Grace's Night.

The days flew by with the wind, one after another, like the leaves of the old sakura tree, pink and lively until they weren't.

Laira paced in her room, the truth camouflaged as anxiety, eating away her confidence. She could not attend tonight's party and leave that place without being slaughtered by The Park Jimin, her conditional savior.

"Laira, get ready. We'll be leaving in an hour." Came Jungkook's voice along with a few raps on the door. "No matter what you wear, you'll look pretty."

A smile rode up halfway to her lips before it faltered at the cameo of her guilt. All their kindness in rival to her betrayal made her feel exhaustingly lost.

She never knew the feeling of being on the wrong side before. The bad side.

The least she could do was to drop this act as soon as possible, be stern about her decision to Jimin, and find her way back to her home, her real training center.

The duo won't forgive her after learning about her betrayal and Jimin won't forgive her if she gives even a hint to Taehyung about the danger he could face.

Honestly, the latter case is more hazardous. The duo might end her the very second, but Jimin will not. He will not allow her the easy way out.

"What should I wear?" That question lingered in the air momentarily until her eyes fell on the shopping bag sitting near the desk.

That gown Jimin bought for her was kept neatly folded inside.

Is that why he got me this?

His thought process intrigued her. Just how much he knew and how much of this has he planned?

She picked up the glittery Caribbean blue gown, running her fingers over its smooth fabric. The tiny pearls along the waistline were cold against her skin. She breathed the scent of vanilla emitting from the gown and its packaging.

The time on the clock was ticking, and for one, Taehyung wasn't going to be appreciative if she was late.

She hurried to put the gown on, and just like before, it was a perfect fit, embracing her frame at the top and blooming like a blue rose at the bottom.

Its neckline kissed the skin just an inch shy of her collarbones and floral sleeves trailed down her long arms.

She gave a twirl, looking at herself in the mirror, and her heart fluttered in awe at the beauty it embroidered. Never had she worn something put together with so much delicacy and glamor.

She pulled her hair up, allowing the red-tainted streaks to be open in front. The only jewelry she owned was the pair of pearl earrings she received as a gift from Chloe. Fortunately, it was enough to complete her look.

Then came another knock on the door. "Yes, coming." Standing there was Taehyung with a paper bag in his hands.

"I thought you may need this, but-," he said right after taking a good look at her. "Oh, you're already done. You look pretty."

"Thank you," she smiled, taking the bag from him. "you look handsome as well."

He chuckled. "Well, you still have time as Jungkook isn't ready yet. Perhaps, I should go and get him to hurry up." He quickly went away, closing the door behind himself.

Strange.

She opened the bag, revealing a white floral dress with a jewelry box, heels, and a matching purse. Her heart warmed at Taehyung's thoughtfulness. He probably bought all of that thinking she won't have anything suitable to wear tonight.

She decided not to change since she was already done, and she liked the Caribbean gown she wore a bit too much than she should have. However, she took out the white heels from the bag and put them on.

*

The interior was black and white as it ever was. Grace's night was always the same. Jimin scrunched his nose in distaste. "Need to teach them a few things about upgrades."

"You will? Man, I've never seen you change an inch either. Always the same old you," Namjoon commented.

Instead of replying to him, Jimin turned around to glare at Chloe who was barely doing anything to hold her giggles.

"You," Jimin said, pointing at her, "are not my responsibility. If you don't want to be in danger, I would suggest you stay right beside Joon all the time."

She nodded her head, looking anywhere except his face.

"Don't worry, I will take care of her. You just focus on the mission."

"What mission?" Chloe whispered in Namjoon's ear. He nudged her shoulder to make her quiet.

"Alright. The moment you see Min Yoongi, you will catch him. I will deal with Laira," Jimin said before he strode inside the ballroom.

"What does he mean by that? Deal with Laira?" Chloe questioned, her hand playing with the lace of her creamy-orange gown.

"Jimin wants Laira to finish her mission tonight," Namjoon explained.

"Mission of killing V? Why hasn't she done so already?"

"She can't kill JK and V together, so her mission was to send JK away, but before she could do that, Hoseok entered the scene, and she had to wait for the right time."

"JK and Hoseok will be with V tonight as well, how is this the right time?"

"Tonight, everybody will be occupied with Hoseok's safety, including his assassins. Laira could easily find an alone moment to strike a dagger through V's chest and nobody will blame her. There are going to be too many suspects."

"Oh, look! They are here!" Chloe pointed towards the flock of guards waking ahead of Hoseok and his knights. Namjoon spotted Laira walking between JK and V, seemingly laughing about something.

"Why does she look so grown up?" Chloe held a hand at her chest. "She looks beautiful."

Namjoon nodded, watching his not-so-little-anymore trainee walking past him. "We will have to keep an eye out for Min Yoongi and catch him before he meets Hoseok. After all, Laira's identity could be at risk.

*

"May I have this dance with you, My lady?"

Laira watched as men climbed up the stairs to where the guests were situated on the seats, to ask the women for a dance. The atmosphere was all lively and joyful, nobody could tell that everybody present there was an expert killer.

Her attention snapped when a man in a brown suit walked near her. She quickly rehearsed a speech to reject the dance, but before he could ask anything, he flinched back and took a beeline past her. 

She did notice the fear in his eyes and followed where he was looking, to Jungkook and Taehyung sitting beside her. The same fear was evident in every single man's gaze. That was the effect of having the knights on either side of you.

"Nobody would dare ask Laira for a dance if you both keep sending glares their way," Hoseok commented. "Stop scaring the poor men."

"If they are scared of us glaring then they are not worthy of having a dance with her," Jungkook said, rather pleased with the effect he had on other guys.

"Well, Laira, my dear, it seems like you'll just have to wait for a brave prince to come and save you from these two dragons," Hoseok said, laughing. "I'm going for a drink with my companions. Be on your best behavior boys."

"No, we plan to cause havoc in your absence, my master," Jungkook mocked, with his voice unreachable to Hoseok.

Laira laughed at his childish behavior. "Are you guys not going to dance with anyone?"

"Usually we do, but tonight we have a princess captivated in our tower, so we have to be on guard," Taehyung said, taking a sip of his drink.

"Oh, please." Laira rolled her eyes. "You both can go have fun. I don't have any plans to dance anyways."

"What if you get swayed by a man? You know, men can be smooth like snakes," Jungkook said.

"Well, I certainly don't see such men present tonight, so-"

Laira was cut short when a sound of throat-clearing stole her attention. Her vision elevated to settle on her real captivator, Park Jimin, glamoured in a dark navy blue suit.

His deep brown eyes were as sharp as blades as he briefly nodded his head to the knights with a radiant smile on his handsome face. Both the men at her sides bowed in unison with clear confusion and hesitance written on their faces.

After his polite gesture, Jimin's eyes refused to spare any attention to Jungkook and Taehyung as his hand reached out to Laira. "May I have this dance with you?"

Laira was drowning in his gaze, her first time granted the opportunity. For a brief moment, she was lost in the intensity of his eyes, oh, how beautiful they were.

And, in that moment of enchantment, her hand made its own choice, reaching out to hold his slightly big and calloused one. When his fingers wrapped around hers, the coldness of his metal rings brought her back to reality.

But, it was too late. The arrow was already in the blue sky, and her heart was beating like an echo in the forest, so faint yet fast.

"You shouldn't have approached me in front of them. Don't you know this will have consequences?" she asked him, taking a peek at her companions sitting there flabbergasted while he led her to the middle of the ballroom.

"I don't know you. I only asked a beautiful lady for a dance. They don't have anything to be suspicious about." He smiled. No, he smirked. A brave and charming smirk. He pushed his hair back, and she hadn't realized how passionate the color silver looked in contrast to the heartfelt blue. 

Or, maybe it was just him.

"Okay," she softly let out.

"Don't be anxious. I know what I'm doing. I know everything," he said.

"But, you don't know me," she proposed the idea with a slight tilt of her head. She knew it was her confidence wanting to play with fire. 

His eyes glinted with something dangerous. "You are right. Now I'm intrigued. Help me get to know you, will you?"

His question registered a bit delayed due to her mind being occupied in staring at his hand leading her own to rest on his shoulder, and his hand was placed on her waist.

"What do I get in return?" she asked, reminding her anxiety to wait at the bay as he began moving their steps to the rhythm.

He left an amused chuckle, clearly enjoying her daring. "Fair enough, what could you possibly require?"

"That, I will ask you when the time is right. For now, what do you wish to know about me?" Her footsteps followed his graceful ones while the tune as soft as a hum threaded them to a distant reality.

"Let's begin with the easy ones, what color do you fancy the most?"

"Silver." That involuntary escaped her lips like a revelation of a sworn secret. A secret even she didn't know.

He raised his brow. "You sure are interesting. I was expecting something usual like the red of the roses or the blue of the skies."

"Nothing about me or my life is usual," she let out, not realizing her bitter tone. His eyes briefly stilled on hers and quickly they averted.

"You are not to blame yourself for that," he said with a hint of sincerity and guilt she didn't know he could harbor.

"I know that quite well," she said, once again noticing his face losing the color. "I didn't volunteer to become who I am today."

"Of course." His grip tightened on her as he pulled her along with the music. With a hazy look momentary kissing his features he admitted, "However, you are very beautiful as whoever you've become today."

Her cheeks flushed and her fingers tingled with electricity as she deciphered his gaze softly reading her appearance.

In the secrecy of his twin brown lenses, she found herself twinkling as a lone star.

"You didn't ask me for a dance just to dance with me, did you?"

"Well, I see nothing wrong with just wanting to dance with you."

"But, haven't you got another reason?"

"Very well." He spun her, following the dance. "I have orders for you."

"I cannot take them," she confessed, laying her hand on his shoulder to stabilize herself.

He hummed, trailing his eyes back to her. "And why is that? You don't even know the orders yet"

"I know you want me to kill Taehyung tonight, but I don't wish to harm those dear to me."

"Dear to you?" he raised his brow.

"And he isn't a bad person either. The same goes for Jungkook and Hoseok."

He let out a harsh laugh. "Did I send you there to fix my judgment of them? How childish. Your only condition was the full knowledge of your mission, not freedom of refusing them."

"It doesn't matter. I'm not following your orders anymore, not when they require me to harm innocent people just to satisfy your greed for revenge," she seethed upon seeing the same smirk on his face.

He pulled her closer, his fingers boring into the fabric of her gown. "Innocent people? Is that because they sheltered you and accepted you as their own? How pathetic."

She gulped the lump of emotions he managed to evoke with his harsh-but-true words. "Yes. I may be pathetic, but do you know what you are? Wrong. You are the villain, Park Jimin. A man loved by none."

As fast as those words left her lips just as fast she felt him slipping away from her. He vanished amid the crowd with a last look she couldn't read. Anger? Hurt? Disbelief?

She couldn't decipher, and now he was gone, leaving her alone on the dance floor.