It’d been all just a dream, you thought and you felt both relieved and silly as your eager fingers touched the silky bed sheet that became creasy under your skin. You had missed this - the thin blanket’s delicate weight on your waist, the warm atmosphere of your cozy bedroom, the natural lights at the break of dawn. Waking up just like on any other day, merely an inch away from Jin’s loving arms, from the love of your life whose hot breath tickled your neck as his sweaty palm pulled you a bit closer to his chest. At that moment, you couldn’t help but giggle scolding yourself for being so foolish, for believing such a nonsense thing like him leaving you behind for God knows why. If anyone, you should have known that he would have never betrayed you like that leaving your heart in shattered pieces. Your love was stronger than the most powerful weapon known to the human race, even more than a blade made of adamant.

As if he had read your mind, Jin’s palm glided from your side to your stomach, his fingers caressing the sensitive area right above the hem of your . You moaned out of pure pleasure and turned around for a lazy kiss to ease your worries. However your lips parted for a completely different reason as you did so.

‘Good morni…’ you started a bit unsure of your voice that indeed cracked under the weight of your disbelief. It would have been an understatement to say that you were in shock facing your dead friend’s body.

The lightning-shaped tattoo on his chest brushed against your shoulder as he laid you down onto the bed kissing your jawline, your neck and the valley between your . When Hoseok’s sloppy lips found your s, you made an attempt at pushing him away with desperately shaky hands. But as your fingers sank into the messy, red locks, you couldn’t fight your alter ego’s sinful memories that slowly, slowly poisoned your mind. You froze as the first picture came to life: this you and the same man who towered above you had been making out in a beautiful garden on the grass surrounded by lilac petals. Some of them had caught alight in the moment they had touched your heated skin that’d bathed in salty sweat. The whole scenario reminded you of those crazy fantasy movies your lovely boyfriend loved too much and the fact alone made you feel miserable.

Finding your way back to the present world, you drew yourself apart from Hoseok with big eyes, your trembling hands resting on your knees as you sat on the edge of the bed as far from the man as possible.

Your sudden rejection hit him right in the feels and made him worried at the very same time.

‘Hey,’ he said in a voice as soft as the finest feather yet you couldn’t look him in the eye. The phantom touches of his lips still burned you from the inside piecing your eyes with tears. This world where your heart belonged to someone else felt the worst out of all.

Stealing your warmth, Hoseok got off the bed with the silky blanket in his hands getting around the furniture. He stepped in front of you with a fond smile before he wrapped the thin textile around your shoulders hiding your and the pale skin underneath. You were grateful but you remained silent while he got down on his knees ever so slowly. Hoseok lifted your left hand in front of his mouth in an attempt to melt your anxiety away with one of his infamous kisses although the wicked soul deep down your heart warned you for his magic. You brushed his hand off your arm before he could have grabbed you or pulled you close.

With an unsatisfied sigh, the man put his finger under your chin.

‘What’s wrong, my love?’ he asked quietly. Taking advantage of his strength and your obvious surprise due to his action, he forced you to focus on nothing but him - his dark eyes were like the hidden side of the moon. His eager gaze casted a spell on you making your mind foggy, filling the sky with pinkish clouds from where you could easily fall head over heels.

‘I… nothing,’ you mumbled under your nose ready to give in when a hoarse laughter and a pair of almond shaped eyes reminded you of your ultimate mission. You didn’t have enough time for this game, for putting on an act as if you had been enjoying yourself. You couldn’t play the role of his significant other. You couldn’t let your alter ego took control over you once again. You felt guilty enough for your own sake. ‘I need some air.’

You ran away as if your life had depended on it even though a part of you were certain that Hoseok would have never harmed a hair on your head.

In order to avoid any further temptation, you wandered down the hallways for hours memorizing every single room and doorway since your lustful memories were lack of useful instructions or secret hideouts not to mention the jackpot: a full, detailed layout. As if this sassy version of you had never left this Greek palace before.

The Sun had already passed its peak when you reached the biggest room of all. Your jaw dropped to the marble floor as your eyes fixed on a colourful painting in the middle of the museum-like wing of this marvelous place. Your first step towards Pieter Bruegel’s The Fall of the Rebel Angels felt like a little infinity although time had stopped in that ephemeral moment your shaking hand touched the golden frame. The rare sight in front of you took your breath away.

‘It was his favourite,’ a particular someone enlightened you from behind your back and you flinched because there were teeth in the smooth velvet of his voice.

You raised your left brow onto your forehead, gaze still fixed on the painting hanging on the beige wall between two enormous columns. Since you couldn’t put your finger on the person he talked about, you were afraid to even nod. You didn’t want to crush Hoseok’s heart over something silly like he wasn’t your type just because you had jumped into another universe where your alter ego’s life wasn’t exactly your cup of tea. With all due respect, you were sure that she had her own reasons unknown to you. Their feelings for each other weren’t any less than yours for Kim Seokjin.

‘Do you miss him?’ he asked but when you refused to answer, he pushed you further to the verge of your limits. ‘Jin, I mean.’

‘Yeah. More than anything,’ you admitted right away. You didn’t even think about the weight of your foolish confession, the potential consequences until a vivid memory fought its way to the surface.

This time, you saw a pinked haired Jin leaning onto a marble statue with his handsome face buried into his palms. He had seemed frustrated as his broad shoulders had shaken in a jerky rhythm followed by faint sobs and diamond-like tears on his silky shirt. Unaware of the cause of his pain, your alter ego had stepped in front of him enveloping his devastated body and the next thing you were able to recall was the salty taste on the tip of your tongue. He had kissed you carefully, afraid of being violent or aggressive and even though this you’d pulled herself away from Jin, she’d been late. Namjoon, Hoseok’s right hand who was just as dangerous in this world as he had been in the previous one, had seen everything.

Still in shock a bit because of the sudden information, it took you a few moments to get back on the track. ‘Why? Do you know something I don’t?’

The deep silence that followed your question made your ears bleed. The unmistaken feeling of you making the wrong move overwhelmed your conscience. It made you feel sick and a part of you, the girl who was stronger than any other version of you, wished that you could take your words back.

‘I planned on asking you the same,’ Hoseok said with his gaze fixed on your petite figure. He sounded distant and cold as if he had been on the edge of his patience having enough of the bull that left your mouth. ‘What happened? Where is your brother, my love?’

You gulped.

‘I have absolutely no idea,’ you replied with straightened spine although it was nothing but a big fat lie because the girl who had belonged to this universe had seen him last night fading away like an old memory. Jin had jumped into another universe leaving this Greek palace behind with a painful smile and a stolen kiss burned onto your cheek.

‘I see.’ One of Hoseok’s sweaty palms slid to your waist while the other that rested on your shoulder held your trembling body still. He pushed you ahead, the golden frame of the painting dug into your flesh. Your pupils widened as he leaned forwards whispering into your ears. ‘It breaks my heart that I can’t believe you anymore.’

‘Hoseok…’

‘You are my queen,’ he declared with rage running through his veins, poisoning his system. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t get rid of the pain that weighted on his chest. His dark eyes that had been filled with lust a few hours ago now were on fire throwing metaphorical lightnings at you. Yet, you would have swore that you saw real electricity running across his hair. ‘So, why would you betray me like this?’

Just then when your dark locks were lifted by the circulating electrons, you realized what the man in front of you was capable of. He reminded you of Zeus, the God of Greek mythology who could take control over the most vicious thunders. This whole universe were like a book full of mysteries.

‘I would never betra…’ you tried to protest willfully despite your faint voice that cracked as Hoseok wrapped his hands around your neck.

‘Liar,’ he shouted at you regardless of your closed eyes that were b with tears. This man was nothing like the one you had left behind in that wasted world you had jumped at the first place. This man was evil. ‘The truth is that you don’t love me anymore. And it’s because of him.’

A soft memory popped up in your mind - cherry blossoms, red wine and your head laying on a man’s lap. But it hadn’t been Jin nor Hoseok. It was that unwanted soul your heart craved for so badly and this mixture of intense feelings activated your power that was hidden in the depth of your mind. At the moment you opened your eyes, fire came alive forcing your opponent to let go of your neck and take a step backwards with a loud swear and itching burns on his hand.

After initial shock of your newfound power, your feet left dark grey ash trails behind with every step you took in order to run away.

You didn’t stop until your lungs begged, until you ran out of breath, until a pleasant yet painful melody reached your ears giving you a goal, a destination and hope for a hideout where you could finally find peace. It led you to an onix door and a room filled with pure darkness and sorrow. If you hadn’t recognised the rhythm, you would have never crossed the broken threshold. But you recognized it along with the black haired man, Yoongi, sitting in front of the ethereal instrument.

Having no intention to interrupt the tragical melody, you sat in the corner with your knees fitting close to your bouncing chest in complete silence. It took you three songs to notice the slight change in the musician’s play but eventually it became obvious that the man was very much aware of your presence. Yet, he kept playing the piano for hours putting your heart at ease.

‘You shouldn’t be here,’ was all he said before he stood up and walked towards you. His emotionless tone that was as cold and sharp as the finest icicle made your stomach tug in pain and then it all clicked. He was the one your alter ego had yearned for, the man whose tender feelings had been defiled because of that chaste kiss between you and Jin that seemed to turn this world upside down.

He walked past by you as if you were invisible even though you did stand up to face him and it felt like a damn punch right into your stomach. The urge to do something, anything that might have melted the uneasiness away overflowed in your body.

‘Everyone knows about it, am I right?’ you asked referring to Jin’s kiss, bringing him to a halt between two steps. With his palm resting on the black wood, his eyes fixed on the door while he answered.

‘Correct.’

You your bottom lip out of frustration as you took a small step towards the musician. The horrific divination that something terrible was going to happen put an unbearable weight onto your shoulders and you couldn’t neglect these worries. So, trying to calm down your racing heart, you asked the first question that formed in your mind. The scariest of all.

‘He wants me dead, doesn’t he?’ Your throat went dry as if all the wetness had moved to the corners of your eyes. You wanted to scream and shout, cry like a baby and most importantly, beat a path out of this nightmare.

‘Correct.’

Yoongi leaned his forehead against the door; devastated. He was fighting with his inner demons unable to decide whether he should also feel satisfaction after your death or not. You wished that a part of him still cared about you enough to let you stay in his darkness avoiding your ill-fated ending in this ancient tragedy.

But he didn’t say a word for minutes and the unpleasant muteness made you insecure.

‘And there is no one I could turn to,’ you declared the obvious quietly and even though his muscles tensed it was all too late. The door opened with your destiny waiting for you on the threshold.

Jungkook and Jimin were dressed in full armor all shiny and fierce as they grabbed your arms on both sides. They pulled you out of your shelter not caring about the pain they might have caused you while Yoongi just stood there watching them pushing you towards the dirty dungeon in the eastern wing. You couldn’t tell the physical pain apart from the mental.

They locked you into a cage and left you there for hours all by yourself so the only thing you could do was counting the remained seconds of every damn minute you condemned to stay in this universe.

‘The sentence is death,’ a familiar voice enlightened you when the moon outside finally passed its peak. It was Taehyung with fair hair and eyes as blue as forget-me-nots full of untold worries. His whole presence dressed your arms to goosebumps sending a jolt down your spine. He was such a true beauty to behold. He left you speechless. ‘Didn’t you hear me? He will execute you at sunrise.’

Although your silly heart skipped a beat, you remained silent, almost resigned and your nonchalant reaction made his blood boil. He was furious to say at least as his fists clenched around the unbreakable bars protected by magic. You didn’t understand him, his concern until a faint memory showed you the bond between the blonde boy and the Jin of this world. Even though the pink haired man was an outcast on this Earth, Taehyung referred to him as his older brother. As someone he trusted with his life.

That was why he became so upset. After all, you were Jin’s only family, his sister as weird as it sounded. He didn’t want to lose you too.

‘You couldn’t even deny the bond between you two. You both are hopeless,’ he shouted at you before he gave up and turned his back on you. The walls made of stone turned to ice on both sides as he burst out of the basement.

At the break of dawn, you woke up at a jarring sound coming from the entrance of your cage and that was when you realized that the door had been damaged by the unforgiving cold of Taehyung’s touch. Looking down at your watch you smiled before you sneaked out in order to survive the next thirty minutes you had left before the next jump.

You found yourself wandering in the very same garden you had seen in that lustful memory and the fact only made you blush out of embarrassment. Yet, you stopped dead because of the growing fear in your chest rather than shyness.

‘You should know better than to try. You can’t run away from me, my love.’

When you faced Hoseok, he smiled tapping the marble bench he was sitting on, asking you to take a sit as well right by his side as you had done in the past. Considering your slight chance against him or to run away, you decided to do as he pleased. You still had ten minutes.

‘That’s my girl,’ he said and his eyes disappeared when his white teeth showed up in an even wider, satisfied grin. His beaming face made you feel uncomfortable. ‘But love, why are you so afraid? Come a little closer.’

‘You want me dead,’ you replied sharply when his soft fingers touched the thin skin under your eyes.

‘I was overreacting. It happens. But you know that I could never hurt you,’ he assured you in a voice as sweet as those candies Jin had always bought you to cheer you up. And maybe it was because of him that for a mere second you gave in believing in every single word this Hoseok had told you. You even let him to hug you fondling your back. As your chin took a nap on his shoulder, everything was goddamn peaceful. Almost lovable. ‘I’m not gonna force you to love me. So you can leave and Taehyung as well,’ Hoseok said drawing himself apart from you so that he could look you in the eye.

Then, everything happened so slow yet so fast. Jimin and Jungkook pushed Taehyung to the ground in front of your feet. You helped him stand up while you kept your eyes on the king of this land. You held back your breath before you nodded taking your first step towards the golden gate, your freedom with the injured Taehyung under your pit. You two were almost there.

But you were foolish, you should have never trusted in Hoseok. As soon as your hand touched the handle, the ground split open under your feet ready to swallow you both. You fell into the darkness screaming seconds before your watched could hit the right numbers and set you free.