The carriage door opened, revealing the entrance to the dance hall. The coachman politely stepped aside and bowed as Seokmin and Jungkook jumped out of the cart. They both extended their hands out to help Yuna climb out of the carriage. They calmly entered the banquet halls, earning everyone's attention for being the last and the most important guests for the dance.

All three were wearing elegant black and gold formalwear. It was difficult to tell who was escorting Yuna, but when Yuna locked arms with Jungkook, all the girls looked away with distaste. The three went down the stairs together, ignoring all the stares. Just like before, they proceeded to walk straight towards to the Ministry's throne.

Jaejoong smiled. As usual, Yesung and Gain seemed too dazed to care about what was going on.

"On behalf of the Ministry members, we would like to thank you for your efforts in retrieving the Mythos of the Corolla," Jaejoong started. Jungkook took note of how all three were still sitting in their seats, but didn't think too much about it. "Please enjoy the rest of the night. It's unfortunate that your Instructor, Jieun, is not able to attend, but we appreciate her efforts and hope for a speedy recovery."

Jaejoong snapped his fingers. Music filled the room and people began to partner up. People started to mind their own business, enjoying the event to their heart's content.

"Well, I'm going to go dance!" Seokmin informed them. "You two should dance, too."

Jungkook scowled. "I'm not going to dance."

"You might as well just dance once with Yuna. If you don't dance, the girls are going to think that it's because you're not acknowledging Yuna as your dance partner and they'll probably bug you," Seokmin pointed out. "Dance with Yuna a couple of times throughout the night, okay?"

Jungkook grimaced, but he knew that Seokmin had a point. He only looked away while Seokmin smirked and winked at Yuna. Yuna blushed, but she glared at him with Seokmin was gone.

She turned to him and gave him a serious look. "You're not going to dance, right?"

"Do you need to ask?" Jungkook asked. He turned and started to head towards the edge of the room. Before he could go, Yuna grabbed his wrist and pulled him back.

"Wait! If we're not going to dance and if we need to stay here throughout the night, then let's be productive," Yuna told him.

"Productive?" Seokmin asked, raising an eyebrow. "What do you mean by that?"

"Let's go ask someone about Leo."

Jungkook stared at her for a long time. "What?"

"There has to be at least one person in this room that knows about Leo. We should find out more about him," she said. 

Jungkook pursed his lips. She had an awfully good point, but he just didn't want to hear more about Leo. Something about him just left a bitter taste in Jungkook's mouth. 

He grimaced, then noticed a group of girls ogling their eyes towards him. He sighed, then grabbed Yuna by both hands. Surprised, she widened her eyes, but allowed herself to be pulled closer to him. She yelped and turned completely red while Jungkook got into a dance position.

"Let's just dance like Seokmin said," Jungkook murmured. 

Of course, she didn't refuse his gesture.

* * *

"People aren't going to be able to run in these clothes. What a pity."

"Jangjun, lower your voice."

"At least talk a little, Sujeong. People are going to stare at you because you're just standing there," Jangjun said, nudging her a bit. "Blend in a little, will you?"

Sujeong sighed and took a sip of her cider. She hugged her body with one arm and stared at the scene of people dancing and happily laughing. She stared at those who were happy with a dead gaze.

"…They laugh too loudly," she softly whispered. "I don't understand why they are so happy."

Jangjun clicked his tongue. "Don't go into your emo rants. It's super depressing and I hate it."

"They're foolish," she muttered.

Jangjun smacked his lips and tightened his smile. "Are you going to be like this? 'Cause if you are, I'm just going to go out and send out the signal."

"Please do," she urged him.

Jangjun stared at her for a few seconds, then patted her head. "Okay, I'll try to be quick."

He smiled and walked away, blending in with the crowd. 

Sujeong continued to stare at the Academy students. She let out a heavy sigh. It was exhausting to see all these couples dancing around with smiles on their faces. She didn't really get the point of it. Just moments ago, she was dancing with Jangjun, but it didn't make her feel smiley like how it made Jangjun or the other Academy students feel.

"And what is a beautiful lady like you doing here all alone?"

Sujeong looked up as a shadow casted over her. A bright man with a cheesy smile grinned at her as he stared down at her with kind eyes. Her eyes were glued to the incredible size of his smile. His eyes curved like a crescent moon in the midst of darkness.

"Would you like to dance?" Seokmin asked her.

Sujeong was about to refuse, but she remembered how Jangjun had told her to blend in. She placed the empty glass down on a table and took the man's hand. He guided her down to the dance floor and gently held onto her hand and hip.

"I noticed that you had a partner earlier, but it seems like he left," Seokmin mentioned. "I don't understand why he left a lovely girl like you alone. You're not stepping on my feet, so it's definitely not because you're a bad dancer."

A giggle escaped from her lips, which surprised her. Her startled reaction caused Seokmin to smile.

"Well, I'm glad to know that you're enjoying this moment," Seokmin said. "You were looking pretty upset back there."

"I wasn't upset," Sujeong said. "That's just how I normally look."

"You sighed," he pointed out. "Did you break up with that boy? Is that why he's not coming back?"

Sujeong stared at him. "I don't believe in love. He wasn't my boyfriend."

Seokmin raised his eyebrows. "Are you sure? All the girls love Jungkook."

Sujeong glanced over his shoulders and watched Jungkook take a break with Yuna from dancing. She looked back at Seokmin, who gave her a look of concern.

"I don't need it," she insisted. "It's a biochemical reaction. A false sense of security. An illusion of euphoria."

Seokmin blinked, then he broke into a chuckle. It wasn't an uncomfortable chuckle or a fake one. It was actually quite genuine—a type of laugh that made Sujeong uncomfortable.

"Why are you smiling?" she asked almost robotically.

He laughed quietly. "Sorry, sorry. I'm not laughing at you. I swear."

See? She glared at him. These people are foolish. Dumb. Immature—

"Well, I just have a different perspective about love, that's all." He smiled at her. "Maybe love is just a biochemical reaction. Maybe it's all in our heads and it's just chemicals messing with our heads. But what if…" He bit his bottom lip. "Well, what if it's better than that?"

"Better?" she repeated, cocking her head to the side. "I just told you that love isn't better."

"You said that you don't believe in love," Seokmin corrected her, "and…well, yeah. You might have a point that love isn't as ideal as some people make it out to be. It's messy and it's not perfect but isn't that lovely itself?"

"That sounds dumb. It sounds like you're wanting to torture yourself over and over again," she retorted.

Seokmin snickered. "Well, maybe. I don't know. Maybe. I think you just haven't met someone who you could love. Maybe you've seen too many people fail in their relationships." He noticed that Sujeong was about to bump into another couple. He quickly swooped her close to him, bringing his face near hers unintentionally. Sujeong hitched her breath while he looked down and smiled. "Maybe instead of love, you're actually thinking about affection."

"But… I'm not… capable… of love," Sujeong stammered awkwardly. Too close, too close.

"Isn't it enough if you can still feel happiness and find meaning in your relationship with someone?" Seokmin asked her. "It might not be the love you expected from princess books and all, but don't you think that it's enough to be called love?"

"No one would love me," she murmured.

"Why not? You have charm. You just haven't realized it yet."

The song came to an end. Seokmin glanced up and noticed Yuna gesturing him to come over. He nodded at her and looked back at Sujeong. He stepped away, patted her head, then bowed.

"Thank you for this dance. It was wonderful," he said. He beamed and locked eyes with her. "You might not find love now, but I hope you find someone to love and who will reciprocate those feelings for you—that is, if you want that kind of love."

He walked away, leaving Sujeong alone. She stood at her spot for a few minutes, then started walking towards the opposite direction. She leaned against the wall and silently waited for Jangjun's signal.

As she waited, she couldn't help but reach over and touch her head. Jangjun had always patted her head, but the way Seokmin patted her head was…different.

Ah, she thought, looking up. I didn't get his name. She paused, then shook her head. No need for that. He's probably going to die, anyway.

* * *

Seokmin skipped over to Yuna and Jungkook's side. He grinned and smiled like a curious puppy.

"What's up?" he asked.

"We need to talk," Yuna said. "It's about targeting Jieun's weakness."

"Weakness—Oh! You're talking about the enemy," Seokmin said.

Yuna nodded. "We need to ask about Leo."

Jungkook frowned. "Now is not the time—"

"What do you mean? Now is the perfect time!" she exclaimed. "Look, I've been doing a little investigating on my own, and there's not much on him. All I got from the records is that he was the top student and then—Fwoosh! He disappeared from the records. Strange, isn't it?"

Jungkook began to feel uncomfortable. "So what? We know that he was engaged to Jieun a long time ago. There's no point in digging up her old love life."

"But he's her weakness!" Yuna hissed. "If we can get more information on him, we might be able to figure out Jieun's weakness and get the Kreo! That's three Mythos for our team, Jungkook! Three!"

Jungkook grimaced. "Yuna, I really—"

Her eyes lit up when she saw someone particular standing along one side of the halls. "There! Kyungsoo is there! He knows Leo, right? Remember how Jieun got drunk and started to talk about him? Come on!"

She grabbed Jungkook's wrist and dragged him over. Seokmin tagged along right behind them, following Yuna's lead. Jungkook kept scowling, wanting to run away from the scene.

Kyungsoo was casually stirring a cup of wine. Even though he had several months to recover, he didn't look better than before. It was clear that the Sleef had impacted him a lot and that he wasn't getting the adequate treatment he needed.

"Um, excuse me, Instructor Kyungsoo?" Yuna said.

He looked at her with just a glance. "You're… Jieun's student. Second place, right?"

Yuna smiled and curtsied. "Yes. It's a pleasure to meet you again."

"What do you want?" he asked. His hands shook as he tried to steady the glass in his hand.

"I'd like to ask you a question, if you don't mind," she said.

"Go ahead."

"What do you know about a man named 'Leo'?" Yuna asked.

Kyungsoo frowned. "Leo? Never heard of it."

"Then what about the name 'Taekwoon'?"

The Instructor stopped swirling the wine in his glass. His hands remained awfully still and he finally turned his head to face the three. He observed the three of them, as if he was trying to deem whether or not they were trustworthy. Then, he let out a small sigh and resumed swirling his wine with his shaky hand.

"Taekwoon… Jung Taekwoon was someone who Jieun cherished and loved," Kyungsoo said. He looked at the three and smiled bitterly. "But you don't have to worry about him. He's dead."

"But he's not," Yuna said. "We've encountered him."

"Are you sure? There's no way that he would be alive," Kyungsoo said.

"And why not?"

Kyungsoo finally took a sip of his wine. "He killed himself. His body was found and buried. People were so upset that he died, they made Jieun look at his body several times in order to make sure that she was correctly identifying his body. She was, like, twelve at that age. I heard that they even locked her up with his body for several days. When they opened the room again, they found her passed out in her own puddle of vomit because she couldn't handle the sight and smell of his rotting corpse anymore."

He stopped talking when they gave him a horrified expression on their face.

"Back then, the Academy was a rough place," Kyungsoo shortly added. "I mean, it sounds horrible now that I'm saying it out loud, but in the past, it was only reasonable. After all, he was someone really important. The one who would've known anything about him was Jieun, so they were hoping that they could get something out of her if they psychologically tormented her long enough. She never cracked, though."

"But that's not possible," Yuna murmured. "It's not like he was brought back to life or anything…could it?"

"That's why I'm saying that Jieun saw the wrong guy," Kyungsoo said. "She probably saw someone who looked like him. I wouldn't be surprised. She had to endure a lot since Leo died. I don't know what she had to deal with after she was kicked out of the Academy, but it was probably rough."

"But let's suppose that he's alive," Yuna said.

Kyungsoo snorted. "If Leo is alive, then we are all screwed."

"Why?" Seokmin asked.

"Well, if he's on our side, then we'll be spared, but if he's on the enemy side…" Kyungsoo darted his eyes towards them. "Then we'd be all dead."

Seokmin gulped. "Is he…that strong?"

"Leo was the top in intelligence. He was the best strategist. In fact, he'd be able to infiltrate the Academy with ease," Kyungsoo explained. "That's why it's better for Leo to be dead." He paused. "And he is de—"

KA-BOOM!

A loud explosion came from outside. The ground quaked a bit, catching everyone's attention. 

KA-BOOM! BOOM!

A part of the building exploded, causing people to fly off into the debris while others screamed and panicked. Kyungsoo rushed away from the three to better assess the situation. In a blink of an eye, all the Instructors and the Mythos Hunters instinctively started to guide people to safety.

"There's a group who has invaded the Academy!" someone screamed.

"Our weapons!" Seokmin cried out. "We don't have our weapons!"

"They attacked the hospital!" someone else reported. "Get everyone out of the hospital!"

Jungkook's mind instinctively went to one name: Jieun.

"I'll get our weapons!" Yuna declared. "Seokmin, Jungkook, help guide everyone to a safe area—"

"I'm going to go find Jieun!" Jungkook interrupted.

"But your weapon—"

"I'll be fine!" Jungkook insisted. He took off, heading straight to the hospital.

* * *

THE ARC members witnessed a total of three explosions near the location of the Cotillion. Yongguk sighed and took a deep breath. He got up and the others prepared themselves as well.

"Don't forget," Yongguk said as he pulled a mask over his face. The others did the same. "We're here to get at least one Mythos."

"At least one?" Suzy repeated.

"Yes." He kept his eyes on one of the towers that held the Mythos. "At least one."

Sunmi tossed a can in the air. As soon as the object hit the ground, it fizzed out a toxic smoke. Suzy smirked under the mask.

"Then I'm going for the Kreo," Suzy declared.

Yongguk gave her a look. "You will n—"

Before anyone could say anything, she jumped off the edge of the tall gates. Yongguk closed his eyes and sighed in frustration when he heard zaps and saw lightning appear rigidly through the smoke.

"I'll follow her," Leo said.

"No, Leo. You—"

Yongguk couldn't finish. Leo jumped off quickly, knowing that he didn't want to obey Yongguk's words. Yongguk growled.

"What's the plan now?" Taeyeon asked.

Yongguk checked the map once more, then closed it. "I guess we'll go for the Sleef."

* * *

As Jungkook ran, he noticed several people falling and scrambling back on their feet. Students were worried sick and were having a difficult time figuring out what to do in the moment of panic. A couple of other explosions were set off throughout the Academy. He could hear people shrieking in fear from a distance.

The moment he neared the hospital, he could see the top half of the building burning in flames. His whole body froze. There was no way that Jieun could've survived the attack if she was still unconscious…

"Jungkook! Jungkook, thank god you're here!" a nurse screamed. She frantically grabbed his arm and clutched it as her whole body trembled in fear.

"The hospital…"

"Everyone escaped. E-Everyone is safe," the nurse stuttered. Her face was completely pale.

"Everyone?" he repeated, puzzled.

"Yes! You see, Jieun woke up and told all of us to leave the hospital. At first, we were confused, but she started screaming and threatened to kill the patients, so w-we did as we were told," the nurse explained. "Your Instructor is insane! She's gone crazy! The second everyone was escorted out, she started to run and told us not to follow her." She collapsed on her knees. "I-I still remember her terrifying glare. She looked like a dead person who came back alive to haunt us all…"

"Where did she go?" Jungkook asked. 

"I-I don't know. She seemed really angry, though… She's definitely not fully recovered, either."

Jungkook looked around in the midst of the chaos. A brief wave of despair washed over him as he watched the buildings crumble like broken sand. He knew that multiple enemies were scattered around the area, but why? What did they want? Why were they…

"Leo was the top in intelligence," Kyungsoo had said. "He was the best strategist. In fact, he'd be able to infiltrate the Academy with ease…"

Jungkook froze. No way.

"Jungkook!" 

He looked up, then saw an object flying towards him. He quickly grabbed his sword in the air and looked up at Yuna, who was riding a horse towards him. She quickly stopped and looked at him.

"Are the people in the hospital safe? Where's Jieun?" she asked him.

"They're all safe. Jieun seemed to have noticed that there was going to be an attack," he said. "Listen, take these people to safety, okay? I'm going to go find Jieun."

"Find Jieun? Where is she?" Yuna repeated.

Jungkook looked at one of the towers where the Academy supposedly held the Mythos. It was supposed to be a heavily guarded tower, but if he suspected that Leo was the one leading the invasion, then he knew that the guards didn't stand a chance.

"I think I know where she went," he murmured. He looked back at her. "Help these people get to safety, then go help Seokmin, okay?"

"Jungkook, at least tell me where you're going—"

Rather than responding, Jungkook chose to head straight to the towers, leaving her annoyed and frustrated with how he was dealing with the situation.