JOON POV:

It's at the same time as Tae that I spot (Y/N)'s missing and a simple wave of energy brushing past the toilets from Jin hyung that does actually confirm she's not there. The beginnings of panic start to stem and yet Tae is assure and confident as he starts moving, striding away and passing by an alcove. I follow along only to find that he's correct and has ended up on a slightly closed off space but she's not alone, she's with someone- a young vampire from the looks and sense of it and whilst he doesn't register as a threat, his closeness and familiarity he talks to her and hugs her with has the beginnings of jealousy stirring. Only pushed down because of the way she tenderly speaks to him- the warmth and tenderness she uses dousing it immediately and causing a warmth to replace it.

"Oh it's the same boy as last time. He looks better though." Tae comments from in front of me.

He's seen the two before?

But then the boy seems to stiffen mid-hug, drawing bag with a nose scrunch and red eyes that hold a tinge of fear. In front, Tae grins smugly.

And when I hear the boy comment that she's carrying our scent, a burst of fierce pride courses through me- that our touches before we'd stepped out of the house had left trails of us on her, had allowed her to be easily distinguished as a claimed person. And it's then that I realise that any eyes that had drawn to her during the night, had lingered momentarily had quickly receded when they caught sight of the claiming marks vivid on her neck, starkly contrasting with the softness of her dress. Unconsciously, she had been displaying signs of being taken and because of that there had been no bursts of fierce protective instincts.

And when the boy leaves, I'm the first to step up, drawing her into an embrace, Tae quickly sandwiching her from behind.

The word home is pleasant rolling off her tongue, natural and soothing- as if home is a part of her too and yet she too represents a home for us.

I can't wait to get back home, to be curled up happily with my mates. And yet before we can retreat Tae decides now is an opportune time to tease, now when I can feel my phone begin to ping with messages- undoubtedly from the others wondering if we've found (Y/N).

"Stop sneaking off baby mate. You have to tell me if you want to play chase." He grumbles, sending a spark of fiery anticipation through me at the mental image as well as causing     (Y/N) to shift and press slightly tighter against me, fingers bunching into the fabric at my arms.

I stifle a groan at the thought, of how gratifying and pleasing it would be to give chase to our baby mate. And yet Tae's eyes are twinkling with challenge, with pride- alerting me that somehow he's already had the fine pleasure given the way he casually mentions it.

"Tae-ah stop teasing." I say.

But whether that comment is meant for (Y/N) or for me I don't know.

Tae's lips curve into a smile from where he leans forward to peck my cheek.

"(Y/N) loves it when I tease." He exclaims proudly and unabashed. The sentence sends a bolt of fiery need through me, because of the implications the words have.

It causes her to hide her face into my chest, turning away from Tae despite the affronted pout he gives when he can't see her face.

She makes no move to shift her face back, seeming perfectly content.

"Home, let's just go." She mumbles again, lips moving distractedly against the fabric of my shirt.

I nod.

"Home." I grit out, shooting Tae a warning look.

But he's completely unrepentant as we make our way to the car where the others brighten up and lose the slight tension on their faces. Home and hopefully by then Tae's teasing expressions will have gone, the glint that promises trouble should vanish by then. 

----

"The exhibition wasn't what I expected." Hobi says as we all pile onto couches- out of formal dress and in pyjamas. Jiminie sinks against his side, nodding in agreement.

"How so?" (Y/N) voices, happily allowing herself to be tugged alongside Jin hyung to one of the armchairs where he grins before gently lifting her up to carefully set onto his lap. She fiddles with his pyjama sleeve, engrossed in the way the cuffs have a small gap to allow her fingers to slip through.

"It was so much more painful, as if Amparo's been experiencing hardships recently." I comment, recalling how the colours had been vivid too- even the dark shades, as if the memories were fresh for them.

She nods to herself, processing the information.

"But how can you be so sure?" she asks, face looking slightly confused.

"Because we feel like all their works are a catalogue of their life, that their emotions are shown through their work- sometimes they even try to hide pain in bright colours too." Jiminie says, brows furrowed as he traces his fingers over Hobi's hand.

"So the paintings are in some sort of order?" she asks, brows furrowed adorably as she keeps following the conversation.

"That's what we think, that's why we display them in order of when they were created, to try and get the full picture." Tae adds, Yoongi hyung nods along. I remember how careful and precise we'd always been in displaying them, often contacting Ryan for details we might've forgotten, using the small descriptions of the paintings to help make connections.

It was our way to try and understand the bigger picture we knew lay behind each artwork.

"I don't think so." She mumbles, head resting against hyung's shoulder.

"What's that?" Jin hyung asks, looking down at her.

She straightens, fidgeting with her fingers as she begins to speak. In contrast to the uncertainty of her actions, her voice is strong and assured.

"I don't think they're painted in chronological order. That put in order they give the full picture; I think you might not be seeing the full meaning because of it." She says.

Kookie's face is lined with curiosity, yet also the beginning of understanding too.

"So how do you think it's meant to be put together?" he asks, head tilted and rising from where he'd been lying on Tae's lap.

"I think Amparo has created fragments in each exhibition. That for them each painting is from a different scene, a different memory. That they're connected with other works from other exhibitions." She says.

Her words are so sure and then I realise whether she'd been viewing the paintings from an artist's perspective too, that she'd tried to connect with Amparo on an artistic level. Not just the way we had been seeing the works.

Kookie straightens up excitement palpable in his posture.

"You think so? I did always find that Amparo always uses snippets and sometimes blurred scenes of memories. I always felt like it was a distortion effect- of trying to hide certain details that pained them." He muses, mindset slipping into the perspective of an artist.

She hums, a vague sound- as if she's neither agreeing nor disagreeing.

"Maybe, but I think it's more got to do with showing time as well- blurring out some details too. I guess we won't really know what they thought as they made it." She muses, shifting to get more comfortable, hyung's arm immediately sliding around her waist to keep her stable.

And it's then that I realise (Y/N)'s words bring a fresher perspective to looking at Amparo's paintings, that somewhere our thoughts had become similar and hers are different. Becoming a voice to bring new ways of looking at them.

That she was just what we needed to understand Amparo's work better.

(Y/N) POV:

I feel stiff in Jinnie oppa's arms and lap for all that it's comforting, I wonder how long it'll take for them to notice, how much I should reveal for them to make that final connection.

And then Yoongi oppa speaks up.

"So if we were to go the gallery, you could show us what order you think it'd be in?" he asks, curiosity and excitement creeping into his voice.

It makes the others turn towards us, to look with sparkling eyes.

He's unknowingly given me another opportunity.

I nod.

"Well then let's go." Jinnie oppa says and as I move to slide off, he shakes his head.

"Why walk?" he asks and then his burn a mixture of brown and red, the others shifting closer.

And then I watch as the walls around us melt away, a slight shifting sensation- air brushing past my face and then a sickening swooping sensation, as if my stomach has turned and I clench my eyes shut trying to fight the sudden nauseating feeling. There's a warm hand that comes to cup my face, cradling it.

"You can open your eyes little one." Jinnie oppa's words wash over me, feeling my footing to be unsteady slightly, clutching at his sleeves, eyes still shut.

He coos, pecking the tip of my nose.

"It's fine, we're here now. It can be a little disorienting at first." He says, and hesitantly I unglue my eyelids, slowly opening them. We're in the gallery, and Hobi oppa is conveniently standing next to me, accurately perceptive, because when I take a step I stagger slightly- his hand coming to hold my elbow, stilling me.

"Aigoo hyung's a meanie. Should've realised our baby mate's never teleported." He fusses, brushing a healing hand across my brow, a small inaudible murmur that sets the nausea to still and I blink my eyes several times to find that the slightly rockiness has gone.

Jinnie oppa shoots me an apologetic smile, lips curving generously.

It's definitely something new.

And Kookie drags me eagerly alongside him, trying to see what it is I'd change. They've diligently sorted the works into order but there's something just different. They still feel structured and organised when really each exhibition is a wild mixture of memories and feelings. They're paintings that represent my sorrows as I'd been dealing with them.

I tug at his hand to tell him to stop, pointing at a painting.

"See this one. The colours and style match the two paintings from their exhibition three years ago." I say, moving along to get to the mentioned paintings and pointing out the similarities in brush strokes and colours, that the glimpses of people are shown in different angles here.

"See, the person is shown here too but a different angle, you see their side profile in this one." I say, pointing out the connections.

The others are silently following and Kookie nods eagerly, eyes intently looking at the works.

"Does that mean that this painting..." he says, tugging me down further into the gallery.

We reach the final painting from the last exhibition, the one where the glimpse of fingers are seen reaching towards the screaming girl- offering her a way out.

"The person who offers their hand is the same as the hand and silhouettes in their first exhibitions?" he asks, slowly forming threads of connections.

"But the shades are different, the size of the silhouettes aren't consistent either. Sometimes it looks like a child, sometimes an adult." Jinnie oppa remarks when we walk back towards those paintings.

Internally I'm thinking back, to the many who'd held out their hands for me, who'd offered me comfort. It hadn't been just one person. it hadn't been just one instance.

"It's clear she has people who care for her." I murmur.

"Do you suppose that this could all be a part of a massive storyline?" Hobi oppa asks, bouncing on the balls of his feet as he tugs at Yoongi oppa's arms.

"Like fictional...?" Yoongi oppa answers sounding unsure and hesitant.

He nods, eyes sparking with excitement.

"Like they've been telling us this detailed intricate story." He says, sounding even more eager.

"Maybe...but it feels too real." He replies softly, eyes focused.

"Maybe she's documenting her life as a story." I add.

There's a few distracted nods.

But then Kookie's head snaps back to me.

"You said she. How do you know Amparo's a girl?" he asks, eyes flaring red with surprise, taking a step closer as he turns me towards him.

Somehow the step feels intimidating almost and I find myself backpedalling a few and colliding with a firm chest, a twist of my head revealing Jiminie smiling as his hand splays across my back- stabilising me.

"Umm...." Now that the hint's been picked on, accidentally slipping out- it makes me feel slightly wary and scared, that it's building to that point of where the reveal hangs heavily over us- a cloud about to burst and drench us all.

"Did Ryan and Deok-mi introduce you to her?" Tae says, eyes narrowed.

"That's so unfair if they did, to imagine all this time they never bothered with us." Joon oppa grouses petulantly.

I shake my head.

"That's not it. They've never introduced me to her." I say.

"But how do you know all this stuff? These details I doubt anyone would pick up on, these small snippets." Hobi oppa says, looking confused.

"Yeah...how can you know what technique was intended for what reason?" Kookie asks.

It feels like their questions are pushing me towards the edge of that cliff, and now that we're coming so close to the truth it feels daunting, scary. 

"I...I..." I say, words trailing off.

Yoongi oppa steps forward, eyes flashing red- a mixture of intrigue and fascination.

"You know something we don't. And it's awfully unfair if you don't share." He says, trying to use the guilt-trip card, eyes beguiling and soft; trying to urge me to confess, feeling waves of persuasion seeping out, trying to make me feel that I want to tell them.

"Stop that. You're not subtle." I say, fighting back a smile.

He pouts.

"Just tell us, we're your mates, you've met Amparo haven't you?" Jiminie says, words brushing against the shell of my ear, making me shiver- both from the effect he has on me but also from a nervous anticipation.

Just say it. It's now or never, just say it.

And yet that confession doesn't slip out of my mouth, doesn't come out of my throat.

"(Y/N), we're not going to attack you for not telling us." Jinnie oppa says, words warm and light but it feels like they're hitting too close to home.

And yet I remind myself that they're my mates, they're people I trust with my life, my soul- so why not this part of me too.

My mouth opens, lips parting. Kookie nods encouragingly, leaning forward. I feel the tension heighten as they move forward.

"I...the reason I know is because I..." I begin, watching the way their eyes have turned a dark red, the way their postures thrum with barely restrained eagerness.

I gently step forward, out of Minnie's warm presence, sliding my hand out of Kookie's. My fingers brush against the loose nightshirt I'm wearing, finding little comfort as they brush past soft fabric.

This needs to be done by myself, without support. This is me telling them who I am and I need to be alone as I do it.

"I know because I'm...." I take a deep breath.

"Amparo." I say not daring to meet a single pair of eyes.

"Amparo is me." I breathe out, confession slipping into the silent air.

The air which feels like it's crackling with tension and unvoiced emotions and thoughts.

It feels like the air is getting thicker around me, swirling in with suffocating waves of pressure.

I don't want to look up, can't bear to.

I shift consciously, feet itching with the urge to escape.

Because I'd told them the biggest truth about me and they had no response.

Suddenly their presences seem to be caging and restrictive.

Maybe I shouldn't have spoken.

"You're Amparo?" a hoarse voice breaks the silence.

I dare to look up, eyes hesitantly meeting Joon oppa's- seeing the way his pallor has blanched and his usual warm golden tone seems to have been leeched out, eyes a bright crimson and stark against his complexion, mouth wide.

"I am." I confirm, there's no turning back and no getting away with this.

Because I am Amparo and it's time they knew.

(THERE YOU GO! I SWEAR...PLEASE DON'T KILL ME! I HAD NO IDEA IT WOULD BE DRAGGED OUT THIS LONG AND I WANTED TO KICK MYSELF FOR HOW IT KEPT SLIPPING AWAY BUT IT'S HAPPENED RIGHT? SURELY THAT'S GOOD! I'M GOING TO GO HIDE SO I CAN'T GET ATTACKED AND I HOPE YOU ALL ENJOYED THE TENSE DRAWN-OUT CHAPTER. NEXT CHAPTER WILL BE THEIR RESPONSES AND REACTION SO PLEASE, PLEASE BEAR WITH. THIS IS ONE CLIFFHANGER I FEEL YOU WON'T FORGIVE-RATHER WILL PUSH ME OFF OF, SO YUP! BUT I FELT THE TENSION WAS NEEDED, AND NOW IT'S TIME TO SEE HOW EACH OF THEM REACT- YOU CAN BET THAT THERE'LL BE HIGH AND HAYWIRE EMOTIONS IN THE NEXT CHAPTER- STAY SAFE AND ENJOY!)

Sometimes the silence that comes before the storm is the most dangerous silence of all.

Borahae! 💜💜💜

PurpleQueenie <3