28 | THE UNVEILING

When it came to Hoseok, what I feared more than anything was him being harmed because of me. I thought there could be nothing worse than a repeat of what happened to Jimin, but staring into those spine-chilling eyes, that belief crumbled into shards of a greater terror.

Hoseok is The Hood.

My body trembled under the weight of such shock, but despite a thudding heart and a spinning head, I did not cower. Even as his chest swelled in size and his breaths deepened to rasps, I held my ground.

"It was you?" My teeth clenched, eyes stinging with tears. "You were the one doing this to me?"

He groaned and shut his eyes. "It's not... I'm not..."

I winced as the hand that was on my waist burned into my skin, then he slammed it onto the door at the other side of my face.

"You said you wouldn't hurt me," I gasped.

His bright eyes opened to seize mine. "I won't."

"I thought—" my voice cracked, "I was so sure I could trust you."

"Jangmi, please. It's not me. I'm not him!" He let out a deep growl, the sound eerily familiar to what I'd heard in one of my nightmares. Inhuman.

The more worked up he became, the more I panicked. My resolve started to slip as my heart accelerated and my vision blurred. My mind frantically sought a way to escape, but my thoughts kept reeling to the betrayal that pierced my gut.

Hoseok cried out as he hung his head toward the ground, and I took the chance to duck under his arm. His hand caught my elbow and drew me back to him before I could take three steps. He spoke by my ear but his words were hazy, waning under the strength of a second voice invading my head.

"Come to me."

Darkness edged into my sight, and my body burned with heat before collapsing.

He was waiting for me as I plunged into the prison he forged within my own mind. On my hands and knees, the floor beneath me turned to cold soil. The bottom of his cloak entered my vision as he stood in front of me.

"Please," I weakly let out, my arms shaking while I kept my gaze on the ground. The little strength left in me was tearing alongside my heart.

"Jangmi," he sang in his warped tone, "I thought you were brighter than this." Crouching down to my level, he caught my chin with a gloved hand, raising my head up to meet the void of his hooded face—no luminous orange to be found.

He was still. The control of his actions opposed everything Hoseok had been just seconds ago.

"Are you...really him?"

His grip on my chin tightened. "What do you think?"

Everything seemed to point toward Hoseok. The gloves, the eyes, the mood swings, hiding his features—

An idea took hold of me. While it was likely to fail, I had to try.

"I don't know." Gathering what little energy remained, I moved to stand. He followed, and I looked beyond his wide frame to the same forest we'd been in before, though the once lush trees were scorched and dead. There was no wind, no sound. It was desolate.

"I'm not Hoseok," he said.

"How am I supposed to trust anything you say? You hide your identity, so why would you be truthful about this?"

"I hide so I can grow close to you without anyone stopping me. So you can remember me first. I want you to know who I am, in due time."

Taking a deep breath, I stepped forward and softened my tone. "You really do care about me, don't you?"

His shoulders broadened as he straightened up. Even without his face, I could tell that I'd surprised him.

Quickly, before he catches on.

"Of course I do."

"I want to remember you, too. I've been getting memories back, and I know that you were special to me," I whispered. "I can feel it."

With one more step, I lifted my hands and watched them disappear into the blackness where his face was. My palms met the smooth skin of his cheeks, warmth milder than the burn I felt with Hoseok.

He leaned into my touch briefly. I tried to note the shape of his cheekbones, his jaw, but as soon as the heat intensified, he jerked back with a hiss. His covered hand went to his face as he chuckled.

"I'm glad to see you haven't lost your cleverness."

"What are you—"

His hand returned to his side, head tilting before he spoke. "Go ahead. Compare us, see what you find. If that's what it'll take for you to believe we're not the same person, so be it. The more time you spend with him, the more you'll remember. Just don't forget who you belong to."

"I don't belong to you."

He closed the gap between us, leaning toward me until I could feel his cool breath on my face. "One last thing," he murmured. My breath hitched as he trailed a gloved finger along the center of my throat. "Quit wearing that revolting necklace, or I'll have to continue our visits in person."

His finger started to reach my clavicle, and I grabbed his wrist to shove him away, but he vanished right as I did.

For the first time, I woke from the nightmare without a jolt. My eyes opened to the dark ceiling above. My sheets were underneath me. My head rested on a pillow. The lights were off, save for the dull lamp beside me. Recalling my collapse, I knew Hoseok must've placed me on the bed.

I sprang upright, gasping at the sight of Hoseok leaning against the wall across the room. His eyes were back to normal, but his brows pulled together as he saw my reaction, He lifted his hands in surrender.

"I only stayed to be sure you were okay." His voice sounded restrained.

I gripped my bedsheets, and his eyes darted to the movement. As he turned and headed for the door, I went over what I was too overwhelmed to consider before.

The Hood wants me to remember who he is, so if he denied being Hoseok, it's likely the truth. I remembered Hoseok and a third boy. He can't be both. I remembered Jungkook so I can believe him, and he told me to trust Hoseok. I've been alone with him several times, and he's never done anything to me.

"Wait!" I called just as he was opening the door. He paused with his back turned to me. "Please, give me a reason to trust you."

His body didn't move as he quietly spoke. "I don't know what I can say to make you believe me."

"Explain what I saw. Tell me the truth."

"Do you honestly feel safe with me after what happened?" He finally turned to meet my gaze.

"Whatever was happening to you... you were fighting it, and you're calm now. You could've hurt me when I fainted, but you didn't. You never have."

"You were afraid I was going to hurt you before you passed out."

"I didn't know what to think. I'm still not sure."

"Then why are you even giving me a chance right now?"

I took time to sort my reasoning. "The Hood wants me. He wants me to be his, and he wants me to submit to him. But when I told you I have feelings for you, you acted like you didn't even want to hear it."

Hoseok let out a breathy laugh. He gently closed the door behind him, then moved toward the foot of my bed.

"You think I didn't want to hear that from you?"

"That's what set you off, isn't it? You were so worked up—"

"It was like you said. I don't know how to accept the fact that you care. But that doesn't mean I don't... want it," he mumbled, searching my eyes. "I was already worked up from how worried you had me. You went off with Taehyung and then you wouldn't answer your phone and you weren't here when I came to find you. I thought something happened to you."

"I told you, I did that for you. Maybe it wasn't the smartest choice, but I didn't want to risk upsetting him."

He leaned down and propped his hands on the edge of the bed. "And that's what pushed me over. The fact that you would put yourself in danger just for the slight chance that I might be his next target. Do you know how infuriating that is?"

Every word he said only further convinced me that he was not The Hood. The care he had for me was not twisted, but pure.

"I'm not sorry."

His brows furrowed as he stared at me. "That's exactly the problem."

"Wouldn't you have done the same?"

He met my question with silence.

"Tell me I'm wrong."

Still, nothing.

My chest throbbed. "I would still have done it for you. I would still care about you even if you didn't care about me. I would still have feelings for you even if you didn't return them—"

"Stop it," he breathed, sitting on the end of the mattress. His eyes bore into mine. "I don't want you to care for me if it makes you put yourself in harm's way."

"See? You care about me, so why can't you just say it? Why do you keep pushing me away and suppressing how you feel?"

"Jangmi."

I sighed. "Fine. I won't put myself at risk again, but that means you can't either."

"Okay."

Scoffing, I rested my elbows on my knees and covered my face with my hands. "I don't understand what happened with your eyes, but I'm afraid to ask you," my voice broke. "You were about to walk out of here and let me believe that you're him."

The quiet strung out until eventually, I heard shuffling. The mattress sunk beside me and then his gloved hands wrapped around my wrists, carefully pulling them away from my face. The emotion that shimmered in his eyes blew me away.

"I'm sorry," he murmured. "I'm not him. You deserve the truth, and I want to give it to you, but I don't want to scare you off and I don't want to risk those lost memories."

"Is there any truth you can give me right now?"

His chest rose on an inhale as he continued holding my wrists. The auburn of his hair was more red under the light of the lamp, his skin more bronze. Looking at him always felt like a daydream, and his next words swept me even farther away.

"Nobody has ever looked at me the way that you do," he said with nerves in his voice. "I've always felt incredibly far from everyone. But with you, I feel like I'm really here, right in front of you. And that terrifies me because I'm not used to being seen, and I'm afraid to lose this feeling if you decide you don't like what you see."

My heart skipped, the torn pieces begging to be repaired. "Hoseok..."

"I'm sick of pushing you away. You're the only person I feel safe with, the only one I want to open up to. But I still end up running away."

"Then stop running," I whispered, leaning forward to rest my forehead on his shoulder.

"I want to try something. Will you trust me?" he asked tentatively.

Even after seeing his eyes change, even without proper answers, my gut told me to trust him as I had before.

I leaned back to meet his gaze again. When I nodded, he hesitated a moment to read my expression. Then he leaned forward and reached out to the lamp beside the bed. The light flicked off, dousing us in darkness. Even the outline of his body was difficult to make out.

"What are you doing?" I asked softly.

His hands found mine, and he brought them up until they met the hard material of what could only be his mask. Without a word, he carefully guided my hands to where the mask looped around his ears, leading me to remove it.

I sucked in a breath. "Are you sure? You don't have to do this."

"I want to," he answered, continuing to help me take the mask off.

I could feel my anticipation surge with the speed of my heart. The mask slowly came away from his face, and Hoseok set it down on the bed. I could hear his wavering breath and I knew how hard it was for him, even when his features weren't visible in the blackened room.

"Can I..." I trailed off without knowing how to ask, but he understood.

Taking my hand again, he placed my palm on his cheek and the two of us let out a gasp as our skin met with a spark. Warmth spiked between us, but instead of a painful burn, it was energizing and pleasant. Slowly, I placed my second hand on his other cheek, but he flinched back.

"I'm sorry—" I started, be he stopped me.

"No, it's okay." He paused, then he found my hand and hesitantly brought it back to his cheek.

I understood why he was scared as I felt the indentations on his skin. My fingertips trailed along the scars, counting four separate lines that stretched all the way across his cheek, one reaching over the bridge of his nose and another over the corner of his mouth.

Any remaining shred of doubt was lost for good as I felt the difference of his face. When I'd touched The Hood, my plan had been to try piecing together who it could be based on the shape of their bone structure, but I never thought Hoseok would drop his guard in such a way for me.

Continuing to trace his features, my thumbs glided over his high cheekbones. I trailed an index finger lightly over his nose, noting the dip of his bridge. I followed the sharpness of his jawline until reaching his chin. Finally, my thumb brushed over the soft skin of his bottom lip.

Like we both came alive, we drew closer together. Hoseok's hands found the small of my back and pressed my body nearer to his.
I felt his mouth part under my touch, and we shared a breath as the two of us leaned in.

"How can I touch you?" I whispered, savoring every moment of our closeness.

"I don't know," his voice came out rich and throaty. "But don't stop."

Butterflies fluttered out from my core to every part of me, awakening each fiber in my body to yearn for him.

Holding his face, my eyes closed as our noses brushed. My mouth parted just above his, but I held back.

"Is this okay?" I whispered, afraid to push him too far.

His hands moved to grip both sides of my waist. "Yes," he said, and the husky sound shot tingles down my spine.

As gently as possible, our lips met, just barely brushing. It was so faint a touch yet it felt like
the crescendo of a song.

We parted briefly, both of us breathless. Then I leaned in again and brought my lips to his to kiss him fully. He caved under my touch like he was afraid to respond.

He's never kissed anyone.

Pulling back just enough to rest my forehead against his, I mumbled, "Kiss me back."

"I don't..."

"It's okay," I slid my hands to his shoulders. "I'll show you."

Our lips met again, and I slowly moved my mouth with his, hoping to guide him. I felt his chest rise as he inhaled, then his hands were drifting up my sides and he was returning the kiss. While his movements were hesitant, he mirrored my actions and molded his lips to mine, testing what felt right.

When I responded by pressing my lips more firmly to his, he moaned and grasped my waist, pulling me onto his lap so I straddled his hips. I gasped into his mouth as he kissed me more fervently. My hand slid to his nape, fingers threading into his hair. I tilted my head for a new angle, and our mouths opened to bring us even closer.

He broke away suddenly, leaving us both panting. He removed his hands from me, and as he shifted, thrill filled my chest at the realization that he was pulling off his gloves.

"I didn't think we could ever touch," he breathed, only to grow uncertain. "If you'll let me—"

"Hoseok," I cupped his cheeks, "You can touch me."

He started with my face, gliding the back of his bare hand over my skin with care. I leaned into his touch, savoring the sparks that were no longer painful. His gentleness was nearly unbearable, and I struggled to sit still as he traced my face the way I'd traced his. Then he feathered his touch along the side of my neck, over my shoulder, past my sleeve to go down my arm. He stopped at my wrist, taking his time to trail across my palm, then he interlaced our fingers.

"You're not burning me," I whispered in awe.

He sighed and squeezed my hand. "Jangmi..."

"What is it?" Why does he sound... sad?

He brought the back of my hand to his lips, speaking against my skin. "I never burned you."

"What do you mean? Every time we touched—"

"It was you. You were the one burning me."

• • •

A/N: HAH.

So... where do I start?

Some of y'all were so QUICK to believe it was really Hoseok, man. You didn't think it'd be that easy, did you? But I'm curious, do any of you still think it's him? Or do you think he can be trusted?

How are we feeling about this chapter? What are your thoughts on that kiss? Let me know!

Any guesses as to why they could finally touch? And what do you think it means if Jangmi was actually the one burning him?

Also, MERRY CHRISTMAS/HAPPY HOLIDAYS! I'm sorry I couldn't quite get this out for a Christmas gift, but I hope the chapter was worth the extra few days!.

Thank you for your support. I'm blessed to be able to do something I love and share it with people who encourage me and enjoy what I have to offer. It means so much.

Your merry author,

Kat 💜

December 27, 2020