A/N: this is a double update! make sure you've read the previous chapter.

I whirl around, shaking the arms off my shoulders. Jungkook is standing behind me in a very fancy-looking plum tuxedo.

I let out a breath I didn’t realize I was holding. “Hey.”

“Hey.” His eyes slowly trail down my figure. “You look...,”

I bite my lip, waiting for him to finish his sentence. “Look what?” I ask after a few seconds of self-conscious silence. I should have fought Mrs. Kim when she bought this plush cream dress for me- should have told her the translucent satin bodice was too much and my shoulders felt too bare.

Can he tell I feel like a fraud in this gown?

Jungkook’s eyes flicker back up to mine.

“Beautiful,” he utters.

I blush.

“Thanks,” I whisper.

“Here.” He proffers his arm out to me, and I gratefully take it. As he leads me through the banquet hall, he murmurs, “Are you ready?”

I nod tightly. “Have you been okay? It’s been a while.”

He grimaces. “It was rough. This is the first time Jin and I have been allowed out of lockdown.”

“How’s your mom taking it all?”

“I’ve barely seen her. She’s constantly in meetings- the entire Kado is on high alert right now, what with Lucy being on the run and Jimin vanishing until today.”

“I see.”

Jungkook gives me a wry look. “Jin and I were pretty shocked when Taehyung came to us with Jimin’s plan. When did you tell him about everything?”

“It wasn’t by choice,” I respond defensively. “He tailed me to Lucy’s safehouse. Jimin had no choice but to restore his memories.”

“Hmm.”

“What?”

“Nothing. If he hadn’t known, you guys would’ve had no other way to contact me, Dev, and Jin. And we wouldn’t have had a plan for tonight.”

I know he’s dying to say something else, but I’m in no mood to discuss it. “Right.”

“It’ll be over by 9:30,” Jungkook says under his breath, more to assuage his own anxiety than mine. “Only an hour and a half. That’s it. That’s-,”

And then I see Dev sitting at a table with Jin, nauseous and miserable but still there, and I shriek, “Dev!”

He whips his head around. I nearly throw myself at him and Jin, onlookers be damned, because holy , they’re alive, they’re okay, I’ve missed them so much.

“Joo,” Dev breathes, clutching me tightly to his chest. “. You’re okay. You’re okay.”

“I’m- I was so scared- they told me you were in the hospital-,” I stammer as he says, “They said you had chi poisoning, too, I’m so happy you’re fine-,”

“Please, enough with the theatrics,” Evan snarks from the other side of the table. It suddenly dawns on me- Jin and Dev are sitting at a table with Laila, Hoseok, Namjoon, and the rest of Taehyung’s friends. I shrivel under their caustic, judgemental glares.

“ off,” Jin snaps. “We haven’t seen each other in a month.”

“And whose fault is that?” Yoongi snipes.

Jin bristles. “You-,”

“Alright, enough.” Laila flips her perfectly-curled brown hair over her shoulder. Her sleek red dress fits her body like a second skin- and despite the perilous situation we are in, I can’t help but recall the image of her lying in Taehyung’s bed, hickeys covering her caramel skin. My stomach twists unpleasantly.

I must have been staring for too long, because she gives me a wicked that displays her pointed incisors.

“All dolled up with the Kims’ money?” she asks in a saccharine-sweet voice.

I look back at her with a level stare. “Yeah. What did you use, your dad’s money laundering fortune?”

The smile drops off Laila’s face. “What the are you talking about?”

I give her a -eating grin. “Tell that to the Feds.”

Jungkook, Dev, and Jin snort with laughter as Laila rises, her entire body starting to pulse with furious red energy. “You stupid little -,” she hisses. “I’m going to-,”

“Okay.” Namjoon grabs her wrist and hauls her back down to her seat. “Come on. We can all play nice for a night.”

“She’s never going to be a part of the Kado,” Laila hisses. “No matter how hard Taehyung tries to vouch for her. She’s just useless human trash-,”

“Sofia texted back.” Dev flashes me his phone screen (which is blank). “She says to steal as much as we can from this banquet hall.”

I arch my brow. That was a low blow from Dev.

But I do relish the way Laila goes utterly silent at the mention of her ex-girlfriend’s name.

“If she was here, she’d approve of using her like that,” Dev mutters quietly.

Fair enough.

The next twenty minutes are passed in an uncomfortable stalemate. An enormous brick wall sits between my side of the table and Laila’s. Neither group refuses to acknowledge each other. I firmly keep my eyes trained on Jin, Dev, and Jungkook and my back to the rest of the Kado members.

But things are okay. Even though I spot Mr. Kim taking a seat at the frontmost table, followed by Mrs. Jeon- even though the malicious stares won’t stop- I’m joking around with Dev and playfully jostling Jin and flushing when Jungkook says I look like an angel. And as stupid as it sounds... I feel pretty. Loved. Special.

Maybe things will be okay.

And then I see Jimin and Taehyung step onto the stage at the front of the banquet hall.

My stomach drops to my feet.

Jin and Dev clutch my hands under the table.

And so it begins.

The crowd’s rowdy conversation gradually starts to dim in anticipation as they see the two sorcerers on stage. A buzzing quiet fills the room.

Taehyung’s eyes are scanning the crowd. They stop as they land on me, trembling in my seat.

We lock eyes. For a moment, it feels like we are the only two people in the universe. He looks so utterly divine in his black Gucci tuxedo, with his brown hair neatly coiffed and his posture tall and commanding. A shiver runs down my spine- , he’s so powerful, he’s so gorgeous as he soars miles above me. He has the entire magical world at his fingertips.

For a fleeting second, something softens in his gaze.

And in the next moment his eyes have snapped away from me. Taehyung murmurs something in Jimin’s ear, and then steps backstage.

Jungkook subtly stands up, heading to the left wing of the banquet hall. After a few long moments, Jin follows suit, heading to the right wing of the hall.

I let out a deep, shaky breath.

“Good evening, esteemed sorcerers.” Jimin’s voice has been magically amplified to echo around the hall. If Taehyung’s presence was commanding, Jimin’s is authoritarian. “Thank you for coming to the 189th annual Summer’s End banquet. My name is Jimin Park, Junior Vice Captain. I have been tasked with delivering tonight’s keynote speech.”

“But before I begin- let’s get the elephant out of the room. I know many of you have been wondering why I disappeared for weeks. I know that after we leave this banquet tonight, I will undoubtedly be placed under investigation. One of my peers may be replacing me as Junior Vice Captain.”

Jimin’s eyes trail over to our side of the room. All of us- from Dev to Hoseok- squirm under his gaze, because we know what Jimin’s said is preposterous. How could any of us hold a candle to Jimin’s power? Anyone else as Junior Vice Captain would be pathetic imitations of what he is.

“But before I am removed from my position, I have to show you the truth.”

He throws his arm up in the air. An explosive, blinding white light fills the room, gushing up into the ceiling from all four corners of the hall where him, Taehyung, Jin, and Jungkook are positioned. The chi pools over the high-vaulted ceiling like the white rays of a midday summer sun. Cries of shock resonate through the air- sorcerers stand, weapons at the ready, unsure whether to attack Jimin or cast some sort of spell. The table of the Kado Council jumps to their feet- I hear Mr. Kim shout, “What is the meaning of this, Jimin-,”

And then there’s a bloodcurdling scream from across the room.

A young girl, around 13 or 14, has dropped to the ground. Her hands are clasped tight around her ears.

“Elena!” a woman who is presumably her mother shrieks. But all around her, people are caught in similar states of horror. Namjoon and Laila are clutching onto each other, blubbering as unspeakable emotions flash across their faces. A table full of elementary school-age children are trembling violently. The room has exploded into a cacophony of chaos. A feeling of triumph surges in my chest-

“Wait,” Dev utters in a low voice, his eyes wide. “Wait. Something’s not right.”

I frown. “What do you mean? Everyone’s getting their memories back-,”

He shakes his head violently. “No- Joo- it’s only the young people.”

My eyes dart around the room. He’s right. Everyone under the age of 25 are in various states of incapacitation right now as three years of memories are restored in their minds. But all the parents, the elders- their panic is only coming from their confusion and shock.

I whip my head to the stage. Jimin is surveying the scene in front of him with an unreadable expression.

“Maybe he’s doing it in waves,” I say hesitantly. “Maybe he’s going to stagger out the commotion or something-,”

“Maybe the four of them don’t have enough magical energy to restore everyone’s memories at the same time? There are 300 people here,” Dev

hypothesizes frantically. “They were supposed to get their memories of Lucy restored all at once, so-,”

My blood turns to ice.

Lucy was adored by every single one of our peers, Jimin had told me when he first revealed his memories to me. None of the grownups liked her. She was rebellious, too out of control.

The pieces are starting to come together in my mind- I am so close to discovering what Jimin intends to do but am only a few steps short-

“By this point, you have realized what the Kado council has done,” Jimin says, his voice bold and firm. “Lucy Chen was a brave, fearless leader. She was supposed to be Junior Vice Captain. But the Kado council sentenced her to death. Why?”

The sobbing, shouting masses still in anticipation.

“Because Lucy discovered the council was conspiring with the Hado.”

My jaw drops.

“What the ,” Dev breathes as the room explodes into utter pandemonium. Every Kado sorcerer at our table is shouting in absolute fury- Evan’s entire body is glowing with deathly green energy, while Yoongi and Namjoon have unsheathed their deadly blades and look ready to storm the Kado Council. And they’re not alone- teenagers are summoning enormous balls of chi as the room’s temperature shifts so rapidly my body feels like it’s being torn apart. Even the adults are exclaiming in anger.

“Explain yourself, Sarah!” a man roars to Mrs. Jeon.

“That’s not what happened,” Dev stammers. “That’s not what happened at all- why is Jimin lying-,”

“Joo.”

Taehyung has appeared beside me, an intense fire burning in his eyes.

“Tae-,”

“You two need to get out of the main hall right now.” He grabs my hand and Dev’s hand and pulls us through the crowd at a breakneck speed. My chest is heaving as he pushes us up into a spiraling flight of marble stairs, up into a second-floor viewing area. Jin and Jungkook are doubled up against the wall, sweat pouring down their faces.

“Wh-What’s going on?” I pant. “Jungkook- Jin- why is Jimin making up stuff about the council working with the Hado-,”

“I should’ve known better,” Jungkook spits out. “Jimin was never helping us out of the goodness of his heart. I should’ve known he was planning this.”

“Wait, didn’t they learn the whole truth?” Dev presses. “They learned that Lucy failed to kill Meena, and Jimin was tasked to kill Lucy. Right? Why are they on Jimin’s side when he just took Lucy’s spot?”

Jin dazedly shakes his head. “Jimin didn’t show them his memories of what happened. We just provided the power to restore their own, personal memories of Lucy.”

“Right now, Jimin's telling them that the Council wiped their memories of one of their most beloved sorcerors," Jungkook says. “Everyone already knew the Council disliked Lucy. Now Jimin’s saying that they killed her because she discovered they were committing treason.”

Of course. Jimin framed this so perfectly. So conveniently.

“He told us he was going to restore everyone’s memories,” Taehyung says tonelessly.

But he didn’t, because the older sorcerers may have known there was something suspicious about his story. Instead, he chose to give the younger sorcerers their rose-tinted memories and let them riot.

A man and a woman stand up at the Council table who- I realize with a start- must be Jimin’s parents.

“Jimin, get down here right now,” the woman hisses with a poisonous venom.

Their son turns to the guard of black-suited sorcerers flanking the Council’s table. They are watching Jimin.

Waiting.

“Minyoung Park and Steven Park,” Jimin utters. “I’m placing you both- as well as Sarah Jeon and Jaesun Kim- under arrest for suspicion of Hado collusion.”

His parents’ eyes widen in absolute astonishment. Mrs. Kim gapes at her husband wordlessly.

“Get them,” Jimin says.

And we watch as the four highest-ranking Kado officials on this side of the country are taken away amidst the frenzied rioting of the Summer’s End Ball.

“This was a coup,” Jin says bitterly. “We just helped Jimin secure Captaincy of the Northeastern United States.”

“You’re going to pay for this!” Jimin’s father roars as his hands are being restrained.

Jimin gives him a sweet smile- an expression that seems straight out of the student council room, when he was playfully teasing Lucy about coming to his lacrosse games.

“I learned from the best, father,” he says.

Chilling realization washes over my body.

Lucy is free.

But we just helped create a monster.