"I HAD A BREAKTHROUGH!" Jungkook yelled, bursting in through the door while carrying a pile of books that went up all the way to his chin. His arm muscles were bulging from underneath his sleeves.

With urgency, he scurried to the desk where he dropped the books, prompting a loud thud. Wild eyes darting in a different direction every two seconds, he wiped the sweat off his forehead. Shaking, he adjusted his glasses on his nose.

"Just how much coffee did you drink?" Jimin cocked a brow, sitting upright on the couch next to Aera.

"That's not the point!" Jungkook shouted again, trembling lips stretching in a mad grin.

Taehyung scoffed, eyebrows knitting together. "You're being so fucking loud, do you realize that?" he pressed his hands to his ears, annoyance written all over his face.

Jungkook bounced from one foot to the other, fumbling with his fingers. Apparently, he couldn't stay still for more than one second.

"I may have had two cups of coffee. Or three. Okay, I admit, they were four. Gee, alright, five. For heaven's sake, can't a guy have six coffees in a row! Stop judging me!" he shouted, pointing a finger at the friends who had gathered around the desk.

"I think we need to have an intervention after this." Jimin whispered next to Aera's ear.

"Babe," Meisa stepped forward, concern laced in her voice. "I can almost hear the beating of your heart. You know that's not normal, right?"

"Silence!" Jungkook hissed with boggling eyes, strands of hair poking in every direction.

"How about I silence your face with my hand, huh?!" Meisa snapped, the soft worry evaporating from her face and being replaced with a hard glare as she took another step threateningly.

Jungkook's face instantly softened and Aera could tell he almost seemed intimidated by his girlfriend.

"I'm sorry, babe," his voice finally went back to its normal volume, but the shaking of his hands didn't cease. "It's just that I'm trying to tell you guys something really important and you keep interrupting me."

Namjoon, who up until now observed the scene unfolding before him with scientific interest, clicked his tongue.

"I think you guys need to give Kookie a chance to talk. You've got him surrounded like he's about to be stampeded." he advised wisely.

"Okay, Einstein, tell us about your grand revelation." Taehyung said sarcastically, arms folded over his firm chest.

Everyone took a seat around the room. Aera had the feeling she had gone back to high school, seeing Jungkook standing next to the desk. They were the class, and he was the teacher.

"Okay," he breathed, wringing his hands and pacing across the room so fast that Aera feared he'd burn holes through the carpet. "So." He began, pausing to set up his laptop on the desk.

"Don't tell me you did a PowerPoint presentation, you nerd." Taehyung called out from across the room, eyes sparkling with mischief.

"No I did not!" Jungkook gasped, offended. "I just... got some pictures from the Internet." he mumbled bashfully.

"It's nice that he's come prepared, he worked a lot on this the past few days!" Meisa glared at Taehyung, eager to protect her man from the cruel mockery.

"Lame." Taehyung snorted, putting his legs up on the table.

"Just let the man speak!" Jimin insisted with irritation. "We don't have all day."

"Let's all be friends here." Aera said cautiously, taking notice of the fire blazing in Taehyung's eyes after Jimin's comment. A single vein popped on his neck.

"Don't test me, Park," he growled, earning a scowl from Aera. "We may be on the same side, but I'm not exactly what you'd call a good guy."

"Everyone, stop bickering." Namjoon scolded with a frown which seemingly managed to silence the others and direct their attention back at Jungkook. However, Jimin continued to glare at Taehyung with menace in his eyes.

Jungkook cleared his throat, adjusting his glasses on the bridge of his nose once again. Aera had come to realize this was a habit of his when he was anxious.

"I wanted to speak to you guys about something," he started, his fingers fiddling with a sheet of paper. "And that's the dream Aera had while she was unconscious."

"My dream?" Aera was confused. After sharing it with her friends, none of them had paid any more attention to it, brushing it off as something unimportant.

"I think it might mean more than we thought," Jungkook explained. "And I know most of it sounded confusing. But there was one thing in particular about it that stood out to me. Aera, I think your dream was no coincidence. I think your grandmother was trying to tell us something."

"Tell us what?" Jimin asked. Everyone else remained silent.

"So from what we gathered from Aera's dream, most of it was really weird, right? But after giving it some thought in detail, I noticed some things. For instance, Aera, your grandmother mentions a fox three times. It's almost like she wants to stress this enough so that you'd pick up on it. Not only that, but a fox literally appears before you in your dream, and that's when you start sensing that invisible threat you told us began chasing you. Right?"

"That's correct." Aera verified, overwhelmed by the memories of her dream.

"So then I started thinking," Jungkook paced across the room, eyebrows furrowed together thoughtfully. "Why a fox? Why does this creature that seemingly has nothing to do with us and our lives seem so important? What does it symbolize?" he bent over his laptop, typing something in the keyboard before a picture of a fox appeared on the screen.

"Is it perhaps a metaphor?" Namjoon suggested. "Usually when people think of foxes, they associate it with trickery and dishonesty. Sly as a fox."

"That's true," Jungkook nodded. "But in some cultures, foxes have a bigger significance. Have any of you guys heard of kitsune?"

"Isn't that the Japanese word for fox?" Aera questioned, vaguely remembering her Japanese lessons.

"Yes!" Jungkook clapped his hands. "That's absolutely correct. As some of you guys know, I used to be really into Japanese folklore and mythology a couple years ago. Kitsune, or demon foxes, are supernatural creatures who possess a variety of paranormal abilities as well as superior intelligence. At least according to Japanese legends." He clicked something on his laptop again and a drawing of a red fox with nine tails appeared.

"What kind of paranormal abilities?" Jimin questioned.

"Most notably, shapeshifting," Jungkook uttered and everyone exchanged knowing looks. "It's believed that a kitsune can take human form, most commonly that of a woman, even though there are stories mentioning male kitsunes as well. A kitsune can also duplicate the appearance of a specific person. However, there would always be a tiny sign that it's not that person, but an imposter."

"Just like that day on the field with Jin!" Aera exclaimed breathlessly.

"Exactly," Jungkook took his glasses off to wipe them. "Other supernatural abilities include possession, invisibility, weather manipulation, taking on fantastic shapes, alternation of people's dreams, creating illusions so that they can deceive you. Female kitsunes can be very seductive and practice mind control on men who fall under their charm. They're extremely powerful."

In the back of her mind, Aera recollected the sensations she had experienced in her dream. Evil. Animalistic rage. Thirsty for blood.

"Are kitsunes generally good or bad?" she asked, quivering orbs snapping back at Jungkook.

"Even though in literature there are mentions of benevolent kitsunes who serve as protective spirits, common belief says that most of them are evil and malicious. They can be quite vengeful, too, constantly torturing the object of their hatred." Jungkook clarified.

"So if I have to guess," Namjoon spoke up after a brief pause. "I suppose you think that we're dealing with a demon fox?" he asked bluntly.

"I mean, at this point, is it really that hard to believe?" Jungkook shrugged, plopping down on one of the swivel chairs exhaustedly. "That's just my interpretation of Aera's dream. I may be wrong, I may be right. Who knows? Many things I thought would be impossible ended up being true. If someone told me one day I'd be able to become invisible, I would have laughed in their face and told them to get checked up by a psychiatrist."

"It sounds crazy," Jimin sighed, rubbing his temples. "Yet... I hate to say it. But this is actually believable. This might be the key to finding out who's behind all of this."

In the silence that engulfed them Aera could hear her own heart beating. If there was one good thing about this, it was that at least after almost two weeks they had some kind of a lead. Even though it was debatable whether it could be true, Jungkook's guess was pretty spot-on. It seemed like this was the thing he had been doing research on for such a long time. She was filled with admiration for his hard work.

As the quietness grew deeper, her thoughts started crashing around her brain. So overwhelmed, she stood up abruptly and excused herself, saying that she needed to grab a glass of water.

Ashen faced, Aera started shuffling towards the lobby bar. Hearing the distant chatter around her and slipping in the crowd of people by the reception, she inhaled a deep breath, finally at ease. Currently, she desperately needed some normal in her life. She was grateful for her father's associates who carried on running the hotel perfectly even after her uncle's death. In actuality, she was kind of amazed how the world around her kept on functioning idly, whereas inside her there was a tumultuous feeling rumbling from deep within.

Once her brain had relatively calmed down, she halted to catch her breath from the powerwalk she had unwittingly switched to. The thoughts ran through her mind one after another, connecting the dots.

Fox. Demon fox. Trickery. Deception. Manipulation. Dishonesty?

Aera swallowed the whole glass of water in three big loud gulps. A trickster? Her heart ricocheted off her rib cage when someone's face came to mind, uninvited as usual. A manipulator. Sly as a fox. Could it be that Yoongi... but no. Wouldn't she have noticed if her ex-boyfriend had been a century-old malicious demon fox all along? It sounded absurd, but then again, absurd was a very loose term at the moment.

If there even was a demon fox around there somewhere, then it was clear who had impersonated Jin that day in the Lee family mansion. It made sense. The real Jin had mentioned he had spotted Hyukjae at the hotel during that time, so Aera's brother was out of the suspect list. So that seemingly left only Yoongi... but... it couldn't be true. Part of this didn't sit well with her, she had trouble believing it.

One thing was clear, and it was that she had to tell Jimin. No more secrecy, no more hiding the truth. She had to come clean to him about Yoongi giving her the crystal skull the other night. She felt like she was going to combust, keeping that dirty secret to herself.