"And, what's that, honey?" Her face did not look completely at ease, but she was willing to put aside her thoughts for now.

Dakota rose from her seat, a little shy and uneasy. Tae turned away from her, tucking one leg between his rear and the couch, looking up at her mother.

So many pairs of curious eyes - it made her horrifyingly uncomfortable, forcing Rae to fake a smile. She raised her eyebrows at Dakota, expecting her to speak soon.

"Mom," and she started, her fingers tying and untying wearily in front of her belly. "You remember our sport's meet?"

Rae nodded.

"The Dean from the University of Prakra was the Honorable Guest, right?" Dakota reminded.

She nodded again.

"I.. I mean, both Allison and I got emails from the University today.. that we can go there.. and take up any course.. and they'll give us 85% scholarship and we can continue focusing on archery. They have the best infrastructure, and their sports teams always rank in nationals, so they must have really good coaches. Mom.. mom.. can I please go there? I really wanna go there."

She spoke the last bit in such a hurry, the preparation that went into it was hard to ignore. Rae was too stunned by the flurry of information to speak for a couple of moments.

When she finally did, it was only a word, "wow!" She pursed her lips together, as 8 pairs of eyes kept staring back at her. Wales was the first and only to excuse himself.

"Do I not get the chance to research about your university, darling?" She breathed out a single laugh.

"Of course, mom," the younger pulled out her phone from her pocket and handed it to her.

On the illuminated screen was the brochure of the University. Rae put her purse down, and sifted through the headers. It did look like a pretty big deal, with a huge campus, classrooms with high-tech facilities, the perfect amount of security, sorority and fraternity houses within the campus.

They had listed the achievements of their recently passed out students, and that was a long and impressive list. The faculty looked top-rated, and Dakota was right, the sports area, teams and coaches were all the shiz.

"Kookie oppa went there too," Dakota chipped in. "He was telling me how good the place is."

"Hmm.." Rae replied, running a finger through the crook of her chin. "Honey, this looks very good. But this is so far away. I'd always be.."

"Mom, please."

She took a dry gulp. "Have you decided what you want to study?"

Dakota nodded. "Economics."

The room fell silent again, and nobody moved. Their eyes stuck on Rae, expectantly. She could hear Yoongi sighing beside her, although all others seemed to hold their breath. Looking up, she met eyes with her daughter and broke into a smile. Made up or not, it was hard to tell, but it succeeded in making Dakota smile back.

"Of course you'll go, baby. I'm very proud of your achievements. If this is somewhere you wanna be, okay!"

Dakota smiled back hugely, although the tears pooled in her lower eyelid didn't go unnoticed. She crossed the couch between them quickly, and grasped her mother in a hug. "Thank you, mom," she kept saying, "thank you."

"I'm happy if you are, honey. What say, tomorrow we celebrate this by going ice skating? Just the two of us? Just like old times?"

Dakota unwound herself from her, and looked back at Allison. "Actually, tomorrow Allison was hoping I could go over to her place after school for some work. Can we go now?"

By this time, almost all the others had dispersed. Only Yoongi sat nearby, listening. Rae didn't mind.

"Ohh honey, tomorrow I have this big conference thingy, so maybe tonight's not a good time. Why don't we go after you're done with your work tomorrow? We'll have dinner outside."

Dakota pursed her lips, as if thinking, but nodded in a few seconds. Rae hugged her again, delighted, in anticipation of the time she'd get to spend with her the next day. Wales brought her a cup of coffee, and she decided to sit down with the others for a while.

Their constant, gleeful chatter soon died down under the impression of a commotion coming from the foyer outside the living area door. It sounded like Yvonne trying to keep someone from coming their way. When the other voice spoke, Hoseok and Rae looked at each other, immediately knowing who it was.

Rae turned to Dakota beside her, "you and Allison go up to your room for now, okay honey?" The younger nodded, and left, just in time to miss Victor's loud, grand, and undoubtedly drunk entrance.

"Oof!" he sauntered into the house, Yvonne still following him, "Snow White and her 7 dwarves, huh? No wait, there's only.. 3, 4, 5 of them now. Hi!"

*** TW: objectification ***

"Madam," Yvonne raised an alarmed voice behind him. "I wished to stop him, but I wasn't sure what you'd have wanted."

Rae gave her a knowing wink, and she took it as an order to stand guard near the door. The alpha then turned back to the omegas, and said, "you guys don't have to stay here."

"Hell, they do!" Victor's voice rose, before falling again. "If I don't get you, Rae, I'll take one of your omegas." He stumbled a little, unable to stand straight, but Rae positioned herself between him and the couch, offering him no place in her house.

"I hope you remember this behaviour tomorrow, cause I'm gonna bring it up in front of the others," she did not hesitate to threaten.

"Oh please," he scoffed, "cut the crap! And.. tell me, which one is better in bed?" and put on a callous smirk.

"What about this one?" he pointed at Jimin, shutting any word coming from Rae. Victor walked sloppily from her to where the 25-year old was. He stood, his tall self towering over him, as if examining his pretty face, but Jimin didn't budge.

"Jimin, you're not obligated to tell him anything," Yoongi warned, "or do what he tells you to."

"I know, hyung," he replied, his lidded eyes unyielding.

A sense of security washed over Rae, knowing that she was surrounded by empowered omegas, who wouldn't take shit from anyone. Maybe Yoongi and Dr. Iris were right - losing a little control wouldn't do anyone harm.

"This one's feisty, huh?" Victor laughed out at Jimin's face. He reeked of alcohol, so much that Jimin had to look away to keep himself from retching.

"If you really don't want him, Rae, I'd take him."

"No you won't," Jungkook sounded sonorous, like an alarming jolt. He put himself between Victor and Jimin, in a protective manner. And, as if a charm was hexed on him, Jimin instantly seemed relieved.

Victor sneered at the other man. "I will. And, I'll take that one too. He's pretty," he pointed at Tae.

"They're not concubines, Mr. Wang. Behave yourself," Jungkook remarked, his voice both calm and admonitory.

The threat almost nudged Victor out of his insobriety. He eyed Kookie, then moved on to sniggering at Rae. "Seriously? You're gonna let an omega speak to me like that?"

*** Trigger ends ***

Rae had been unexplainably still this whole time. However, her eyes were trained on Jungkook and how his shy omega facade was gone with the wind.

A sly smirk curved on her face and she replied, "I'd let anyone speak to you like that. But, fortunately for your ego, he's not an omega. Yvonne!"

She called out, "could you see Mr. Wang off to his car please?" The tall, sturdy woman came forward, and soundlessly hauled Victor away.

Rae sat down with a thud, massaging her temples. When she reopened her eyes, she realized Jungkook and Jimin's eyes on her. She realized an explanation would be welcomed with gratitude. But, she turned to Hoseok first, "could you?"

He nodded, handing her his phone. A video of the past few minutes played on it, and she smiled widely. "Thanks, Hobi," she returned it with a little squeeze on his arm, "send it to me."

****

Consoling Jungkook and Jimin was easy. They came out of their shells quickly, when Rae took a little time to converse with them. Jungkook spoke at length about the issues and trauma he faced in school, and even at home, because of not conforming to his given temporal.

His tears fell from his eyes when he talked about how he was not allowed to pursue a career in sports as, according to his mom, "omegas don't do that". Jimin gave him a tight hug, and softly kissed his shoulder. His hand ran over his spine, calming him down.

Rae's heart swelled at the sight, and she couldn't help smiling at them. Instinctively, she produced a hand towards Jungkook and ran her fingers through his hair. When she spoke, she sounded endeared, "I'm sorry you had to go through that, Kookie."

When she rose from the couch to finally leave, Jungkook stopped her again.
"Does it mean you'll send me home now, noona?"

"No, honey, I won't ever ask you to do that. I want you to focus on your work, both of you. And when you're ready, go out and get a place of your own. Okay?"

The two men nodded, a slight red spreading evenly on their cheeks.

****

The hardest thing to do the morning of the conference was to get herself out of bed, and get ready. Moira did wake Rae up early in the morning, but the thought of crossing Victor again - after what he had pulled off the previous day - was enough to restrain her to the bed, until she could finally convince herself to go. She took a quick shower, and put on a new pantsuit.

Looking at the closet mirror, she sneered at her reflection. The trousers hung from her hips the same way they did in the store changing room, and the jacket hugged over the white shirt the same - but, to Rae, she looked way better back there. She shrugged off the feeling, and went on to dab a little makeup and comb her hair before leaving the room.

Ever since the seven moved in, she was always welcomed to the dining area by a hubbub of voices of varying pitches, words barely recognisable. But, today it was too early.

Too early for Tae to randomly stroll down the stairs with a toothbrush in his mouth and go out into the backyard, only to run back in a minute, muffle-screaming about a new bird or a new squirrel he spotted. Too early for a moody Yoongi to sit down at the breakfast counter, and demand black coffee before he hit the gym. For an ever-smiling Hoseok returning from a jog. For Jimin and Jungkook to come downstairs together, smelling so good and so.. similar.

She rarely saw Jin before she left, and Namjoon was usually gone before she was out of bed. Maybe she'd see him today. And, Dakota of course. She would definitely be having breakfast before school, almost swallowing it and chewing the last bits on her way to her bike. Some things would probably never change, Rae imagined.

Dakota sat across Namjoon at the breakfast counter, eating and speaking, while he listened to her, occassionally nodding, shuffling through what seemed like a student's assignment. The sight left Rae feeling a sort of a queasy pleasantness, stopping her abruptly in her tracks.

"Mom! Good morning," Dakota greeted her, more enthusiastically than ever. Namjoon's head turned for a second before he retreated to his bowl of cereal.

"Good morning, Rae," he muttered, quickly swallowing.

"Good morning, Dakota, Namjoon," she replied, moving into the kitchen.

A kettle whistled softly on the oven, but Wales was nowhere to be seen. Rae put two slices of bread in the toaster, and poured herself a cup of hot water for tea. The conversation had died down in her presence, and she wondered why.

But just as she was about to start another, Dakota called out, "Mom, I'm leaving, bye. Bye, Professor."

Rae turned to see her bidding Namjoon adieu, and called back out, "bye, honey, I'll see you in the evening." The younger halted, and raised an eyebrow as if she had forgotten, but quickly realized and nodded.

Rae brought her bread and tea to the counter, and occupied the seat Dakota had vacated. Humming a tune unfamiliar to her companion, she put half a teaspoon of honey in her tea and swirled it. She sat down, and started going through her phone, waiting for Moira to show up. And, Namjoon quickly leafed through the assignment in front of him, before putting it away.

Rae's food remained untouched for a while. Steam rose lazily from her cup, spreading the earthy fragrance of her Nefesse tea, accentuated by the honey. He cleared his throat, "Dakota.. was telling me about going to Prakra. I think it's a really good opportunity for an athlete like her."

Rae put her phone down, giving him all her attention. "Yeah," a smile spread across her face as she registered his words, "she seems very happy about the decision."

"She is," he replied, softly smiling, controlling after what happened a couple of days ago.

They ate in silence, glancing at each other every now and then, like college freshmen with social anxiety.

When Namjoon's bowl was empty, he picked it up and placed it in the sink. Filling it a little with water, he came back around to bid Rae goodbye for the day. Her fingers lingered momentarily on his elbow when he wished her luck for the conference, and she returned him a huge smile.

In all the while it took him to cross the living area from the kitchen to the massive Nanduran blackwood door, past the dinner table, the staircase to the first floor and the couches, Namjoon was embarrassingly aware of the heat on his cheeks and ears. Only when he had reached the door did he have to stop again.

"Namjoon, wait," he heard her usual smoky voice ringing through the space between them, "your.. umm.. papers."

He looked back to see her flailing his student's assignment in the air. She was halfway through the living area, her shoes incompletely and uncomfortably worn, yet she did not wobble. She handed him the sheets and took his arm again. "Sorry," she whispered, adjusting the straps on her peeptoes.

"Could I drop you off?" She asked, letting his bicep go.

"No no, there's no need. I'm sure you're in a hurry."

"I have to pick up Moira anyway. It wouldn't be much if Lou takes another little turn. Come on!"

She collected her purse from the couch and headed outside with him.

****

The parking area under The Smith Tower had no empty spaces when they arrived. Except for Rae's assigned spot. Lou dropped Rae and Moira at the elevator and took an U-turn to park the car.

Moira briefed her about her opening speech again, quickly, as the glass elevator ascended, leaving the floors below. As they stepped out, Yvonne joined them, her stride intimidating beside her friends.

There was not an ounce of deceit when she had said that she would give her life away fighting for Rae and her daughter. She and her brother - both had literally grown up with her, when their fathers worked for the former alpha. The woman who had given birth to them had died moments after she had pushed out Levi, and the Alikovs adopted the twins a couple months later. They showered all their love on to these babies.

As children, they often visited the alpha's mansion, and soon became friends with Rae - in fact, such good friends that their Kappa instincts made them want to protect her and her loved ones for eternity. When their fathers passed, they took up their jobs and stayed beside the Smiths.

That day saw the assembly of 16 of the most influential individuals at The Smith Tower. All of them had their assistants or advisors by their sides, and a mandatory guard - in case the conference turned sour. The heads of the clans were all to bring their most trade-able commodity to the hosting clan, as a gift, and they brought surplus.

Rae's cabin was a mess; everything that could be brought upstairs in the elevator and fit through the glass door, was brought. On the floor near her table were cartons of fruits from Nefelibata, filling the office with the scent of apples, pomegranates, oranges, and kumquats. And, cartons of wine from Meadhearth. On her right, the coffee table was overflowing with rectangular boxes of all different sizes; in them were necklaces, earrings, bangles and anklets - all made of pearls from the farms of the Shadeau Isles.

A lone bottle of dark whiskey resided among them, from Meadhearth and presumably one of only a few bottles ever produced. On the couch in front of the table were laid the most precious silk dresses, that looked outrageously expensive and oozed the magic of the craftsmanship from Attis.

"By the Lord of the First Light," Rae exclaimed, walking from the coffee table to her desk. Wherever she looked, there were cartons and boxes, in gift wraps, sometimes not. A tall lamp from Nandura here, that sort of suited her office decor, a pretty fishbowl floral arrangement there, and a big, hand-woven dreamcatcher from Jongol, and..

She noticed it just as she turned along the curve of the desk to put her purse down on the chair. A small wooden instrument with 17 steel keys nestled among the books that must have come from Prakra. She picked it up, turned to Yvonne, and shrugged. "Nandura?" she asked, guessing from the intricate design on the wood.

"It's from Mr. Wang. He specifically wanted you to know it isn't from Ika, but from him alone."

"That bastard!" She put the kalimba back where it was before heading out, Moira and Yvonne flanking her on both sides.

Rae had stopped playing the kalimba nearly 2 years ago, albeit only starting after Duncan's passing. Depression and harmful coping mechanisms had landed her in counseling, and she was soon prescribed music therapy. When she met Victor a couple of years later, at the Alpha-con held in Port Gloss, they seemed to have immediately hit it off. She was a natural at playing the instrument back then, and was coping with her sorrows in a healthy manner.

Meeting someone new actually gave her hope she didn't have for the last few years. After they fucked like animals in his hotel room, they spent the rest of the night smoking and talking, and she taught him the basics of kalimba.

They spent a couple of weeks together before they had to part. Victor seemed to her like the second chance she was given at love. But her delusions were washed away soon, when his father, Valerius Wang, the then alpha, came to Mr. Smith. He proposed a marriage of states, following which, Osira was to be under the control of Ika.

Mr. Smith, as the proud alpha that he was, denied immediately and sent them away. When he sensed the slightest semblance of agitation at the border they shared with Ika, he set out to quickly strengthen their trade relations with the clans of Prakra, Attis, Meadhearth, New Oléas, Nefelibata, Madensa and Ivyski. These clans, in return, openly pledged their entire military allegiance to Osira.

The conference room was packed with people, the clan leaders and their assistants had taken their seats, facing the massive white presentation screen. The guards stood near the walls, their assault rifles slinging from their shoulders, prepared for circumstances unknown.

A raucous hubbub broke out as soon as Rae walked in. She smiled at everyone, shook hands with a few, hugged the others and bowed to the ones older. She recognised almost all of them, except a couple of new faces - Upasana Singh, the delta leader of Prakra, and Sidney Law, an evicted zeta from Ancient Oléas and the current leader of the clan of Vazeñ.

She moved to the podium where Moira had already set up her laptop, for the whiteboard presentation. Although she was only to introduce and begin the ceremony now, she was glad the logo of her clan was put up behind her.

The classic logo of the practice of medicine. A snake twining around a staff with wings, only here, a spike of wheat replaced the staff - representing their expertise in the cultivation of food crops as well as the production of drugs.

"Good morning, everyone," Rae started, a little nervous, her ears turning red and hot, "no word could be enough to express my gratitude for your esteemed presence here. I'd like to start off with introductions of everyone who would be speaking today, although I'm pretty sure they need none...

"And lastly, myself. Rae Smith from Osira, I would be acknowledging recent developments on our land, and addressing a few issues at hand," she smiled at the audience. "Since this is a safe place for all of us. So.. without further ado, I'd like to invite Ms Upasana Singh here to speak about the current Prakran affairs."

The 28-year old woman smiled at Rae delicately, almost as if she didn't smile at all, and got up from her seat. Her skin was a tawny, yellowish-brown hue, a mane of baby hair curled and gathered just over her hairline and a sharp widow's peak arched deep onto her forehead.

Her kurta was a simple yet exquisite patchwork of various colors, and how she chose red as the color of her leggings was beyond Rae.

Upasana's assistant had set up her presentation on the white screen for her aid, but she made no use of it. She spewed statistical information like she had it for breakfast, while her assistant rushed through the slides, stricken with panic, to keep up with her boss's content. Upasana ended her addressal by informing others of Rae's daughter being invited to her clan, and assured her personally of Dakota's safety.

Next up went the 65-year old alpha of Piasek, Theodore Galvan, pale and white as a snowflake with freckles being the only color on his face. He stood behind the podium, controlling his presentation and spoke, often in incoherent mumbles.

By the end of his talk, he made sure to mention his distaste for the city-wide subway transport system New Oléas had built for them and the selling of Osira's drugs in their stores. Their own fisheries and pisciculture farms were thriving, and just like the rest of the year, their beaches were swarmed with people.

One after the other, the leaders of Attis, Meadhearth, Port Gloss, Nandura, Shadeau Isles, the two Oléases, Madensa and Jongol went up to represent their clans with all their achievements, failures and grievances. Ivyski's alpha spoke for the shortest duration of time - their economic growth was known to all. Having the sole, unrivalled control on the petrol and other oil reserves business, this clan had quickly become one of the strongest.

Victor's speech followed theirs. His presentation was only one slide with Ika's logo on it - the digit of one, hollow, with a battle formation inside it; to a skeptical mind, however, it could also look like the dentations seen on a hand grenade.

He talked about how being in a military discipline throughout their life, for the sake of their clan, had improved the quality of life Ikans lived at an elderly age. He claimed to have observed a "ridiculous dive in deaths due to heart conditions", and quietly ignored talking about the rise in deaths caused due to lung cancer, STDs and depression. To Rae's surprise, he did not mention his new plan to eradicate homosexuality from Ika, possibly because of the foreseeable backlash he would have received.

Sidney Law from Vazeñ, the prison clan, went up next. They were a vision, with their long, rough yet straight red hair falling just below their shoulders and a half-smile or a half-smirk that could kill. Their face was so beautiful, and solemn that the grimy, sloppily ironed, and nearly torn clothes starting from their neck went almost unnoticed.

Sidney was a resident of Ancient Oléas, a hard-working student who was rarely appreciated by their teachers. This was until they realized the Temporal system would never work in their favor and was designed to keep people like them subdued.

They went on to forming a group with other people who felt the same way, to eventually cause resistance. However, before they could wreck even a single havoc, they were arrested and evicted to Vazeñ after being bailed on by their psychiatrist.

"First of all," they cleared their throat behind the podium, brushing their hair back, "thank you, Madam Rae, for having the sincerity to invite Vazeñ to an Alpha conference. Thanks to your representative, I've been able to come here with evidence of our misery. I don't have much to say, but I have enough to show."

They changed their slides by themselves, they had no assistant, nor a bodyguard. The audience winced and hissed in unison at the display of the first photo.

"This is a picture from my clan, that is the house of one of my people. If this shocks you, let's.. yes," they changed the slide to an even more horrifying photo.

"I'm hoping you're struck by the squalor my people are surviving in, since that was my intention. Now you could argue that we're criminals who do not deserve a life any better than this. But, if you are to look back in time to when those of us who live in Vazeñ, were sent to Vazeñ, you'll see that none of us had committed any crime at all. If we had, you'd have executed us lawfully. But you couldn't cause we didn't do anything."

Their heavily lidded eyes almost bore into the skull of the alpha of Ancient Oléas, who asked, "so we should have waited until you did something?"

Sidney scoffed, "no, what's done is done. However, a year ago, I reached out to all of you, to beg you to do us a favor - donate to our cause, show us some semblance of humanity. Only New Oléas and Nefelibata showed up with financial support. Prakra and Osira jointly sent medical aid, and for that we are forever grateful. The plague that was festering has been batted off to a huge extent. But we still have problems of dirty water, bad hygiene, hunger, health problems among older people, lack of education for children born here, etc. Standing here, in front of you, I beg to you again - in the names of the Sun and the Moon, help us. Please."

Rev. Akane went up next. She was a short yet stout woman, in the robes of a priest, plain looking but when she spoke, her voice was like that of a songbird and her words were profound. She spoke extensively about their new fruit and tea plantations, promised Sidney to send fresh fruits to Vazeñ with the blessings of the Lords and told them to keep faith. Again, surprisingly, she did not mention anything about their new venture in marijuana. It made Rae wonder if she knew anything about it at all.

Finally, after what seemed like the entire morning, and was, Rae got to go back up to the center stage. In front of her, the vanity in the room seemed to be touching the ceiling. She cleared her throat and started. Her words were all polite - at least in the beginning. She had decided to speak to Rev Akane in private, but Ika's conspiracy must reveal.

"Now, I believe I have the privilege of maintaining loving, respecting, trusting relations with all of you. Or, I thought so." Her eyes flicked towards Victor, like a switch turning on. "But, for some reason, Mr. Wang seems to completely loathe me. He seems to take pride in bringing me down, but does not want to talk about it. Why is that, Vic?"

Victor's eyes were set on her, but he didn't say a word. "Why, what happened, Rae?" Selise Madea, the alpha of Meadhearth asked. She was a pretty, petite blonde woman, well in her 40's but did not look the part. She was the first woman to govern her clan, an advocate of the rights of women, who were often mistreated and abused in Meadhearth.

"I hope you're not maligning the name of a good man just out of spite, Ms Smith," the Pias alpha spoke up in favor of Ika.

"You already assume it's for maligning?" Rae scoffed. "You're not wrong, but anyway.. my assistant would hand out a report to you - a report made by my ambassador, who was recently in Ika. Skip all the writing."

She articulated as Moira went around the room, handing everyone 3-page reports on the synthetic drugs Jason had discovered. Even Victor got a copy.

"My diplomat, Mr. Jason Grey found the following clandestine drugs being produced in the laboratories of Ika. And these are not school laboratories, if you will. Now tell me, Mr. Wang, why do you need a laboratory outside of academic purposes? You import all drugs - medicinal or otherwise - from Osira, and we give you enough plant-based recreational drugs, so to speak. Why do you need them lab-made?"

"Th..this is the first time I'm hearing of this," Victor stuttered as all eyes landed on him. His assistant beside him kept whispering pieces of advice in his ear, urging him to not say anything in a lawyer's absentia.

"Really? In a dictatorship like yours, things happen without your knowledge?"

Theo Galvan interfered again, "it tells here that the machinery involved was manufactured by Jung's and Family. Isn't that a company in your clan? How are we to know you're not involved in this, but you're pushing Mr. Wang alone to suffer the consequences?"

A low murmur seemed to rise among the audience. Rae's ears went red, as she had not foreseen that question. She quickly collected her senses and pointed her chin at Moira again.

"Why would I put their name in my report if I'm trying to save my ass alone? This piece of evidence," she continued as Moira handed out another report of sorts, "is the collection of invoices from the Jungs, for the last two months. As you can see, the most demand and purchase had been from Ika. There are a couple of schools that even ordered for new machinery before the warranty period on their previously bought equipment still stood.

"When I spoke to Jung Areum, one of the owners of the company, she informed me of her suspicion and admitted to not caring about it earlier since it only meant business to them. I did not have the chance to look into it further, but I'm sure that if this investigation is extended, these schools - the ones that bought extra - will be found guilty for this fiasco. Maybe Mr. Wang will be found innocent of involvement with this crime after all, maybe not?"

Rae shrugged, with a certain amount of pride.

"Is that all, Rae?" Selise asked again, "is this why you think he despises your clan?"

"There's more," she smiled, righteously, and changed the slide on her presentation. The current slide had just a video - the video Hoseok had taken the previous day.

The entire audience was left agape by the time the video ended, even Victor himself. He had not expected her to actually do this.

"I guess an apology is in order, huh?" He faked a smirk, only to receive scoffs and eye rolls from everyone.