In-V-Tae-Shins .20.

Momoe stared in horror at the private strip show unfolding before her very eyes.

She didn’t think much of Suga’s odd little piece of advice, however as she stared at Taehyung pulling off his black tie with a slow, seductive yank at the neck; followed by loud squeals and screeches by almost every female present; she couldn’t help but praise him for his heads-up… and praise herself for actually heeding his words.

Thank the Lord I’m not as stubborn as I used to be, she said to herself, watching with a twitching eye as Taehyung now reached for his white dress shirt and pulled in one of the women to help him with the article of clothing. She turned away as soon as the said woman seemingly fainted on close contact with him, and returned to her glass of water at the bar.

Well, thank goodness she wasn’t going to be here for long anyway. She had decided to visit the party out of goodwill for the boys and thereafter head over to Sehun’s bash, and found the thought an incredibly relaxing one considering she didn’t have to pretend with the latter.

‘Oops,’ Hoseok said beside her with a relative amount of pain; his eyes still fixated on the dancefloor that teemed with wriggling drunks. Taehyung included.

‘There goes Jiminnie.’

Momoe didn’t even bother imagining what kinds of things the other younger one was possibly subject to there with the alien. Perhaps a few weeks ago she would have been no better than the shrieking crowd of testosterone-starved ladies, however she couldn’t have cared less at this point. Maybe if she didn’t know Taehyung’s true (aka alien-like) nature, she’d also be a part of the shark frenzy… and simply the thought was enough to make her cringe.

‘Oops,’ Namjoon feigned the dark-haired one’s opening words a few seconds prior. ‘And here comes Jiminnie.’

As if on cue, Jimin appeared. He looked incredibly flustered as he fiddled with the collar of his shirt and his disordered black blazer that hung off a single shoulder, and threw his hands on Hoseok’s arms with a loud groan.

‘Oh God, I… I think I need some air.’

‘Hold on,’ the blonde finished his drink with one fluid flick of the wrist, and rose from his seat, patting his thighs in the process. ‘I’ll join you.’

Jimin groaned again; the sound muffled by the blaring Christmas carols overhead; and jabbed his thumb over his shoulder roughly.

‘Can you please shoot me the next time I make a bet with him over rock paper scissors? And why is this suit and tie thing a tradition anyway?’

Hoseok raised his hand. The fuzzy, childish antler accessory on his head bouncing like sticks of jelly as he took a big gulp of his tall drink. ‘I agree. You’re banned from wearing a suit ever again too. I swear you’re going to wake up to a good few hospital bills in the mailbox tomorrow morning.’

Namjoon nodded thoughtfully. ‘You should know better than to question anything V does, man. It’s just… a V thing.’

Momoe couldn’t help but laugh quietly at the thought, and so did Namjoon as he turned away from the younger boy, smiling wickedly. Jimin’s expression soured at this comment, however his eyes lit up again just as quickly and he disappeared for a moment. They watched him with relative curiosity as he vanished into the crowd, and after a moment, reappeared with his arm slung around a taller person’s shoulder.

‘That,’ he pointed at the individual with an impish grin on his face. ‘Is why we have our precious Jin-hyung.’

Jin chuckled amusedly at Jimin’s bashful statement, and looked over the rest of the boys with an apologetic bow of the head. Unlike Taehyung and Jimin – being the only two out of the present six that wore suits – he was dressed in a red plaid dress shirt that was strangely fitting of the event’s colour scheme. He had on a concrete-coloured coat over it, and a sienna pair of chinos that stood out nicely against the vibrant lights flashing in the large room; specs of white snow decorating his shoulders and the crown of his head.

‘Aigoo, did I just walk into a dangerous situation here again?’

The boys boomed with laughter and Hoseok patted the empty chair beside him, to which he gratefully plunked himself in. ‘Jinnie, get ready to see a lot of female patients tomorrow. Courtesy of jamless Jimin.’

‘Hey!’

Jimin pointed at the older one playfully, but before he could continue, Namjoon threw an arm around him and yanked the boy towards the large apartment entrance.

‘See you punks later,’ the blonde saluted behind him, and the two gradually disappeared out of sight within the sea of bodies ahead.

Hoseok was the next to leave, claiming an old cheesy Christmas song that blared was the only one he recognized throughout the entire night, and he hopped to the dancefloor in an amusing, earthworm-like way. Momoe watched him with an incredibly entertained look on her face. The stuffed antlers on his head bobbed away with hilarious motion, and she grinned at the comedic spectacle he made of himself.

In fact, she probably would have joined him on any other occasion seeing how genuinely enthusiastic he looked throwing his hands up in the air like a drugged-up superstar, but she remained in her seat… all the while having Jin’s eyes on her intently.

He stared at the imposter in his best friend’s body with large, questioning eyes. He was surprised he managed to conceal his knowledge of the phenomenon as well as he did for the past few weeks, yet at the same time, he was certain it was his inability to jump straight to conclusions that helped this fact. Seokjin was always a bit of a roundabout thinker. Perhaps it was easy for one of his friends to – if they were in his position instead of picking up the small changes in Suga’s mannerisms and speech – blurt out with a horribly accusing finger that Yoongi was not himself, however he dwelled on the thought for an incredibly long time before finally settling with his initial verdict.

It was the word wakame that got him to; without a doubt; trust his gut suspicion. That day in the restaurant, Suga had articulated the word so flawlessly that Jin felt bewildered for a moment. It was a word he struggled getting a grip on for the longest time; ever since Jin knew him, in fact. And the older boy was so accustomed to correcting him whenever he instead resorted to ridiculous alternatives for the dish when he couldn’t put his finger on it that Seokjin picked up the anomaly almost instantly.

‘So…,’ Jin asked; his voice startling the girl as she jumped in her seat. ‘Is now a good time to ask you about this thing?’

Momoe stared at him for a long moment, examining his face for perhaps any hint of amusement, however she knew well enough that the older boy was genuinely interested – maybe even concerned if she wasn’t misunderstanding his furrowed eyebrows and rounded eyes – in their supernatural predicament.

She sighed. The glass of water in her single hand as she brought the rim to her lips, and she focused on the girl behind Jin who eyed the boy with hungry eyes while he wasn’t looking. Momoe noticed the painfully obvious way she ogled him – to Jin’s obliviousness – and stifled a gag, returning to her drink.

‘Well, it’s kind of a long story…’

And boy, was it a complex, mind-boggling one at that. She knew Jin was a doctor in community service and probably had a brain (and face) worth dying for, but she doubted his capabilities considering the event was frighteningly preposterous. It was nothing short of illogical. Perhaps she could even classify it as something straight out of a fantasy novel if she had to go into the ridiculous details of how it all happened, and laughed bitterly within her mind at the prospect.

Jin’s lips spread into a warm smile. And for some reason following his expressive response, the music suddenly reached an incredibly deafening volume.

‘Well, I have all night!’ he shouted above the music, picking up Hoseok’s abandoned cocktail. ‘So go ahead!’

Momoe was skeptical of disclosing the events to Jin, however as she progressed with the explanation, that feeling subsided gradually. Jin looked so concentra