"Where are we even going? Tae!" Mai whined as she was dragged forward, then froze and then almost banged her head into a tree for slipping and calling him by a nickname again. Taehyung abruptly stopped, letting Yoongi walk a few paces ahead, his eyes glinting, lit on fire as he stared down at her.

He was still gripping her hand, his long fingers intertwined with hers, slender and sending sparks up her arm and through her entire body. He was close to her, and even more so when he turned so he was facing her. His skin glowed silver in the moonlight, making him look like an angel.

Mai bit her lip and looked away, suddenly overwhelmed by awkwardness. How was she supposed to play this off when her heart was stuttering so much? Okay, she wasn't looking at- aaand then he was doing it again, sliding a single finger under her chin, making her gaze up at him. When she met Taehyung's eyes, she was shocked at how dark they looked- how hungry.

They stayed there for a heartbeat- perhaps Taehyung was giving her an opportunity to laugh it off, to push him away again, but there was no way she could do it. Not when he was staring at her like that.

When he spoke, his voice was filled with a husky rasp, his already deep voice sounding so much like a growl it was everything Mai could do to not faint dead away. "Darling," his face was inching closer to Mai's with every passing second, and YEP MAI COULDN'T BREATHE HERE WE GO AGAIN, "I think I've been restraining myself fairly well tonight," his perfect, gorgeously pink lips curled up into a sadistic smirk, one that made Mai instantly want to either run away from him or kiss him so hard he forgot his own name.

NO NO NONONOONONONONOON-

"But if you keep calling me that, talking like the whiny brat you are, I'm going to have to do something about it,"

Mai's eyes widened, her teeth instantly began to pull at her lower lip when she felt a pulse roll through her, hot and fast. Taehyung's eyes landed on her lips, and his eyes darkened even more. "Goddamn."

Mai inhaled sharply, trying to find something to say right now. Either she could kiss him, or she could say something. Those were the only two options.

And dAMN IT, she WANTED to kiss him. She really did. Every nerve in her body was telling her to crush his lips in hers, to show him that he wouldn't be able to do ANYTHING about her talking how she wanted. She wanted to wreck him.

And he was beautiful- not only in appearance, but he had showed he cared. Multiple times over.

But she also knew what he did. Jimin and Hoseok had confirmed it. Yoongi had confirmed it. TAEYONG had confirmed it.

Even Taehyung himself had confirmed it.

He slept around and then left.

She hadn't known him for that long, but she knew THAT at least.

Besides, she didn't need this baggage right now. She didn't want to make things awkward.

And even if he didn't leave... how was SHE supposed to deal with it when she went home?

So no.

No.

I have to say something.

"So," Mai rolled her eyes, making Taehyung balk for a moment, "this means I can't call you Tae?"

There was silence for a heartbeat.

And then the tension dissipated. Taehyung must have felt it- his eyes turned softer, his hand dropped from under her chin, he stepped back, his playful look returned.

"I mean, if you want to call me Tae, then by all means, go ahead," he smirked, then lowered his voice once more, voice full of laughter, "but I won't be responsible for what happens when you do."

Mai snorted. "I think I'll take that chance." She was rolling her eyes, but she was smiling. This was just... him. Taehyung.

"If you two are quite done," Yoongi's perpetually-irritated voice broke the moment, his scowl not making matters any better, "Taehyung needs to trace Namjoon's thread now so we can find the place. He hid it, remember?"

Yoongi was standing in front of a swathe of thick trees, the shadows within them seeming so dark it was unsettling. The moon didn't touch the floor here, and the darkness just overlapped itself so it was pitch black. WHAT was Taehyung even doing here? What was Yoongi doing here? Wait, actually, Yoongi was a creepy jerk so-

Wait, if Yoongi was such a jerk, why was Taehyung calling him 'hyung', and why was he listening to him?

Mai's head hurt.

Yoongi's words had made no sense to Mai, but Taehyung just nodded and unlatched his hand from Mai's, letting both his arms fall limp at his sides as he concentrated hard, narrowing his dark gray eyes and swinging his head around until his gaze caught on something Mai couldn't see. Even when she tried looking for the magic thread there, she couldn't catch a glimpse of it. Evidently, considering Yoongi's bored expression as his gaze flitted awkwardly around the spot Taehyung was staring at, he couldn't either.

"Found it," Taehyung leaned back, his features softening, but his eyes never left the spot where he had seen the thread. Yoongi sighed in exasperation.

"Well, we figured that out already," the mint-haired man snorted, finally lazily straightening out from his hunched position as he leaned against as tree, "now we have to GO there, in case you've forgotten."

Good lord, he hates everyone, doesn't he?

"Alright, Alright, chill hyung," Taehyung huffed offhandedly, eyes still lazily bounding around the little opening in the thick trees, "we got this. We're going."

"WHERE?" Mai suddenly burst out, finally snapping. Hey, it wasn't an unreasonable question! Again, she was being dragged to an unknown place, into the creepy, dark forest in front of them. Okay, she trusted Taehyung, but she did not want to go anywhere with Yoongi. He just gave off this odd vibe, ever-angry, especially towards her. And yet Taehyung seemed to tolerate, even LIKE him. Mai shoved all these thoughts away as she formulated another sentence. "Where are we going?"

Yoongi scoffed and turned away from her. "Why? Scared?"

Mai began to bristle again, her teeth gritting together harshly. What was his PROBLEM? "No. Wonder why that was the first thing that came to YOUR mind, though?"

The orange-eyes man in front of her caught the implication and rolled his eyes, turning away from her and saying nothing more, acting as if Mai was so beneath him that he couldn't even look at her.

OH MY GOSH I WANT TO PUNCH HIM-

Taehyung let out a noisy sigh from beside them. "Yoongi hyung, please be nice."

"Is that even possible?" Mai snorted under her breath, making Taehyung turn and give her an exasperated look. Wow. Suddenly, the playful blonde prince was being the mature one. That was weird.

Yoongi had already caught her words, and he shot her a glare. "Tell your girlfriend to watch her mouth."

"I AM NOT HIS GIRLFRIEND!"

"Mai..."

"GOOD LORD WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM?"

"Tae, remind me why we're bringing her?"

"It's not like I want to be here either, mint chocolate chip!"

"What is that? Something your tiny female mind came up with?"

"GUYS STOP IT!"

Both Mai and Yoongi had just been throwing insults at each other, glaring at each other until Taehyung stepped in. He seemed to be throwing Mai an irritated look, which was TOTALLY unfair because exCUSE me, Yoongi had been the one who just started attacking and hating her for absolutely NO REASON, so what the hell was this?

"Come on, guys, we don't have time for this. Namjoon is going to skin us if we arrive after his spell has worn off," he pleaded, still standing between the two of them, "and Yoongi hyung, I swear I will explain why she's here, but please stop making her angry unless you want her to slit your throat in your sleep."

Yoongi's eyebrows shot up at Taehyung's words, giving Mai a careful look, his eyes narrowing.

Mai just glared back.

The orange-eyed man scoffed once more and turned away, muttering a barely audible 'whatever' before giving in and striding quickly towards the dark swathe of trees, disappearing in an instant.

Taehyung sighed and turned to Mai. "Great Star Queen, you don't leave anything well enough alone, do you?"

Mai narrowed her eyes. "Maybe here it isn't that big of a deal, but no. I don't. If he's going to be a bastard, then I'm not going to leave it."

Taehyung let a breath hiss out from his teeth, throwing his head back. "He's not a bad person," he finally sighed, rubbing his forehead, "he's just been through a lot. Try... look, if he goads you, try not to engage. Please."

Mai didn't say anything for a long moment.

"Are you going to at least tell me why?"

The blonde prince in front of her gave her a rueful look. "It is not my place to tell."

Mai took a deep breath. It was hard for her to ignore people who snipped at her. She just had this urge to fight them- either verbally or physically. It didn't matter, but she needed to get even. That was how it worked with her.

But Taehyung was asking her to be a little patient.

"Gahhhhhh," Mai finally threw her hands up and turned away, striding back and forth as Taehyung watched quietly. "I have a feeling as soon as I follow you into that creepy forest, things are going to get so much worse."

She had completely changed the subject, but maybe her avoidance of the topic was enough of an answer for Taehyung. He didn't press, only quirked his lip in amusement at her pacing. "Yes, they probably will. You're already in high demand- rumors have been spreading around about you. This meeting is essentially all because of you."

Mai fell quiet for a moment. "Wow, no pressure or anything," she finally sighed, looking down. Taehyung looked at her with a little inkling of pity in his dark eyes. "Who's gonna be there?"

Taehyung just grinned and turned to the darkness of the forest. "You'll see."

"Wow, very reassuring,"

"Come on, before Yoongi tries attacking us again for taking too long," Taehyung grabbed her hand, his childish demeanor appearing once again for a heartbeat. He smiled down at Mai, and the box-shaped grin filled her with a strange sort of comfort. She couldn't help weakly smiling back.

She looked back at the towering spires of the castle for a moment.

Imagine, her mind whispered, remember how simple it used to be?

Back home, it really did seem simple compared to this. Beautifully, perfectly simple. School, work, friends, occasional parties- that was how exciting it got. Sometimes, on a lazy day, Mai would stare into the sky and wish for an adventure.

She didn't count on those wishes coming true.

Or them being this damn real.

"Hey," Taehyung squeezed her hand once, making Mai look up at him. He tilted his head towards the forest, giving her a small smile. "I know it's scary. I know you're scared. It's okay to be scared. You're so out of place here, you don't know what to do. HEY, don't even try to deny it, shush and let me talk."

Mai had began to protest, but at Taehyung's words she snapped her mouth shut. He wasn't wrong. Actually, he was dead-on. But she didn't count on TAEHYUNG, the flirty, playful, childish boy nailing it so effectively.

Was she really that obvious?

Mai didn't say a word as Taehyung kept talking. "But there's only one way to do this. Maybe Namjoon can explain why you're so important, especially right now, but we NEED you. We really do."

Mai's eyes flashed different colors in indecision. They needed her, of course they did. She was part of a weird prophecy (except she didn't even know what is said, because NO ONE TOLD HER ANYTHING) and apparently she herself held more weight than anyone thought.

"Tae..." Mai bit her lip, her eyes falling. She was TIRED. She didn't want to do this.

"What did I tell you about calling me that?" Taehyung's voice dropped an octave, but his tone was playful. Mai cracked a small smile.

"I'll take my chances,"

"I don't exactly mind, darling. It's YOU I'm worried about," Taehyung shot her a rakish smirk, and, strangely, this time, Mai couldn't fight her blush. Taehyung watched her fiery cheeks in wonder, eyes lighting up, but he didn't say anything.

WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME?

Mai looked back one more time, both trying to avoid Taehyung's eyes and also longing for getting out of this mess, but Taehyung gripped her chin firmly with his slender fingers.

Wow, he really likes doing this, doesn't he? What is this, the third time now?

"No, darling," he breathed, staring into Mai's eyes with a kind of wonder, a kind of adoration, "don't look back."

"Wha-"

Taehyung grabbed her hand and lunged into the forest, pulling her with him as she yelped, but he just threw his head back and laughed.

The world was a flash around her, full of Taehyung's warmth and moonlight and trees and shadows.

"Don't look back," Taehyung laughed, gray eyes full of mirth even as he ran, pulling Mai with him.

"Look at ME."