A/N: I'M SO FREAKING EXCITED THAT MY HIATUS IS OVER! I missed this story so much, and seeing all my lovely readers ♥ I am so sorry it took so long, but I hope you enjoy this chapter. Lots of love xo ALSO y'all should use the story chat more often! I'd love to talk to you about the story (and BTS, too) I didn't install it for nothing >.< 

P.S. If you've forgotten what happened in the recent chapters, just comment and I'll send you a really quick rundown so you don't have to re-read everything again. (dw, I know the feels) 

It’s dark.

The musty scent of rotting wood hits Jungkook’s nose.

He can’t feel the wind, but he can sense it’s cold.

When his eyes adjust, he realizes he’s standing amidst a thick group of trees. Their branches stretch upwards, seemingly endless and pitch black against the non-existent sky.

With no sense of direction at all, he walks. His feet trudge slowly against crackling leaves and twigs. The crisp snap each step makes echoes around him. Shadows surround him, lurking between skeletons of trees that stretch on forever.

What is this place? When did he get here? And how does he get home?

He wanders aimlessly for what feels like hours. Suddenly, a luminous light appears in the distance. His eyes remain focused on the single glowing orb as he walks towards it, swallowing him into its trance. The closer he gets, the clearer things become.

The light pours down from the sky, streaming through the canopy of leaves above his head, and falls upon the ground in a perfect circle just a few meters ahead of him. In the centre of this halo of light is the figure of a girl, crouched in an uncomfortable looking position.

Her head twitches upwards when she hears him approach. In one graceful movement, she stands upright, letting the material of her white dress flow to the ground in rivers. Her black hair is stark against her skin and cascades over her shoulders. She looks to be around the same age as him.

Jungkook absorbs the way her eyes light up as soon as he steps into clear view.

“It’s you again,” she sings in a cheerful voice.

He frowns. “Who are you?”

“I thought you would’ve remembered…” Her lips are moving too slow for her voice.

“Where am I?” he asks.

Her face scrunches up with delight as she laughs. “You’re lost again, huh?”

He doesn’t speak. His thoughts don’t make sense, and neither does anything else right now. Before he can figure out a way to reply, a low thunderous boom sounds in the distance. He can feel it rumbling towards them like a stampede.

“What is that?” His voice catches in his throat.

“It’s him…” She raises one ghostly white arm and points at something that is still shrouded in shadows.

He doesn’t want to look. The low drumming noise slows down, but grows louder with each second, pounding in his eardrums like an irregular heartbeat. The girl remains frozen in her position, eyes a thick black. He knows something is coming, but he’s afraid to know exactly what, afraid all his fears will be realized. The sound continues, blazing through the forest, mixing in the air until it starts to sound like threatening laughter. Mocking him. Taunting him.

Suddenly, everything falls silent again. Jungkook inhales, exhales. Is it safe now?

There’s a crack somewhere behind him. A prickling sensation slowly crawls up the back of his neck. The strange girl finally turns to look at him. Her face is calm, but her eyes are swimming with worry.

“Jungkook!” she half-screams, half-whispers. “You have to be careful! Watch your back!”

He looks down. The ground is moving. Trodden leaves vibrate as something slithers beneath them. He tries to jump but thick vines start to worm their way around his ankles, tangling themselves against his skin.

He’s stuck. Panic fills his heart.

“Help me!” he shouts at the girl.

She’s not looking at him. Her face is buried beneath her hair. Her beautiful figure starts to drown in the darkness as the snake-like vines slide up his body, over his chest, around his neck, and finally over his face until he can’t see, can’t breathe.

It’s dark.

---

Hyesoon had a bad feeling. She’d learnt to always trust her instincts, and right now they were going crazy. Avoiding the eyes of teachers, she frantically rushed to her locker.

It has to be here. It has to.

Flinging open the metal door, she rummaged through every inch of it. She flipped over books, shoved aside her hockey gear and came very close to tearing her hair out when she remained empty-handed.

She eyed the disaster zone that the contents of her locker had now become and sighed.

It’s not in her room. It’s not in her bag, and it’s not in here…

The ball of distress in her stomach grew. Her mind ran through all the possible places she could have left it. It wasn’t like her to be so careless. A pair of hands jabbed her sides, followed by a familiar giggle. Squealing like a caged animal, Hyesoon jolted upright and almost fell backwards.

Jaera laughed and pulled Hyesoon to her balance. “Woah! I definitely wasn’t expecting that reaction.”

“My necklace!” Hyesoon blurted out, her hand still clutching her chest from the mini heart attack she’d just experienced. “I can’t find my necklace!”

“What do you mean?”

“The necklace my grandma gave me. I can’t find it anywhere. It’s not in my room, I practically turned it upside down three times. I’ve looked all over my locker, but it’s not there either. I thought it would have shown up somewhere by now, but it hasn’t and I don’t know what to do.”

“You need to calm down,” Jaera whispers, glancing at a few students that are hovering around their lockers. “People are going to start wondering why you’re acting so sketchy lately.”

Hyesoon sighed, leaning back. She had to admit she hadn’t been herself since the break-in. Her normal sleep patterns had been interrupted my nightmares. Even at school, the paranoia and anxiety just wouldn’t leave her alone. Now the added worry of not being able to find her necklace was making everything almost too difficult to bear.

“I need to find it, Jaera.” Her voice was steady, unlike her heartbeat. “You don’t understand. Losing it after something like this is a bad sign. It’s the sign of an investigation gone wrong.”

Jaera noted the way Hyesoon’s eyes glazed over with fear. “If it means that much to you, I’ll help you find it.”

---

“A necklace?”

Mr. Kim was standing in front of the large window of his office, staring at the entrance of school. His attention was fixed on a group of students who looked to be skipping class. Usually he would have marched out there and ordered them back inside, but his energy levels were feeling low these days.

“Yes, a necklace.” Mr. Kim spun around and walked over to his desk to retrieve the said jewelry from one of the drawers. “One of the students found it near a plant in the office area.”

Miss Yang eyed the silver chain with confusion. “And you think it has something to do with the intrusion?”

“I don’t know yet.” He watched the way the key-shaped pendant twirled delicately at its end. “We’ll know once the owner comes to retrieve it."

Miss Yang nodded. “So… what’s this got to do with me?”

"I want you to put a lost and found notice out for it." He passed the necklace to her. "Not anything too fancy. I'd do it myself, but I don't really have the time."

"Sure." She tucked the necklace in her pocket. "If that's all you need-"

"Actually there is something else..." His tone had hardened.

"Just name it."

He sat down, a heavy sigh falling from his chest. “I know you’re close to those boys, or at least, you used to be.”

She gulped, eyes darting around every corner of his office. Did he know something? Was this the end of her career?

“I just want you to keep an eye on them for me, that’s all. You’re the only staff member I can trust with them. Those boys are reckless and rebellious. They hate taking orders, especially from me.” He looked down at his hands. “Just make sure they don’t do anything stupid, because I can assure you, they will regret it.”

Miss Yang tried to shake off the dread that was filling her stomach. She had never heard Mr. Kim sound so threatening before.

“You can do that for me, right?”

Avoiding his menacing stare, she nodded quickly. “Of course, sir.”

“Thank you. You can leave now.”

It was well into lunch break when Miss Yang was finally able to find one of the boys. She saw Jungkook sitting alone by the basketball courts. His attention was on something in the distance but she couldn’t pinpoint anything significant, so she assumed he was daydreaming. Before she had the chance to rush over to him, Jimin appeared in front of her.

“Miss Yang! It’s been a while.” His smile was still as bright as always. “Were you looking for somebody?”

She nodded. “You, actually. Well, all three of you. I really need to talk.”

“What’s this about?”

She ushered him further along the field until they were shaded under a wide tree. The blanket of crisped leaves created blurry shadows beneath their feet.

Jimin’s smile was quickly fading as she constantly glanced at the ground. “What’s wrong?”

“I’m going to ask you something. Something really important and I need you to be honest with me. Please?”

“Okay,” he hurriedly answered.

“Was it you?”

There was a stretched moment of silence. Jimin knew exactly what she was talking about. He peered at her carefully. He didn’t know if she was snooping around for Mr. Kim or just wanted to know for her own business, but he couldn’t risk anything. She had helped him a lot in the past, even jeopardized her job for him. He understood that. But she was too close to Mr. Kim for him to trust her. It also wasn’t just him he was trying to protect, he had to think of his friends, too.

Without blinking, he shook his head. “I don’t know who broke into the school, but it definitely wasn’t me.”

Miss Yang let out a long sigh. “I thought so. I mean, you guys are rebellious, but not criminals. I knew that all along. Sorry I asked.”

She turned to leave when a nagging question entered Jimin’s mind.         

“Why did you ask?”

“Huh?” She looked honestly confused.

“Why even bring it up? You must have suspected something to ask me in the first place, so why ask?”

“I – “

“Unless someone put you up to it…”

“Of course not, Jimin.” She could feel heat rising up the back of her neck. “I just needed to put my mind at ease. I know you’re innocent, but I had to be sure.”

Jimin took in her words. “Okay. So this has nothing to do with Mr. Kim?”

“Not at all,” she assured him. Her smile was wavering but she held it until she felt he was convinced. After a few more seconds of silent eye contact, he muttered a quick ‘alright’ and headed towards Jungkook.

Miss Yang watched the hem of his jacket slightly billowing in the breeze with each stride. She sighed again.

Is he telling the truth? Or is he hiding as much as I am?

---

Meeting at Jaera’s tonight. 6pm. Tell the others.

                        Jungkook has practice, so there’ll only be four of us.

That’s fine, just make sure Taehyung brings the stuff.

And his laptop.

Jaera was busy preparing snacks. Hyesoon had insisted she help, but the latter refused. Hyesoon didn’t have to be a super detective to figure out something was wrong with Jaera. She was constantly spacing out, she didn’t talk as much as she used to and seemed more distant. Hyesoon wanted to know what was up, but until Jaera was ready to talk she decided to wait. Besides she had bigger things to investigate at the moment.

It was a little after six when there was a loud knock at the door. Jaera had chosen the perfect time for a meeting since her mom was working late that night. The last thing they needed was any interruptions. She was obviously relieved when she opened the door to see only Jimin and Taehyung were there, although a little voice started asking annoying questions in the back of her mind.

Where is he?

She mentally told it to shut up and, after realizing how rude she looked just standing there staring at them, welcomed the two boys in.

“Food!” Taehyung immediately announced, plonking down on the carpet and shoving a handful of chips into his mouth.

“It’s not going to run away,” Hyesoon said, emerging from the kitchen with a pitcher of juice and some plastic cups. She glanced at her watch after placing them down on the coffee table. “Wow, I didn’t expect you guys to be on time.”

“We’re not that useless, are we?” Jimin chuckled, taking the seat beside Taehyung.

Hyesoon rolled her eyes. Her and Jaera sat on the floor, both of their minds too occupied to eat at the moment.

“Okay, this is gonna sound desperate, but can you please pass me the goods.”

Taehyung laughed through a mouthful of chips, and heaved his backpack over to her. Hyesoon hungrily ped it, carefully tipping the cassette tapes all over the floor. She spread them out and then set the files Taehyung had taken next to the pile.

“This is awesome. Real life evidence.”

Her excited fingers rummaged through the tapes, searching for that one date that had been etched in her mind for weeks. May 22. The rest of the gang only watched in baited silence, letting her do her thing. She was sorting through them when something else caught her eye. Dismissing it, she tucked it back where she’d found it.

“Finally!” she exclaimed, a very wide grin spread across her face. “Where’s the player?”

Jaera shuffled over towards the TV, pulling out a machine that looked like a mini TV mated with a radio. It had a small screen on the front, with several buttons and a tape deck on the top.

“What is that? And why do you have it?” Taehyung asked, scooting closer to it.

“It’s an old tape player. My dad used to use it when he’d record songs with his band. We’ve never thought to throw it out.”

“Hopefully it’s not too old, because I really need this to work.”

Her hands trembled slightly as she slid the tape into the slot and clicked it shut. Taking in a deep breath, she pressed play.

The screen was so small the four had to hunch over the device so they could see clearly. The image wasn’t as distorted as Hyesoon thought it would be, only a little fuzzy around the edges. Apart from that, everything seemed clear.

“So this is the entrance to school which is nearest the gym. Whoever Mr. Kim was talking to would have left through here. It was at the beginning of lunch, right Jaera?”

She nodded. Hyesoon hit the fast forward button until it was just before lunch time, anxiously pressing play again. Her heart was beating fast as she peered at the screen closely.

“Wait!” Jimin suddenly shouted, almost sending the girl into a heart attack. “Go back, real quick.”

“How far?”

“Just go back until I say stop.”

She listened, rewinding the tape, until Jimin yelled at her to stop again. He leaned down closer, holding his breath. The images played across the screen, almost like a gloomy black-and-white movie. His eyes scanned over every inch. The others all watched as well, not knowing what they were looking for.

Jimin almost knocked the whole thing over as his hand slammed at the pause button. ‘There!” he shouted, pointing at the screen.

“Holy …” Taehyung whispered.

“What is it?!” Hyesoon urged.

“It’s our old dance teacher.” Jimin gulped, eyes glued to the screen. “Mr. Kwang.”

“Why is he…”

“Wait, did you say Kwang?” Hyesoon eyebrows perked up. She immediately reached over to where she’d left the rest of the evidence, shuffling through the papers Taehyung had taken. “It’s the same guy…”

She held up the form she’d found earlier. It had a picture of the same person that was on the screen in the top right hand corner, next to bold words reading, RESTRAINING ORDER.

“A restraining order? Why would he be forbidden from our school?” Jimin asked.

“I have no idea. But look at the date,” Hyesoon said, pointing at the top of the page. “May 22^nd.”

“The same day… This is so confusing. So Mr. Kim was talking to our old dance teacher, and then he puts a restraining order against him? It doesn’t make sense.”

“Wrong.” Jaera finally spoke.

They glanced over at her, surprised. “What do you mean?”

“Look at the time on the tape,” she explained. “It was already lunch time when I overheard Mr. Kim talking. The point in time on the tape here is only 11 o’clock.”

“Good spotting, Jae. Let’s keep watching and find out then.”

They only had to fast forward a little bit this time. Once again, they were sitting in silence, waiting and watching. Jaera finally saw a figure emerge from the top left hand side of the screen.

“That’s him!” she said, recognizing the sleek navy suit.

“I knew it.” Jimin said immediately. “It was Jin. He was talking to Jin. He wanted revenge on us, so he came to talk to his father.”

“Is that all?” an unrecognizable voice said.

Jaera listened closer, trying to figure out who the owner of the voice was.

“Yes, that’s all for now. You have to be patient. I know how much this means to you.”

“I know. I just thought there would have been an easier way. Can’t you do more?”

“There’s not much I can do. Even in my position, there are limitations. But I’ve been watching them for quite some time and I know this will work.”

“Okay, good. Don’t fail me on this.”

“Not a chance. Soon he’ll be wishing he never crossed us.”

“I don’t get it.” Taehyung rubbed a hand over his forehead. “I don’t understand why they would go through all of this just to get revenge on us. We didn’t even do anything.”

“We didn’t have to. We were always the enemies. The ones who took his precious son away from him. He turned Jin against us, and now he’s brainwashed him into thinking we’re the enemies, too.”

“I need more. I need more clues.”

They looked at Hyesoon who looked to be in deep thought. She sighed.

“I need to talk to him.”

“Who? Jin?”

“No.” She held up the piece of paper in her hand. “I need to talk to Mr. Kwang.”

---