"Good, you are all set. Let's go boys," Lee said as his gaze wandered over each member. Looking at Taehyung, he smile and asked: "Did you sleep well? Seokjin and I weren't too loud? Seokjin was pretty excited about winning our night games."

    Alerted, Jungkook raised his head sharply and looked at Lee then Jin: Lee was in the dorm yesterday? Would that explain the blood the other members had seen? Did Lee hurt Jin in Taehyung's room while he himself was locked in his room and sulked at Jin?

    "Y-Your night games?" he repeated in a trembling voice

     Lee winked at Jungkook, giving the singer a cold sweat.

    "Yes we had fun last night," Taehyung assured, catching Jungkook's attention.

    "Did you play with them?" Jungkook asked, who felt reassured knowing that Taehyung stayed with him.

     "Obviously! Why, are you jealous? Jin hyung came to see you just before but he didn't dare to enter your room because you had been mean to him," Taehyung replied.

    "It's fine Taehyung, he doesn't care anyway," Jin chimed in, almost indifferent though.

    "Please don't say that, of course I care about you," Jungkook protested, desperate that Jin would think that. 

     "Ah yes?" Jin reacted, "If you had known that I was in front of the door last night, you would have opened? You would have agreed to discuss? Like you did this morning?"

     Jungkook fell silent as the others were dumbfounded. He knew Jin was right. If he hadn't been able to talk to Jin that morning, how could he have done so the day before when his anger was even more intense?

     Lee, observing with interest this coldness between Jin and Jungkook and this tension between Jungkook and Taehyung that he had talked about with Jin the day before, could not help but sneakily infiltrate the breach they themselves had created. He smiled:

    "Yeah that's right, it was a hell of a night, too bad you weren't there Jungkook. Even after Taehyung is asleep, we had a lot of fun, right Seokjin?" 

    "Yes, it was fun," Jin lied, without looking at him, glad he didn't stutter. 

    "Good to hear." 

    Wanting to divert Lee's attention from Jin  as much as possible even if it was only to postpone the problem of his disfigured face, Taehyung tried to respond lightly: 

     "I'm glad you had fun, don't worry hyung, you didn't wake me, I slept like a baby," he assured Lee and Jin, confirming to Jungkook that what he envisioned was totally possible. 

     "Seokjin ended up falling asleep with you and you hugged him like a plush before going back to sleep immediately, do you remember ? It's amazing how heavy a sleeper you are, even when someone sleep in your arms," Lee said to increase Jungkook's stress and jealousy.

    "Yes I remember Jin hyung lay down next to me to sleep, but I was too tired to stay awake. and by the way, I need to hug something to sleep so it actually helps me sleep more than it hinders me. I was so much so that I don't even know who won, I didn't even think to ask and I completely forgot to ask Jin hyung this morning too," Taehyung realized. 

    "Really? I would have thought Seokjin would have bragged though considering he won!" Lee exclaimed.

    "No, hyung remained humble about his victory," Taehyung said with a smile as he looked at Jin who was staring down at him.

    "He ended up getting demotivated because it was too easy for him, but I made it more exciting and interesting," Lee said.

     "Oh that's a relief, that means you've made up," Namjoon said, sincerely relieved.

      There was nothing better than a video game party to calm the manager or at least make him friendly. Namjoon thought, like the others, that if Jin and Lee had talked over a game, they had finally calmed them down between them after the events of the day before, and that might make things easier for today, since Jin was still having some issues. 

     Only Jungkook understood that the games in question weren't just video games. That same morning, Jin had come to his room and he thought that his distress was only related to their separation but in reality, he understood that Jin had also wanted to say what had happened the night with Lee. And he hadn't wanted to listen, leaving him alone with his pain. He was absolutely devastated to realize what he had done, because it was worse than he had imagined.

       "Yeah, of course! Seokjin and I are best gaming buddies," he said, approaching Jin who had remained in the center of the small protective group and wrapping an arm around him. 

     Jin winced as he felt Lee touch him. His face was so close to his that he could feel his breath on his cheek and this closeness between them was detestable to him.

     The manager Looking at Jin so closely, suddenly froze and his eyes widened as they rested on Jin. 

     " What the..."

     Bluntly, he grabbed his chin with one hand, turning his face to the left, and removing his hat and sunglasses with the other to better assess the extent of the damage.

     "Who did this to you? Who made your face so ugly?"

     Jin didn't twitch because of the word, only because of the unwanted touch on his face. He didn't want this man to touch him again, especially not in front of his dongsaengs. As for what he had said, Jin was starting to get used to the manager's nasty remarks and he could only approve of this last comment this time around: his face was indeed ugly. And for the first time, he didn't care. But not Jungkook.

     He grabbed Jin's arm.

     "Hyung face isn't ugly -" he started to preserve Jin's self-esteem, but Jin pulled away with a yank.

     "Don't touch me!" he cut to everyone's surprise, before turning to Lee and telling him the lie the group had worked out to prevent Jungkook from suffering violence from their manager and that Jin had accepted: "I tripped and badly hit the wall."

     Hearing this, Lee fluttered his eyelashes before laughing out loud.

    "What a ridiculous lie! Come on, you don't have to be a diviner to figure out what really happened, your faces can't lie."

    He was now staring at Jungkook who had been pushed away by Jin and now sported a crestfallen face and apparent remorse.

    "So that's why you said you were in pain yesterday?  And also why you preferred to sleep with Taehyung? Because Jungkook is hurting you?"said Lee in a falsely concerned tone.

     Jungkook gave Jin a wounded look because he felt betrayed. Why did Jin confide in Lee and Taehyung about their relationship when he hadn't even been able to get into his room to talk to him the night before? Even if he had quarreled, in his eyes, it was no reason for the two of them to suddenly become buddies. He began to believe that he was mistaken and that Jin and Lee had only played video games with Taehyung and nothing more.

     Seeing Jungkook's outraged look, Jin wanted to contradict Lee :

     "I never said-" Jin started before he met Lee's murderous gaze and shutting up. 

    "You don't have to hide it, Jungkook won't dare do it again now that I know it," Lee said. "Jungkook, don't you have something to say?"

    "I..." Jungkook said, still upset about Jin's behavior who sided with Lee against him just because they played together at the right time. 

    "Come on, it's not hard to say!"

    "I'm sorry," Jungkook said between his teeth. 

     Lee sighed, seeming to think quickely about what to do.

     "We will not postpone what was planned today. Save your lie for the interview, and this time don't stutter, make them believe you "he said, addressing Jin who nodded," for the pictures, we'll hide your right side as much as possible. Now all of you, get out."

     The singers, astonished at getting off so easily, did not hesitate. They hurried back to the van, not realizing that two of them had stayed behind, stopped by Lee's firm grip, who had grabbed each of them by one arm. Jin, who couldn't stand being touched by Lee stiffened, resisting the temptation to struggle. The two boys refused to look at each other.

     "Did you think you were easily get away from this?" Lee mocked, tightening his grip and making the two singers wince in pain.

     "No," Jungkook replied honestly.

    "Jungkook, when you harm an idol, you have to make sure not to leave a visible trace in the public eye," Lee said, shaking his head vigorously as if this discovery of what the maknae did was nothing serious and that Jungkook was only guilty of leaving a trace of his misdeed. "How could you be stupid enough to mark his face so badly? Pffff, the youngest is as dumb as the older one in reality."

    He backed up his words with a smack on the back of Jungkook's head who winced, before awarding the same punishment to Jin under the surprised gaze of Jungkook. Even though Jin and Lee seemed to be on better terms, it obviously didn't stop the manager from going after him too. 

     "And you Seokjin, don't you dare lie to me anymore especially if it's to protect Jungkook. Jungkook doesn't care about you, don't you get it?"

     "What? No, it's not tr-" Jungkook began.

     "Your fights are your business and I honestly don't care until you screw it up. But I'm still going to punish you for disrupting this day before it even started and embarrassing me. And perhaps in this way, you will finally remember that it is your duty to preserve your appearance from all imperfections."

     Jin didn't answer and waited for the storm to pass. Lee released them before suddenly deciding:

     "You are each going to transfer 13 million won to me before the end of the day."

     "What?!" Jungkook exclaimed, bewildered, "but this is extortion!"

     "Yes," Lee agreed, sketching a nasty smirk, "do you have something to complain about? Have you forgotten the secret that I keep kindly, for the sake of your reputation? Your reputation in the band is already seriously compromised, are we adding your reputation to the public to bury your career?"

     "N-no,  I will do it. But I'm not the one managing my money, how am I going to explain that I suddenly need 13 million won?" Jungkook lamented.

     "You'll find out, now get out before I get really mad and decide on some extra punishment that will really hurt you before the day is up."

     Jin put his hat and sunglasses back on and  left the dorm in haste, limping slightly with pain but making sure to be as discreet as possible. He was followed closely by Jungkook, to whom he did not speak. They rejoined the van, Jin placing himself at the far back next to Jimin and Taehyung and Jungkook placing himself behind the driver's seat next to Namjoon.

     "Didn't he get too upset?" Namjoon asked before Lee got into the van.

     "It could have been worse," Jungkook said without giving details to cut the conversation short, before focusing on his phone to send a message to his banker.

     He had just lost Jin's affection and support and despite his sense of betrayal, he aspire to win them back, but now the snake Lee tightened his grip on them and threatened to separate them more than ever.

    Waging a war on three fronts alone against Jin's resentment, against the disappointment of other members and against Lee's wickedness, Jungkook feared going ahead of a terrible defeat.

      After all, he no longer had any ally.