I felt my fingers flinch at the feeling of them being in contact with a strange, warm liquid causing my eyebrows to furrow and my fingers to retreat backward into a firm fist. The feeling of wetness spread onto my cheeks, making me squirm in my sleep and shift backward on the mattress before my body finally shot upward in fright.

Nothing.

The mattress was completely spotless with nothing but the original snowflakes and reindeer patterns decorating its sheets all over. I let a sigh of relief escape my mouth as I ran a hand through my hair, tugging at it slightly in the process in an attempt of relieving my headache. My hand stopped midway in its path when I realized that the pattern of the bedsheets wasn't familiar, not the slightest bit. I immediately let my hand down and started looking around, feeling extremely alerted at how unfamiliar that place was. My first thought was to run to a window and observe my surroundings, but I got extremely surprised at the fact that I wasn't taken to a secluded place, rather a very familiar place in the middle of the typical buzz of business days.

Just as I was about to run to the door, it opened slowly and revealed Hoseok standing in the same attire he wore when he visited me at the hospital except that he no longer had his black leather jacket on. I put a hand against the bedpost for support, as though it was going to do me any good in that situation, and shifted myself closer to it slowly as I felt my breathing get heavy.

The way he was just standing there in between the door frames staring at me while I stared back at him was quite intimidating because I couldn't understand how his brain worked or what he had planned to do. The awkward yet tense silence was the only tie we both shared, and it was the only thing that kept the two of us still standing on opposite sides of the room, but it didn't seem like he was set on keeping it for longer.

"You seem well," He said, his face lacking any forms of emotion. I furrowed my eyebrows at him and gulped hard, still feeling very uncertain of what would happen between the two of us.

"Where am I? What's this place?" I asked him as calmly as I possibly could, if you would call gripping tightly on the bedpost in that situation calm.

He finally started advancing forward towards the other end of the bed, his eyes never leaving mine as he moved with slow strides. The more he got closer, the more I started getting even more scared. His presence had this strange aura to it, very dangerous yet very attractive. His every movement felt planned, carefully calculated. Every stride he took forward made him look like he was gliding smoothly on the air beneath his feet, making him appear powerful. Perhaps what added up to his aura was his odor; he smelled of burnt ashes. Surprisingly enough, as peculiar and excruciatingly awful as his odor was, it also made you want to come closer to breathe in more of it and you can never get enough; it was numbing.

Maybe that was why I found my grip on the bedpost loosening up gradually the closer he got to the bed, to me.

I let a deep breath exit my mouth as I looked away, already feeling his hypnotizing effect creeping up on me. I clenched my jaws against each other as I tried to keep my eyes fixed on the floor beneath me and not on him as he stood there staring at me.

The silence was enough for me to hear his breathing rhythm which also sounded very hypnotizing for some reason. I guess I was just overwhelmed by the fact that the two of us were in the same space alone that I kept feeling like he would do something when he was literally doing nothing but standing there staring at me while I was acting very strangely.

"Why did you save me?" I asked him, feeling sick of the suspense that the silence brought upon the atmosphere.

The silence continued for a while before I heard him scoff and drop himself on the bed, crossing one leg over the other, a mocking smirk displayed clearly on his face.

He turned his face towards me before saying," Don't you realize that you are starting to get used to talking to me? And it isn't necessarily a good thing because I find you really annoying if I had to be honest."

My mouth dropped open at what he had said. This guy must be a complete psycho, not just partially. I gave out a look of disbelief and annoyance before replying back," Oh well, I'm sorry for annoying your majesty, but I'd deeply appreciate it if you could let me know the things that I'm supposed to know."

"And who said that there is anything you are supposed to know?" he said before standing up, causing my breath to get stuck in my throat again. This time, he took it to a whole new level and came dangerously close to me to the point that I could spot every detail of his face. I felt a huge lump form in the middle of my throat as he proceeded to get even closer, causing me to shift backward until my back hit the wall with a slight thud, but this didn't stop him from proceeding even further.

His extreme proximity was completely out of my comfort zone, causing me to turn my head sideways. However, I found his hand grabbing the hair on the top of my head and pulling it slightly back up to the wall behind me. This sudden contact made me gulp in fear as he stared into my eyes, his breath hitting my face, his odor spreading through my lungs. I didn't know for sure if the dizziness I felt was because of the way my heart was beating so rapidly or if I was finally getting hypnotized, but it still gave me a huge discomfort in both my head and chest.

"You know," he said before shifting his weight onto his other leg and licking his lips, his eyes never leaving mine," When I first decided to meet you, all I ever wanted to do was get rid of your memory of me, and I'm still trying to. So, after knowing my intention, do you still think you are entitled to ask this many questions?"

I gulped down the lump that was stuck in my throat until his sudden touch caused it to slide upward again," Now that I have my thoughts out on the table, don't you think that you should finally comply?"

I looked into his eyes as I stirred everything he was saying in my head. He still wanted to erase my memory of him, but what did that leave for me? I'll remain a runaway and I won't have anything or anyone to support me, whereas he was probably going to live his life undercover like he normally did.

I wasn't planning to get played.

"On what grounds should I agree to this?" I asked him, trying to sound a little bit less frightened than I actually was.

He scoffed before using that tiny grip he had on my hair to bang my head backward slightly against the wall behind me," On the grounds that I'm giving you the prestige you deserve by telling you before I actually do it."

He is right.

I looked into his eyes for a bit before saying," I'll do it, but on one condition."

He let out a slight, mocking laugh before his eyes got noticeably darker and his grip on my hair tightened causing me to grunt slightly," Do you think I'm playing with you? Conditions? I'll give you the conditions that you need to hear before I possibly kill you. You stay still while I do this or else I'll say the wrong thing and you-"

"Help me," I let out after cutting him off near the end. He titled his head sideways before loosening his grip on my hair a bit. I eyed him skeptically, not knowing what to expect out of him.

He let out his tongue sideways for a split second as he smiled amusingly at what I had said, his eyes looking down at the floor carrying the two of us, his other free arm extended to the wall behind me.

"Help you?" He asked, sounding so amused at my offer.

"Yes," I replied back, the air in my throat finding some difficulty in finding its path out as I saw the way he looked down at me," I'll let you erase my memory, but not before you help me."

"And why exactly should I do that?" He asked me, his fingers teasing me by constantly flicking my hair.

"Because you got nothing to lose. But I have," I replied back, my heart beating faster with every word that exited my mouth," No one knows about your existence either way, but regardless of whether I got this memory of you or not, I'm a criminal and a runaway, thanks to you of course. So, I've decided to use this to my advantage. You won't lose a thing. You won't gain anything either, but at least after I don't need you anymore, you can erase my memory and we will both go back to our own lives."

He stood silent for a moment, but his silence only terrified me. I could tell that he was thinking something through, but I wasn't sure whether it was my offer he was thinking about or whether or not he should kill me that instant.

"I'm listening," He replied, which caught me completely off guard.

I let out a heavy breath and smiled slightly.

"First, I'd like to meet Jimin. I'll need your help with that."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~