[CONTENTID1] Twenty-Two [/CONTENTID1]

[CONTENTID2]

After a long, extensive mind-blocking session with Jimin over the weekend, and multiple faux-therapy sessions with Jungkook to keep the jealous maknae from murdering his hyungs, BTS finally seems to get over your little mind- with Jin over breakfast. After you apologized profusely to the eldest member for intruding into his mind without "knocking" first, your relationship returns back to normal…

Except that you occasionally would still find find your eyes lingering over his physique a second too long, or you would your lips unconsciously, your eyes trained on his mouth whenever he talked… And of course, it never went unnoticed by the perceptive water mage. Fortunately, Jin took this in good stride, and would only tease you with a little wink and a nudge. No more mind-ing, thank goodness.

But then there remained the issue of Jungkook. The kid was obsessed with kisses these days. Wherever you turned, Jungkook seemed to always be around the corner, arms stretched out and lips puckered. It was a bit stressful having to be on your guard all the time, but at least you were getting a workout beating him off of you. And on top of that, the maknae was getting more creative with his excuses. Long-winded explanations about it was only fair since the hyungs got kisses, how it would help the circle bond more, equality, justice, world peace etc etc, it all made your head hurt. It was much easier, and more enjoyable, to simply beat him up.

The Monday after finals, you wake up long after the sun rises. It feels so good to be finished with classes and all your obligations that you don't even mind the blistering cold as you lazily wade through the snow to the dining hall to meet the members. You have no idea whether they'll be serving breakfast or lunch and you smile faintly at the trivial dilemma. It is such a relief that your life has mellowed out so much that these petty decisions are the extent of your troubles. No more exams, expulsion charges, and murder attempts. Things are finally looking up.

You cheerfully hum to yourself as you make your way down the hall to the cafeteria. But a glimpse of two bobbing pigtails down the hall catches your attention. "Oh, Sooyoung!" You call out in delight, "Hey, Sooyoung wait up!"

She pauses in the hallway, her body tilted 90 degrees to face you but not turning around entirely.

You stop within a foot of her, resisting the automatic urge to swing your arms around her, then grin at her with a million watt smile, "Hey, how have you been? You haven't responded to any of my texts."

"I'm sorry… I've been busy," she says, her eyes focused on her shoes.

Your first instinct is that she's embarrassed about not replying. But there's an uncharacteristic gruffness to her tone that alerts your attention like a warning bell. Your smile drops, "Sooyoung… Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," she impatiently says, her eyes darting from her shoes to her escape path down the long corridor.

"Oh… Ok. Well, when did you say you wanted to go downtown, again?" You say, trying to sound cheerful again, "Maybe we can—"

"Maybe next time," she brusquely interrupts, "I need to go."

"What? I thought…"

"Sorry, ___, I'll see you around." And without waiting for your response, she tightens her grip on her shoulder bag and rushes down the hall so quickly that her pigtails fly out behind her like a cape.

You stand there in the hall and watch until she disappears around the corner. Numb with disbelief, it takes a good minute before you remember how to make your feet move again. You trudge down the hall and into the cafeteria, your blank mind still attempting to process what had happened. It seemed as though your relationship with Sooyoung had been improving just a week ago. What could have happened to change her attitude towards you so quickly?

You drag your feet to the BTS table in the back of the cafeteria and wordlessly slump down into an empty seat.

"Noona, we've been waiting for you for an hour!" Jungkook exclaims as soon as you sit down, "What took you so long?"

"Sorry," you say, trying to focus on loading your plate up with cold, plain pancakes—the strawberries had all long been eaten by Taehyung—something that would normally amuse you, but today you don't have the mental strength to care.

"How are you going to make it up to me?" Jungkook playfully nudges you.

"Ah, I don't know."

"I'll accept a kiss as payment," he teases, only half-joking.

"Stop it," is your curt reply.

The entire table pauses at your uncharacteristic rebuff. Jungkook's smile drops, "I'm sorry, noona. I didn't mean to offend you."

You sigh and drop your fork to turn to him, "No, it's my fault. I'm just not having a good day."

From across the table, Taehyung reaches over to take your hand, "Ah, ___, you've heard the news, huh?"

You frown, even as you part your fingers to allow his to slide through, "What news?"

"The news on the Death Cult. And the leader's live broadcast last night."

Your fingers tighten painfully on his, "What?"

Taehyung's eyes widen in surprise, "Wait, you haven't heard? It was on every television station last night. I think they hacked—"

"Shut up Taehyung," Yoongi hisses at the younger boy.

The wind mage pauses in confusion, and notices the hard clench of your jaw for the first time, "Oh, . Sorry, ___, I didn't mean to upset you."

"No. I want to know," you attempt to soothe him by your thumb over his palm, "Can someone please tell me what happened?" You glance around the table, but no one dares meet your eye for a long second.

As expected, the leader is the first one to step up to the plate, "The Death Cult hacked several television broadcasting station last night. I'm not sure if this was as widespread as the entire country, but all of Seoul was definitely affected," Namjoon carefully explains.

"Oh, I see. What did they want?"

Concern flickers in the older boy's eyes for a moment before he controls himself, "It was just an announcement by someone I assume is their leader… It was a short speech, and he was very vague… Reporters are still speculating on exactly what he meant. But what they have deciphered from the announcement is that he wants to meet our president… I'm not sure in what context or situation, since it seems that it was a private message for President Park, and only she would probably understand the meaning."

"Can I see the video?"

Namjoon pauses for a moment before grudgingly handing over his phone, "This is all over the internet right now."

You click open the video and start watching. You're aware of seven pairs of eyes trained on the back of your head, but you ignore their concern and concentrate on the video. It's a short clip, just over a minute long. The video is poor quality, and the lighting is too dim to make out the speaker's shadowy features, but his voice is surprisingly clear. You listen carefully to the video twice before handing back the phone to Namjoon.

"Hmm… I see," you say after mulling over the situation for a few minutes. No wonder Sooyoung had avoided you in the hallway, "This is… very concerning. But thank you for showing me the video, oppa. I appreciate it."

The other boys exchange nervous glances at your casual indifference. "___, are you alright?" Jin asks after a brief pause.

You know that they're probably talking about you in their minds. So you force a smile, "I'm fine! It's not a big deal. This leader guy is ridiculous. There's no way Park Geun-hye will meet with him. So there's no reason to worry, guys."

The members relax noticeably after that, "I'm glad you're not upset about this, ___," Hoseok says with a smile.

"Nah, of course not," you say, laughing it off, "Come on, let's just finish breakfast and go do something fun together before you all leave me alone for break."

That catches Jungkook's attention, "Noona, I told you that you should just come to Busan!"

"Busan's lame," Taehyung angrily interrupts, "My grandma has a strawberry farm in Daegu! What does your grandma have?"

You playfully tug on Jungkook's ear when it looks like he might fight the wind mage… again. "Stop it, guys. I already said that I'm staying at school. It'd be nice to have a bit of peace and quiet without you noisy kids around, anyways."

That sparks a fresh round of protests that you happily sit back and listen to, grateful for the change of subject. While the other boys are busy arguing, you sneak a peek at the end of the table. Feeling eyes on the back of his head, Jimin looks up.

You smile at him, Can I talk to you for a bit after breakfast? You ask, incorporating what you've learned from Jimin's lessons over the weekend.

Yeah, of course! Is everything alright?

Everything's fine! Let's just keep this between us, ok?

You can sense his confusion through your private mental connection, but nevertheless, the earth mage returns your smile. Of course.

The members are nosily arguing about whether they s