36 | THE REUNION

Taehyung's irises were as chilling as ever, his face still carved of stone.

"I was waiting for the right time to tell you. You didn't know enough about yourself before, but today... I could sense that you finally unleashed your power, which means you've learned enough about who you are, at the very least."

I was still whirling from what he showed us. What does it mean? Is he really like me? Can he be trusted?

"Why are you here?" Jungkook asked from a step ahead of me. "You showed up right when Jangmi got here. You gave her that necklace. None of it is a coincidence, so what are you here for?"

"I'm here to help." Taehyung was still calm, to-the-point, and it felt so fitting. If he really was a Descendant of the moon, perhaps it had a part to play in that cold presence of his.

"We need more. Who are you? How did you ever know to come here to help me in the first place?" I asked.

A deep inhale before he answered, peering through his black curls. "They were assigned to follow Hoseok's steps for years, just to keep an eye on him. They had to watch for any incidents and make sure he wasn't using his power against anyone."

"Who is they?" I couldn't see Jungkook's face, but he sounded nervous as he asked what I was also wondering.

Taehyung's eyes flickered between both of us. "Yoongi and Namjoon."

"They're part of this too?" I breathed. To protect me? How?

"Look, I don't want to spend too much time or the others will come to check on us. All you need to know right now is that we're part of a group that...monitors Bul-Gae and protects Descendents. Yoongi and Namjoon were assigned to Hoseok after he first started attending here." He paused, our eyes connecting. "Then you decided to enroll, and I was sent as an extra hand when they realized you'd probably come into contact with him again. They were afraid you'd trigger him to start using his abilities."

No mention of anyone but Hoseok. Does he even know that there's a second Bul-Gae?

"So, what? You're here to protect her from Hoseok?" Jungkook questioned, disbelief mixing into his words.

"Yes."

"But that's not—"

"Jungkook." I moved forward to catch his elbow. If he didn't know about the Hood, I wanted to keep it that way. At least until we decided on what to believe. Jungkook glanced at me, but I latched my attention to Taehyung. "You're a Descendant of the moon, right?" His power wasn't like mine. Similar, somehow, but...

He nodded, and that straight face cracked just enough for a single shard of amusement to fall through. "Yin and Yang. Opposite but the same."

If there hadn't been a significant rip in all my suspicions, all my guesses of who the Hood might've been, perhaps I would've found it amusing—maybe even comforting—to know that there was someone else like me. Someone who might understand the force in me that continued pulsing and quivering its way forth.

"We should go before the others come," I said. Jungkook looked at me strangely, but stayed silent.

Taehyung replied, "We still have a lot to talk about. Will you meet with us tomorrow?"

I had already found Jungkook's hand and began pulling him with me. "That's fine. Text me when and where." But before we made it out the door, a glimpse of my own reflection in the mirror sent my gut tightening in knots.

Aside from the frown that showcased my buzzing, frantic thoughts, there was an exhaustion in my eyes like I'd never seen. It was subtle, but the energy that normally lit my face was gone.

Jungkook followed me out of the room, and he let me tug him down the halls until we were outside. With no sign of the others, he dropped my hand and stopped, causing me to turn around.

"Tell me what's going through your head." He was worried, but I couldn't tell if he shared my concerns or not.

"He said all three of them are here to protect me. They're the three we narrowed it down to—" my voice caught as I took a sharp inhale, heart beginning to race. If it's not them then we're even farther from the truth than we thought.

"Hey." His hands slid up my arms before pulling me into his chest. "Just breathe, alright? We'll figure this out. We can all meet and talk about everything and we will come up with a plan."

I nodded, stepping back just enough to look into his eyes. He offered a slight, sad smile.

"We need Jimin and Hoseok," I whispered.

"You worry about Jimin. I'll find a way to convince Hoseok."

* * *

It was late into the evening by the time Jungkook received Hoseok's text agreeing to come see us. Jimin had quickly met back up with the two of us earlier, and we'd gone straight to my dorm room where we sat and talked for a few hours.

Both of the men had insisted I take a nap while we waited to hear back from Hoseok because apparently my drained appearance was not only visible to me, but I refused. As much as it was needed, any sleep in my current state would've been miserable.

So we spent our time discussing whether Taehyung had told the truth or not. We turned music on to muffle our conversation to neighboring rooms, then we went over different clues, suspicions, analyzed past behaviors, tried to reason whether it made sense that the three of them were protecting me. But Jungkook suggested we wait for his brother before deciding anything.

Jungkook's phone finally chimed around eight o'clock, and not two minutes later, there was a light knock on the door.

My stomach fluttered with nerves. I was glued to the edge of my bed as Jungkook walked over to turn the knob. The door swung open all too slowly, but then he was there, tall and masked and clothed in black, and that amber instantly lured me under his magic.

While I mentally scrambled for words, he asked, "Are you okay?"

I was sure if the handle on my emotions slipped for even a second, I would've cried—from seeing him, from exhaustion, from fear.

Instead, I stood from the bed, taking two steps before running straight into his arms. Hoseok stiffened under my touch, but he gradually wrapped his arms around my frame, one hand resting at the small of my back while the other went to the nape of my neck—then it was my turn to stiffen.

Gloves.

He was wearing them again. The cool leather sent a chill over the skin they touched. Maybe I was reading too much into it since he'd always worn them, but after I'd burned him in the woods that night, it made sense. He'd explained before that the burning was a defense against his kind, a way to protect me, but we'd gotten beyond that. We were able to touch after I finally trusted him—

Which means he might think what happened in the woods—my burning him—was a sign that I stopped trusting him. That I'm afraid of him.

I knew what happened that night wasn't good. I knew the burn was something that hurt him, but I thought he would've figured out by now that it was just instinct. That it was from something innate within my power, not me changing my mind about him. That it had been out of my control.

"What happened?" he asked, his voice rough as he pulled back and dropped our embrace. I tried to catch his gaze, but he was looking at Jungkook.

"Let's sit," his brother said quietly.

"You don't believe him, do you?" he pressed on.

"Come on," I murmured, trying to grab his hand to bring him to the bed where Jimin sat. But his hand escaped my grasp.

"I'll...stand here," Hoseok said stiffly. It wasn't personal and I knew that, but the words still felt like an arrow lodging into my breastbone.

As I moved to sit beside Jimin at the edge of the mattress, I had to avoid my best friend's sympathetic stare.

"He is a Descendant. There's no denying that," Jungkook started, having settled against the wall across from us, standing next to Hoseok.

"What did he show you exactly?" Hoseok asked. He was glaring at the floor, and I had to convince myself it was out of concentration, not some attempt to avoid seeing me.

"These glowing blue orbs, a light sort of like mine but more controlled. There was ice too."

"A Moon Descendant..." Hoseok's eyebrows furrowed, setting a deep frown over the visible parts of his face. A small part of me was glad I didn't have to see his lips that were surely turned down or held in an unforgiving line. "I didn't think there were any. I mean, I only ever read about the power of the sun being distributed."

"The same could've happened with the moon as time went on, if it got weak enough," Jungkook said, glancing between each of us. He shrugged. "We don't even know which parts of the legend are real and which aren't. What's important is that he is more or less like Jangmi, and that means he'd be on her side... right?"

Jimin brushed a hand through his navy hair, and the bed creaked as he adjusted his position. "It just doesn't feel right. Like I said before, why wouldn't he have told you sooner? Why wait this long?"

"He made it sound like he couldn't say anything to me until I knew what I was. I guess if I didn't know about any of this, it would've been pretty hard for him to explain things to me," I reasoned, despite my unwillingness to believe Taehyung. His claim wasn't as doubtful as I wanted it to be.

"And if there really is some organization or group out there, it could be one of their rules for all we know," Jungkook added.

"Organization?" Hoseok asked, finally lifting his head to glance at his brother.

Jungkook nodded. "He said the three of them are part of some type of group that tracks Bul-Gae."

"I'm pretty sure I would've known if I was being followed or watched all this time."

"But would you?" Jimin cut in, then paused as he thought over his next words. A slight scowl pulled on his face like he hated what came to mind. He turned to me. "The necklace. Taehyung gave it to you and said it was to help with the nightmares, right? He said it was to help against Hoseok," he looked across the room, "and it does bother you, right?"

Hoseok crossed his arms. "Yes."

Jimin went on. "If they really are part of these... watchers, hunters, or whatever they are, then they would know things like that. They'd have gone through training and they would know of weaknesses and things to use against Bul-Gae. So maybe they knew how to keep you from finding out what they were doing."

My heart jumped. It was making sense. Taehyung's necklace had shielded me, at least in some small way, from both the Hood and Hoseok. Namjoon had always taken steps to check in with me in one manner or another, and Yoongi had always been keenly aware of everything going on around him. If they really were meant to keep an eye on me, their behaviors weren't quite so out of place after all. Even their hesitancy to have Hoseok around, their watchful stares whenever I talked to him... if they only knew of Hoseok and not the Hood, it made sense that they assumed he was the one endangering me.

"But why do they seem to only know about Hoseok? If they're so trained, wouldn't they be able to tell there's more than just one?" Jungkook asked.

"Unless the Hood knew about them before they could find out about him."

We all looked at Hoseok. The conflict in his eyes did nothing to calm my nerves.

"You think he could be that ahead?" Jimin questioned quietly, and the music filled the stretch of what otherwise would've been silence.

Hoseok finally allowed our gazes to link. "He knew you would come here. He's able to get into your head. Who's to say he can't get into anyone's heads? I've never been able to do it myself, but he's so much stronger than me... I don't know what he's really capable of."

"It could still be one of them," I said.

"It might be. But we have to consider what it means if they're telling the truth," Jungkook replied, eyes lingering on mine unsurely. "What if it's Jin?"

Immediately, I shook my head. It wasn't possible—couldn't be. "No."

Jimin rested a hand on my knee. "Do we know for a fact it's someone in our group?"

"Yes," I squeezed my fists. "He was always there. I know he was. And in the nightmares, he said he enjoyed seeing me, being around me. He's definitely one of them."

"Jangmi—"

"It's not Jin. We were together. I would've remembered him from before. He would've done something to me while we were dating." I heard how defensive I sounded, and I hated it. But it would've been too much if it was true.

Jungkook softly said, "Look, we still can't say for sure who it is. Maybe we'll know more when we talk to all three of them—"

Hoseok cut him off. "I don't think we should. It's just going to confuse us even more. We're better off behaving like it could be all of them. It's safer."

"No," Jimin said in a sharp, forceful voice that rarely came out, "we're better off figuring out who the hell it is. We can't keep guessing and wasting time. Jangmi isn't safe and never will be until we find this bastard and stop him."

"And how do you expect us to do that, Jimin?" Hoseok snapped. "Do you suddenly have a solution after we've been trying to do exactly that for months?"

"Maybe you can put all your stupid training to use and read their thoughts like he does," Jimin spoke through his teeth, standing from the bed. Hoseok pushed off from the wall and then the two of them were face to face, Hoseok looming over Jimin's smaller frame. But Jimin didn't back down. "What good is it that you disappeared for weeks if you're not even going to use those stupid abilities?"

Jungkook and I got between them at the same time. He pressed Hoseok back while I tugged on Jimin's arm, whispering for him to let it go.

"So I'm the bad guy for doing everything I can to be able to take him down when he finally shows up again? What about you two? What have you done to protect her?" Hoseok's voice was progressively deepening, and I worried he'd lose control soon if this didn't end.

"Stop it!" I yelled at them both, pressing against Jimin's chest when he tried to step forward again.

"I've been by her side. I've been supporting her, listening to her. I've been there for her, which is more than I can say for you!"

"You two both need to quit it!" Jungkook shouted, and I looked over my shoulder to find his neck straining, his face enraged. Hoseok beside him went still, his eyes dim and withdrawn as his brother continued yelling. "Neither one of you is helping her right now! Can't you see how much you're upsetting her? This isn't a competition. We all care about her and we all are trying to help in whatever way we can. Now shut up and focus on what's important!"

My heart was drumming and my hands had a mild tremble as I dropped them away from Jimin's chest. His eyes caught mine, and they cleared of anger as he whispered, "I'm sorry."

I just shook my head. I understood that he was angry at Hoseok for what he did, but it was something I had to address on my own. "You don't have to be upset for me, Jimin."

His jaw clenched, but he nodded.

"Can we take a break? Tomorrow we'll hear what they have to say and we can go from there," I stated, rubbing a hand over one side of my face. 

"Yeah, we can do that." Jungkook stepped away from Hoseok, heading to the door. He paused to send me a serious look. "Please try to get some sleep. You need it."

I failed to manage even a faint smile. "I will."

But still he lingered. "Do you want us to stay overnight?"

Jimin watched my reaction too, but Hoseok had his face angled away from me.

"Hoseok." The sound that left my mouth was tired, and I couldn't even complete the thought—couldn't ask him if he would stay with me. But as I watched his eyes slowly make their way to my face, to my own gaze, I saw that he understood my unspoken request—and to my disbelief, accepted it.

Jungkook hesitated, but he fought down whatever he was going to say as he twisted the knob and walked out. Jimin followed behind him, muttering a "Be careful," before the door closed behind him.

Hoseok was already looking at me when I gained enough courage to face him, alone, for the first time in a month. There were countless ways to start, things to ask, but none felt right, and my chest ached the longer I went without knowing what to say to him.

In the end, he broke the tension first. "I'm sorry."

That familiar, unwelcome sting pooled in my eyes, and I bit my bottom lip in an attempt to ward off the tears. "Couldn't you have talked to me?" I whispered.

He spoke distantly, detaching himself. "I wanted to. I tried to. But what could I possibly say after almost hurting you?"

"Anything. It wouldn't have mattered, Hoseok. I just wanted to hear from you. I wanted to know that you were okay."

"I wasn't—" his voice almost failed him, "I wasn't okay."

"Then you should've told me so," I said so faintly that I thought he might not hear. But of course he did.

"It's not that simple."

"Why not? We finally got to a place where we were open. I thought you knew that you could come to me. I thought you knew that I care enough to see you and listen to you."

He shook his head, inhaling a wavering breath. "You burned me. You were too scared—I scared you."

My mouth parted and my brows drew tightly together. "I'm not afraid of you. I was only afraid of how you would feel about yourself afterwards. But Hoseok, that reaction—it wasn't because of me. It wasn't a choice or from how I felt. It's not even a part of me. I would never—" I tried taking a step forward, but he took one back. I stopped.

"Any time you burned me before... before you knew what you were, it was just a reminder of what I am to you. A monster you need to defend yourself from."

"You know that's not true," I said softly. "I will never see you that way."

"It is true. Maybe you don't truly feel that way, but I'm meant to harm you, Jangmi. How can we just ignore that?"

I could feel him slipping away so without thinking, I closed the gap between us and reached out, pausing long enough to ask, "Will you let me show you?"

His signature gold soaked me in, traced every detail of my expression and searched my intentions until eventually, he nodded.

Placing my hands carefully on either side of his neck, I watched him breathe out when no sensation came other than warmth and longing.

"Who you're expected to be and who you choose to be can be very different things, but it's up to you to decide if they will be or not." My thumbs glided over his smooth skin, and his eyes closed. "I've told you I don't see you the way you see yourself. I've told you that I care about you, that I want you as you are. I've told you that I trust you. But I can't be the one to make you accept that. It has to be you, Hoseok. I've made my decision, but if you refuse to believe how I feel about you, there's nothing left for me to do."

His eyes remained shut as he replied in a broken voice that also broke my heart: "How do I believe someone could care so much about me when nobody else ever has?"

I cupped the edges of his jaw, fingers lingering just below his mask. "You start with faith. You choose to trust what I'm telling you, even when you might not understand it yet. And then I will help you understand. I will help you see yourself through my eyes, but I can only do that if you let me."

"I want to," he whispered, "I want to try." And when those eyelids opened to reveal glistening tears, it felt at last like we were reunited. The space that used to divide us had returned in full force the past month, and being able to reach him again was like a dream—a good one, which I'd almost forgotten I could have at all.

Hoseok's gloved hands came to encircle my wrists where he guided me to remove his mask. He took it from my grasp and let it fall to the floor while I feathered over the features I'd missed so much, and I felt his eyes never leave me as I admired each line and every curve of his cheeks, his nose, his chin, his lips.

I watched the shapes his mouth formed when he murmured, "I hope you know that I see you too—in a way I don't think I could ever come close to explaining."

Lifting onto my toes, I leaned up until my mouth grazed his jaw and planted a kiss there. "Will you stay with me tonight?"

My chest went flush with his as he pulled me in carefully, his fingers running over my back in light patterns. Rather than a verbal answer, he lifted me by the hips and smoothly brought us over to the bed where he set me down. "Where do you want me?" he asked while lingering above my body.

The question sounded so innocent from his lips, but my core still fluttered. "Wherever you're comfortable."

He hesitated, roaming his gaze over my face before straightening up. I felt a tinge of disappointment as he walked away from the bed, but then he clicked the light switch near the door. As the room dipped into darkness, I watched the dim outline of him walk back toward my spot. He paused at the edge of the bed, and I scooted to the side to make room for him, heart speeding up. I could just make him out as he sat with his back facing me, leaning over to slip his shoes off.  When he turned his face over his shoulder toward me, I admired the beauty of his profile.

"Did you want to change first?" He questioned softly, tone matching the soothing music that still played in the background.

"Yeah, I should." Sitting up, I moved off the bed and padded over to my dresser, pulling out the bottom drawer and grabbing one of my sleepwear sets: a loose, maroon-colored top and matching shorts.

Glancing back at him, I found Hoseok lying on the bed, his attention to the ceiling. Employing my costume-changing technique, I easily swapped clothing and threw the day's outfit into the hamper beside the dresser.

"Is the music okay?" I asked.

He hummed. "It's nice."

It was only as I started slipping into the spot beside him that I noticed his torso was bare.

"I get hot at night," he said sheepishly, and I wondered if a blush graced those cheeks of his.

"You don't need to explain," I said lightly, trying to make him as comfortable as possible. I still could hardly believe he agreed to stay.

"Jangmi..." he lifted one arm and brushed his fingers through his hair, "I do want this. I mean I want you—want to be with you—" he stuttered, then groaned in embarrassment. With a deep breath, he tried again. "I've been so afraid of losing you that I stopped myself from truly being with you to begin with. Nothing about this is easy for me, but I do want us to be together. And I'm sorry I didn't find the courage to tell you that sooner."

It had been too long since I smiled so genuinely. Turning onto my side, I placed a hand on his arm, and the tensing of his bicep under my touch didn't go unnoticed.

"I told you I would leave our relationship up to you, so don't apologize for needing time to figure out what you wanted."

"I've known what I wanted for a long time," he mumbled. "What I struggled with was if I could trust myself to be with you. And if I could accept your feelings for me without doubting them. But when you said it's up to me to choose to trust what you tell me... I know I have to stop standing in my own way."

"Exactly." I kept my voice low. "I wouldn't have blamed you for whatever you chose, but I'm glad you want to give this a chance. Not just because it's what I want, but because you deserve to feel cared for."

"Come here," he said under his breath as he reached out and wrapped an arm around my waist, pulling me onto his naked chest. He began smoothing his fingers over my hair, the other hand finding its way to beneath my chin, where he started tracing the shape of my jaw back and forth. My eyes drifted closed, and as the sound of his heartbeat lulled me to rest, I noted it was beating a tad too quick.

"You deserve it too, Sunshine. More than anyone."

• • •

A/N: awwwwww 🥺

Hi guys! I missed y'all. I'm so glad I could get out a longer chapter on time for you!

So tell me, what is your reaction to what Taehyung said? Do you think he's telling the truth? This is the time to really be asking what makes the most sense and why. If it is true that the trio have been protecting Jangmi all long, then who do you think the Hood is?

Also... who's happy that Jangmi and Hoseok are together again?!

An exciting Homi (hobi x jangmi, as dubbed by some of you lol) chapter coming next week! Final couple chapters before the climax (;

Thank you all for reading and commenting and voting! It all helps me so much—both with motivation and with getting this story out there for more readers to hopefully enjoy! I appreciate you guys so much 💕

Your totally-didn't-stay-up-until-3am-to-finish-this-author,

Kat 💜

May —justkidding—June 6, 2021