"Did you hear the news, hyung?"

V turned off the sink and splashed his face with water. He took one of the dirty towels hanging from the stand and used it wipe his face.

"What's that, JK?"

The dongsaeng had just arrived from an assembly for the younger boys like him. He took off his jacket and placed it neatly on his mattress. "I heard that RM is a Second Brother now," he informed V, "They allowed him to have a name with two syllables already. His official ceremony is tonight."

"Why am I not surprised?" asked V, striding into their small room, topless. He was looking at his small box of clothes. "He's done plenty of up to the First Brother."

"Well, the name he chose wasn't exactly as good as I thought it'd be."

"What is it?"

"Rap Mon?"

V sniggered, taking out a sleeveless shirt from the box. "That sounds authoritative," he remarked, "What's that supposed to mean? Rap Monster?"

"I suppose that hyung enjoyed rapping before he came to the Brotherhood," replied JK, "Sometimes, I hear him rapping whenever he's not in large crowds. I heard rumors he wanted to be an underground rapper."

"I want him to be put underground and in a wrapper."

The dongsaeng didn't reply; JK just stared at V disapprovingly, watching him scour the box for his precious red bandana. Once V got his hands on his bandana, he flipped his hair and tie it around his head. 

"Good thing you didn't leave that behind last night," JK said, "You looked pretty distracted. Were you amazed with that dancer too?"

There was silence. 

"Hyung?"

JK turned around to see why his older roommate fell silent. He saw V still crouched over his small box of belongings, but his hands were no longer searching for anything. He just sat there. 

"Hyung? Are you okay?" asked the younger one, "Did I say something to offend you?"

V didn't answer, which worried JK even more. The poor dongsaeng racked his brains for anything he said that might've triggered his hyung. But before he could appeal for forgiveness, V got up from his position and told JK not to wait for him. The younger one was to stay put and not follow; he had business to do, he said. 

"But what about Suga hyung?" asked JK, "What do I say when he asks about Kim Seokjin?"

V sighed. "Tell him he wasn't there."

And then he left.

The Shack's junkyard of a backyard was empty that day. Suga gave half of the boys the day off since there was no special operation and they were lying low from the authorities. They couldn't risk getting associated with crimes for the time being; three of their members sit in jail right now, waiting for bail from their sponsors. 

V was the solitary occupant of the junkyard. He sat in the middle, in one of the wooden tables, thinking to himself. 

It was fortunate no one was there; otherwise, they'd see a very confused V. 

Last night wasn't a failed mission. Kim Seokjin was nowhere to be found. When they came back to the Shack, JK was really worried they would get hit by the Second Brothers for failing. V explained that technically, they didn't. Kim Seokjin wasn't there; he was on the guest list, but he made no appearance. That sort of relieved the younger one until he worried again the next morning.

But V couldn't pay attention to JK's woes. There was one thing in his mind.

Those eyes, he thought. 

As much as he'd like to say he was focused, V couldn't deny that he was distracted by that unknown dancer. 

During the entire performance, the gangster was frozen, enchanted with the boy's graceful movements. V, who was known for his laser-sharp focus, let his guard down as he was mesmerized by the dancer. There were no words to the music, but he realized it didn't need any -- the boy made lyrics of his own with his graceful gestures. 

Apart from the graceful steps, one more thing caught V's eye.

The dancer's eyes. 

Remembering those mesmerizing pair of eyes, the gangster got out the papers he shielded from JK's eyes by concealing them inside his shirt. He was really lucky no one was around; they'd think he was smuggling documents. V would rather they do think it was smuggled documents; anyone who took a closer look could see they were entirely a different thing.

Suga strictly forbade reading unless it was connected with their operations. For this reason, a number of the kids are strangers to fiction and other forms of literature. 

Not V. 

Before he came into the Brotherhood, his mother had instilled in him the love of books. He was empty-handed when he came to the Shack and he missed books much. His quick-witted skills, however, enabled him to sneak away to the local library to steal some books whenever he needed them.

Especially that one time he realized there was something different about him. 

V took out each page per piece and started reading through them.

...the idea that reincarnation is real continues to babble experts and non-believers alike. The question of the soul living again to fulfill its