It was Violet. Violet who had been in the ballroom less than two minutes ago, and who couldn’t have got to the first floor this fast - not if she was human. Jungkook felt his stomach drop as their eyes met, and a sudden bout of dizziness accompanying the panic made him grab onto the handrail for balance. It took a few seconds before he realized he had been subconsciously holding his breath and he forced himself to inhale - it felt like he was breathing in a million tiny needles instead of air.

Violet walked into the elevator, observing his struggle with an unfazed expression on her face. She stepped a bit forward once the door closed behind her, pressing the button for the second floor. The elevator moved, shaking and stopping not even ten seconds later. Violet gave a quick nod before she turned around. “I guess introductions aren’t necessary.” she said.

Jungkook mutely stared at her, eyes searching for any kind of changes to her, but she looked the same as usual, from her expression to her mannerisms. If she was Gara, Taehyung had definitely recognized her - if he could tell who she was by her fighting style alone, there was almost no way he wouldn’t have been able to recognize her by her personality, especially not after being exposed to her for the whole evening. Unless of course, she had been acting from the moment she entered the academy and continued to do so even now. Jungkook allowed it as a possibility, but he doubted it - it just didn’t seem necessary. Subtly moving a bit closer to the wall, he was barely aware of his nails cutting into the skin on his palms. The Orders had seemed to be working fine, but if the demon actually let him leave on his own while knowing about her they clearly hadn’t.

Then again, there was a chance Violet wasn’t Gara. Not even Kangmin could control two demons from the end of the list at once, which meant he probably only had one. Wouldn’t it be more logical to keep Gara with him while sending another, weaker demon, after Jungkook? And would a demon as powerful as Gara was said to be really feel the need to get rid of Yoongi first? 

Are you sure you’re not just trying to convince yourself Taehyung is on your side, because you’re as good as dead otherwise? asked a small voice in his head. Jungkook ignored it - he knew himself well enough to tell that letting it have any kind of power over him would be the same as giving up right there and then. Trying and failing was still better than not trying at all.

He took a deep breath, feeling the sharp claws of panic slightly loosen their hold. Violet didn’t know about Taehyung, which meant everything was not lost - not yet, at least. He just had to be proactive and either buy enough time for Taehyung to realize something was wrong or convince Violet to let him go to his room, where the demon would hopefully still be waiting. The former seemed easier - for him that was - but its success depended almost entirely on Taehyung, and Jungkook wasn’t sure he trusted him enough for that. The latter was harder, but at least the results were almost entirely up to him.

“I think they are necessary.” he said quietly, his voice surprisingly not as shaky as he expected it to be.

Violet shrugged before offering him her hand. “Hello, I’m L.” she said, her lips forming a barely visible smile. It looked more self-depreciating than threatening, but it made Jungkook feel on edge nonetheless. At least her behavior supported his theory about this not being Gara - the demon who had attacked him in the coffee shop looked like she couldn’t wait to tear his flesh from his bones, while there was nothing sadistic at all about Violet’s expression.

He didn’t take her hand, pressing his back closer to the wall instead. Violet just shrugged her shoulders, pushing her hands in her pockets. She was wearing a coat over her dress, the color matching the hairpin still holding up her hair. It reflected the ceiling light, and Jungkook was hit by another strong sense of deja-vu. Violet seemed to notice what he was looking at, and to his surprise, she pulled the pin off her hair and held it up to him. “Your brother gave me this.” she said. “You should keep it.”

Jungkook hesitantly reached for it, pausing just before he could actually touch it. She mentioned his brother, which made all kinds of warning bells ring in his head. He wasn’t sure how, but he had no troubles whatsoever believing Kangmin was using the pin to play with his head - there had to be a reason it seemed so familiar, after all. What his brother was planning didn’t matter though, not anymore - Jungkook had already seen the hairpin, which meant he wouldn’t be able to stop thinking about it even if he didn’t take it. Kangmin won either way.

Violet waited for a few seconds, and when he still didn’t take the hairpin, she sighed. “Look.” she said. “I’m not going to hurt you if you cooperate.” She pushed the pin against his still outstretched hand, and he finally grabbed it, letting his fingers wrap around the cold metal. He didn’t look down at it again - he could at least decide not to play Kangmin’s game while he was in direct danger.

“What is the plan?” he asked. He wasn’t entirely sure he believed Violet’s promise not to hurt him, but doing what she wanted seemed to be the best plan of action for now. He needed to know how she planned to get him out of the building, and he suspected that information would be easier to get by cooperating.

Violet leaned against the elevator door. Her posture was relaxed, but Jungkook could see the tense muscles under her jacket. She didn’t seem too sure about what she was doing, which - he hoped - he could use to his advantage. “You’re going to go down to the ground floor and leave the academy through the front door. Your demon will stay here.” she said, sending a pointed look at the lady bug on his shoulder. The fact that she knew about Hoseok was not unexpected - considering Kangmin’s connections, he was probably aware Jimin had given him another demon.

Still, he couldn’t consider it the best news. Her instructions, on the other hand, gave him some hope. There were some serious issues with them, which made it clear that the extraction plan wasn’t made by Kangmin. Jungkook hoped he could exploit that.

He nervously shifted his weight from one foot to another, wrapping his arms around his body. He wasn’t sure whether the elevator was actually getting colder or the sudden tremors were a product of his panic, though he supposed it was probably the latter. If someone had told him he would be happy the current situation terrified him as much as it did, he would have probably laughed in their face, but at the moment he was genuinely glad. He was about to play Violet - or at least attempt to - and the fear would hopefully mask all the traitorous ways his body could let her know what he was doing.

What he planned to do definitely couldn’t be counted as ‘cooperating’, which meant the consequences of being found out probably wouldn’t be pretty. Even so, he had to try. A little chance of success was still better than none, especially since he really really couldn’t let himself get caught by Kangmin. Knowing his brother, death might actually be more pleasant than whatever he had prepared for him.

“That’s not Kangmin’s plan, is it?” he murmured so quietly that even he barely heard it, his eyes fixed on the floor. It were times like this when he was especially grateful he wasn’t particularly social – if Violet knew him any better she might have realized how unlikely it was for him to speak without thinking it through.

“Why?” she asked, her voice taking on a sharper tone. He didn’t dare look at her, but based on her tone she had taken the bait.

Jungkook pressed himself closer to the wall, forcing himself to raise his head for a fragment of a second before fixing his gaze back on the floor. More jumpy he acted the better – thank god that he had a natural talent for it. “Nothing.” he murmured.

That had the immediate effect. “Do you remember what I told you about cooperation?” Violet asked as she grabbed the front of his shirt, pulling him closer before slamming him back into the wall. She was careful not to kill him, but clearly not much else had been taken into consideration. One moment he was standing and the next he was on the floor with no memory whatsoever how he got there, black dots dancing in his vision. All of his air had been forced out of his lungs, and no matter how hard he tried, he was unable to replenish it completely. The sharp pain in his chest made him suspect some of his ribs didn’t make it in one piece, but that was still nothing in comparison to the pain in his head - it felt as if someone had smashed it open with a rock.

In summary; his prediction about the consequences not being pretty was definitely correct.

It must not have been as bad as it felt though, because he somehow managed to get himself into a sitting position without being sick all over the floor. His eyes couldn’t properly focus, and he was so dizzy that he had to immediately lean against the wall, but he supposed it could have been a lot worse.

He forced himself to raise his head just a little, trying to ignore the fresh wave of pain brought on by the motion. Hoseok was standing in front of him, his hands outstretched. Violet was opposite to him, looking tense. Her eyes darted from Hoseok to Jungkook and back to Hoseok. “We’re in the elevator – one wrong move and he's going to die.” she pointed out. The assessment was accurate - considering the lack of space, any kind of altercations between the demons would almost certainly lead to him getting squashed. That was why Jungkook doubted Hoesok could help - he would have to be a lot more powerful than Violet to be able to ensure his safety.

“And I should just let you kill him instead?” wondered Hoseok. He was obviously trying to sound calm, but the strain in his voice made it clear he was on edge. Violet pressed her lips into a thin line, eyes narrowed.

Jungkook decided this was an excellent time to in. “Okay, okay, stop.” he said, hating how weak his voice sounded. Violet’s eyes immediately bored into him over Hoseok’s shoulder, the tense expression on her face slightly relaxing. “It’s a bad plan.” he continued. He was about to explain why, but even a short sentence like this took up all of his air supply. He had no choice but to bend over and force himself to take deep measured breaths, fighting through the pain with each one. He really really hoped he was just winded and there was no worse damage. Jimin was going to murder him either way, but he was especially going to murder him if he got himself in the hospital.

“Why?” asked Violet.

He raised his finger, gesturing for her to wait. Once he could speak again, he said; “Yoongi’s still downstairs.”

Violet’s expression implied she hadn’t really thought about that. She hit the elevator's door - Jungkook was unable not to notice that a lot gentler than she’d hit him. “Damn it.” she murmured. “We’ll wait.”

Jungkook had managed to keep the eye contact with her so far, but now he quickly looked away, forming a fist with his left hand. He hoped that would be enough – he had neither the energy nor the imagination to try anything else. The fact that it all depended on how observant Violet was was annoying, but - he supposed - if she didn’t bite, at least he had managed to buy them some time.

Violet took a step forward, and Hoseok immediately tensed. Luckily, the only thing she did was let out an exasperated sigh. “There’s something else isn’t it?” she asked.

Jungkook took another deep breath, wincing at the pain, before reciting as quickly as he could, mostly to make sure he didn’t run out of air before finishing; “My family will know Kangmin has his people at the academy if I just leave without taking any of my things.” It was the truth. If Jungkook disappeared, Kangmin would be the main suspect. Jimin would have absolutely no problems figuring out he had managed to sneak a demon into the academy if Jungkook did something as suspicious as leave completely empty handed. The fact that it was winter and the only thing he was currently wearing was a thin suit would make the whole thing look even more fishy.

Jungkook lowered his head, the strain needed to keep it raised becoming too much, so he didn’t see Violet’s reaction. He heard her bitter chuckle though. “You’re exactly like your brother.” she said dryly. Although Kangmin was the last person he would ever want to be compared to, he had too little energy left to be overly bothered by her assessment. Her opinion didn’t matter anyway. “Fine. We’ll go to your room and you’re going to take your things. Then we’ll go.” she decided. “Your demon will still stay here.”

“I don’t think he can walk.” said Hoseok, taking a small step back, closer to Jungkook who forced himself to look up again. Violet seemed to agree with Hoseok’s assessment, her eyebrows knitted together into a frown. Jungkook momentarily closed his eyes. Despite the weak light, the elevator still seemed incredibly bright.

He was almost entirely positive Hosoek was trying to stall, probably until one of the other two demons found them. It was an option, but Jungkook didn’t believe it was the best one. The demons would probably need some time to find them even with their super hearing and super speed, and when they did, they would have to get into the elevator that was probably suspended somewhere between the first and second floor unnoticed, which was close to impossible. Hoseok would most likely have to keep Violet away from him from the moment she realized what was happening to when Yoongi and Taehyung managed to get in and stop her. Jungkook doubted he would survive that.

Taking a deep breath, he pushed himself on his feet, keeping both of his hands pressed against the wall for purchase. Everything was spinning, and the fresh bout of nausea almost made him sink back on his knees. Despite it, he remained on his feet, looking straight at Violet, who was observing him with a puzzled expression on her face. “I can walk.” he said, hoping that was the truth.

Violet gave him a skeptical look before she finally nodded. “Good.” she said. She still sounded doubtful, but she pressed the button for the correct floor nonetheless. Jungkook had to grab onto the handrail with both of his hands when the elevator started moving, his legs threatening to give up on him.

Needless to say, the way to his room was painful. Walking felt a little like trying to stand on a boat stuck on the sea during a particularly bad storm, the floor swaying under his feet badly enough that keeping a hand against the wall was the only thing preventing him from simply keeling over. The muffled music coming out of one of the rooms felt like a hammer to his head, and he flinched at every bass, covering his ear with his free hand despite knowing it was pointless.

Hoseok had stayed in the elevator just as Violet had instructed, and Violet was somewhere behind him, turned into a wasp. He could hear the distant buzzing even over the music.

The short way from the elevator to his room seemed unnaturally long, and he barely suppressed the sigh of relief when he finally reached the correct door, barely stopping himself from sinking to the floor. He wasn’t safe yet, still having to unlock the door. The task seemed unnecessarily difficult, his fingers so numb that he let go of the keys two times before he finally managed to get them into the keyhole.

After what seemed like ages, the door was finally opened and he stumbled into the room, grabbing onto the handle for balance. His eyes met Taeyhung’s as soon as he mustered the energy to look up, the demon back in his original form, sitting on the desk with his hands crossed over his chest. Jungkook was only half aware of his eyes narrowing as they traveled from Jungkook’s toes to his head and back again. He didn’t really have the time to do or say anything, Taehyung moving so fast that the only thing he saw was a vaguely human shaped blur coming towards him, and then the demon was directly in front of him, grabbing his wrists and pulling him deeper in the room. Jungkook stumbled and would almost definitely fall over if Taehyung didn’t grab his elbow to steady him, gently pushing him on the bed. “Lie down.” he instructed, before he turned towards the still open door.

Jungkook did as he was told, happy for the opportunity to rest his head. The pain was getting worse and he closed his eyes, forcing himself to take deep measured breaths. At least breathing wasn’t as hard anymore.

“Are you going to come in?” wondered Taehyung. His voice was calm, but Jungkook could still detect a hint of amusement in it. The question was followed by a few seconds of silence and then the sound of the door closing.

“Who are you?” asked Violet. She sounded careful, but not overly alarmed. The weirdness of the situation probably already registered, but she didn’t figure out what it meant just yet.

Taehyung ignored her question. “How’s Gara?” he wondered instead, his tone conversational. “We couldn’t catch up the last time we met, unfortunately.”

Silence, and then; “You’re…” Violet’s voice trailed off, the alarm in it noticeable.

Jungkook couldn’t tell exactly what happened next - there were a few whooshing sounds, a crackle and then a thud. The next thing he knew was the weight on the bed shifting as someone sat down next to him, resting a hand on his cheek. Flinching, Jungkook opened his eyes in alarm, but it was just Taehyung, staring down at him with an expression he couldn’t decipher. Jungkook absentmindedly wondered whether he should be more bothered by his closeness and the fact his hand was still pressed against Jungkook’s cheek. He knew that he would be, usually, but right now - after another demon attack that had been even worse than the previous one - he didn’t find it anything but comforting. Although the lack of negative feelings would normally terrify him, he was too exhausted and in too much pain to particularly care about it at the moment.

He blinked and was just about to close his eyes again, when he noticed there was a jar in Taehyung’s right hand. He didn’t need too long to recognize it; it was a leftover from a candle he forgot to get rid of and that had been lying on his desk for months. It took a bit longer for his eyes to focus on the wasp that was trapped inside of it. It was angrily slamming itself against the glass, its efforts clearly pointless.

“Is that…?” asked Jungkook, staring at the jar with the angry wasp. It had to be… but how the hell could one trap a higher demon in a glass jar? It had to be fortified with magic somehow, or Violet’s power had to be blocked, or... At times like this he truly wished he had more knowledge of demonic powers.

“Yeeun - or whatever her real name is.” Taehyung said, still looking at him with that weird expression on his face. “Where is your phone?” he asked after a few seconds of silence.

Jungkook was too tired to care why the demon wanted his phone, not to mention still busy processing the existence of the wasp in the glass jar. His brain worked so slowly that he needed a few seconds to remember where he had left it, and then a few more to retrieve it from under the pillow. Every kind of movement send a fresh wave of pain through his body, so he tried to move as little as possible. Taehyung tilted his head as he accepted the phone, his fingers slightly brushing against Jungkook’s skin.

“What’s this?” he asked, holding something up. Jungkook blinked, eyes focusing on the hairpin with difficulty. He needed uncomfortably long to figure out how it got in Taehyung’s hands - Jungkook must have given it to Taehyung together with the phone without noticing.

“Violet gave it to me.” he murmured, not caring that Violet was a made up nickname. It didn’t matter, the demon knowing who he meant anyway, raising the pin to his eye level and giving it a suspicious look. He turned it around a couple of times before determining it wasn’t dangerous and placing it back in Jungkook’s hand. Jungkook immediately slipped it under the pillow, deciding to deal with it once he felt at least a little bit better.

Taehyung typed something in the phone, before he raised it to his ear. “Yoongi.” he said when the person on the other side picked up. “Get in here as fast as you can, and don’t forget to drag Hoseok with you.” There was no urgency in his voice, his tone almost cheerful. Despite that, it radiated danger, and Jungkook felt a shiver travel down his spine. 

‘As fast as you can’ was apparently inhumanly fast - Taehyung barely disconnected the call when there was a knock on the door. The demon gave it an annoyed look, which Yoongi apparently sensed through the door and took as an invitation to enter. He took two steps into the room, his face just as emotionless as ever, eyes traveling from Taehyung to Jungkook and then to the jar with the angry wasp. Slightly raising his hand, he opened his fist, revealing the lady bug. Hoseok promptly flew off his hand and turned back into his original form midflight. His expression was the complete opposite of  Yoongi’s, eyes filled with barely contained panic.

Needless to say, Taehyung throwing the jar to him did nothing to improve the situation. Hoseok caught it seemingly on instinct, looking down at it with obvious horror on his face. “Be at least somewhat useful and watch over this for me.” instructed Taehyung, Hoseok didn’t protest, but he held the jar in the same way one would hold a viper that was about to strike, observing the wasp with a mix of disgust and fear.

Yoongi and Taehyung shared a look, before Yoongi finally moved deeper into the room, slowly walking over to the bed and kneeling in front of it. The gaze he directed at Jungkook was so detached that Jungkook wasn’t even uncomfortable because of it, at least not until something weird started happening to Yoongi’s eyes. The best way Jungkook could describe it was a series of sparks appearing in rhem, coloring them an electric shade of blue. Jungkook flinched, half-convinced he was hallucinating. But no, he could definitely see sparks dancing along Yoongi’s irises, and what was even more unsettling - he could hear them, their crackle reminding him of fire. He wasn’t sure what exactly Yoongi was doing, but it was obvious magic was involved, and - considering Yoongi was still staring at him - probably being used on him. He froze, muscles automatically tensing, sending a fresh wave of pain through his body.

Taehyung gently patted his hand, prompting Jungkook avert his gaze from Yoongi and look at him. There was a barely visible curl to his lips and amusement mixed with something else in his eyes. He was no easier to look at than Yoongi, so Jungkook did the only thing he could to avoid having to look at either of them and closed his eyes, forcing himself to relax. It was not like he could do anything to prevent whatever was currently happening.

He wasn’t sure how long the whole thing lasted, but eventually Yoongi moved out of his personal space. “It’s not as bad as it looks.” he said.

Jungkook wasn’t sure what he was talking about, and Taehyung’s reaction did nothing to clear it up. “It looks pretty bad, so that doesn’t exactly reassure me.”

Yoongi let out a sigh. “Nothing is broken and there’s no internal bleeding.” he said. That made it clear that they were talking about him, which meant Yoongi had been probably evaluating his injuries with magic… somehow. Trying to make sense of it worsened Jungkook’s headache, so he promptly gave up.

“It might not be a bad idea to go to the hospital anyway. They’ll give you painkillers if nothing else.” said Yoongi. It took a while before his words got past the fog in Jungkook’s brain and he realized the demon was speaking to him. He slowly opened his eyes, regretting it as soon as he noticed all three demons were staring at him.

Yoongi’s proposal was perfectly sound, but Jungkook started to shake his head anyway, catching himself just in time and murmuring ‘no hospital’ instead. Going to the hospital would mean missing the flight, and missing the flight would mean having to call Jimin. Having to call Jimin would in turn mean having to explain that he had been just attacked by a demon at the academy, and he knew - he just knew - that would result in a prompt transport directly to the Royal palace. He had barely escaped that hellhole a few years ago, and he had absolutely no intentions of going back now. 

He wasn’t sure if he believed Yoongi because he needed an excuse not to go to the hospital or because of genuine trust, but the fact of the matter was that he believed him. He would probably try to get to the bottom of why if he hadn’t been so exhausted and in so much pain, but as he was, he decided not to linger on it for now. He promised himself he would let the demons bring him to the hospital if his state got worse.

None of the demons reacted, all three still staring at him. Yoongi’s eyes were unreadable, while Taehyung and Hoseok looked highly skeptical of his decision. “I’m fine.” he murmured.

“You’d say that if you were missing an arm, so I’m not taking your word on it.” the demon said, glancing at Yoongi who gave a quick nod. “No hospital then.” he sighed.