you so much for taking the time to create this!

If any of you have fan art or edits for this story, I would so so love it if you send them to me! My Instagram is the best place to send them, and I'd be happy to include it in the chapters of this book (:

Thank you all so much for your support. I hope you're staying safe and positive during this time ♡

-Hoseokiiss

April 13, 2020