Jin's POV-

We had to pause the game for a moment as Taylor begun to get all flustered and quickly started panicking. I think she's still not used to PDA, especially in front of the cameras where she knows the eyes are on her.

Taylor and I sat off to the side as the others continued on with their tasks for the second round. Our female maknae had already finished hers, earning herself four points against me. I was quite proud of her, considering I gave her decently difficult questions.

"I'm sorry for freaking out a bit," she says in a quiet tone beside me. "I guess I was so surprised that he remembered, and then I remembered the cameras and all that.."

"It's okay, Princess," I reply with a smile. "It's okay to get nervous or embarrassed on camera. There have been things that happen to us that have been cut out, so they'll probably do an edit so the fans don't see you run off."

"I didn't mean to make more work for them," she says with a pout, leaning her head against the wall. "It's not like it's the worst thing, I mean, Jimin has kissed me on stage before and I didn't have this kind of reaction.. I don't think."

"Maybe after all that's happened, you're still a bit uneasy. I doubt things will be like they were, you may just have to get used to it all over again. Plus, I'm sure if it's something you plan or expected, you'll do a whole lot better."

Taylor gives me a bright smile before wrapping her arms around me. "You're right, thank you," she responds, and I can't help but return her smile as I pull her into my lap. The female maknae rests her head on my chest as they continue on. I'm doing pretty well so far thanks to the first round, so I'm not too worried.

Eventually the third round is announced. Our final goal is to get our partner as flustered as possible with a single action. I question the decision to make this an actual thing, since the only person we have a romantic pull to is Taylor. It'll be a lot harder to pull this off on the others.

I watch as Jimin and Taylor step up once more, getting a front row seat to how he's going to pull this off. However, our rose's face looks determined, so maybe she already knows what he's going to do?

"And.. go!" One of the staff calls, and I jump as Jimin slams his hand against the wall, pushing our female maknae against it and getting exceptionally close to her face. Our rose's face doesn't change though, and Taylor merely gives him a sweet smile before kneeing him in the stomach.

"Yah!" Jimin cries, bursting into laughter as he flinches away from her. "I thought that was going to work!"

"Maybe at home, but this is a competition!" she says with a giggle. "I figured you'd try something so stereotypical, so I spent my entire time with Jin mentally preparing myself to show no response."

"Woooow!" I cry, pulling Taylor into a big hug and spinning her around as the judges announce that Jimin will be getting zero points. "That was impressive, princess!"

Her and I both get into our places then, since it's her turn now. Taylor's wearing just a simple blue pleated skirt and a blazer, similar to a school uniform, along with black flats and knee high socks. I myself am in a simple grey t-shirt and khakis, because I didn't have much going on today specifically.

I stand facing away from the wall, wondering if she is going to try and pull the same thing Jimin did. "And.. go!" is all I hear from the staff, before all hell breaks loose.

Taylor swiftly pulls her leg up and does exactly what Jimin did. BUT WITH HER FREAKING LEG!!! I panic and quickly pick her up, throwing her over my shoulder as I carry her away from there. "WOMAN I SWEAR YOU'RE GOING TO BE THE DEATH OF ME!" I cry, hearing her laughter behind me. 

The staff is also dying of laughter, shocked expressions on their faces as I set our female maknae down in the corner of the room. "Taylor, what were you thinking?" I ask with a serious expression. Half of me is a bit flustered, the other furious with her behavior. This video is going to be shown to all of ARMY for Christ's sake!

One look at my expression causes her smile to fall very quickly. "I just thought it would be funny.." she says in a quiet tone, holding her hands to her chest. "I mean, I saw pictures of that kind of thing online in places like a school, I thought it was normal.."

"Honey, it's certainly NOT normal. Most of those pictures are just recreations of memes taken from a couple shows. What if your skirt was a tiny bit shorter? What you did was highly inappropriate, what do you have to say for yourself?"

Tears begin to well up in her eyes as her gaze falls to the floor. "I'm sorry.. I didn't know.." is all I'm able to hear, and just barely as her voice is only slightly above a whisper. I feel a wave of shock and sadness emanating from the woman, so I take a moment to breathe in deeply before responding.

"I know, princess. You just have to be more careful when we're filming, okay? I'm sorry for getting so upset, I just panicked a little bit. I didn't want you to accidentally flash the camera, you know what I mean?"

Taylor nods without a word, and I kneel down to look her in the eyes. "I need you to look at me, okay? I'm not angry with you."

"Yes you are.. I felt it when you put me down," she chokes, and I blink a couple times in surprise at her face that's reddened from her tears. She keeps her gaze averted from my own, and I merely sigh before standing back up.

"Why don't we go take a break for a moment? Get you cleaned up so when we end off the episode, ARMY's won't be able to tell that you were crying." Just as I offer, I hear my name called to continue the game.

"Dammit.." I mutter under my breath, before seeing Hobi relaxing off to the side. We started with him this round, so he could probably go with her, right? "Hey, Hobi! Could you come here for a second?"

The sunshine tilts his head in confusion before bounding over, and after I explained the situation he nods in understanding. "Don't worry, we'll be back soon," he says, looking over at our rose with a smile. I let out a breath of relief before heading over to do my part of the game, giving the camera a bright smile as I hear the two leave the room.

Hoseok's POV-

"You haven't been to this side of the building, have you?" I ask, waiting outside the ladies bathroom for Taylor. "There are some places I haven't been either, it's always fun to find new places don't you think?"

I hear no answer within the bathroom, but the sound of running water stops after a few seconds. Our rose opens the door and shuts it quietly as she exits, her gaze locked onto the floor. I can say she looks a lot better though, we may have to touch up her make up but other than that it's like nothing ever happened.

"You know, it's no fun talking to myself," I prompt, slipping my hand into her own. "What's the matter, princess?"

".. I don't want to bother you," she answers, shaking her head. "I'm fine, we should probably get back before they start to worry."

I pout a bit as she tries to walk back, tightening my grip and staying right where I am. The female blinks a couple times and looks back at me, first with a shocked expression, then a forced smile. "Please, Hobi.."

"We're going to make a detour," I merely say as I head in the opposite direction. The female squeaks in surprise as I pull her along, a million thoughts running through my head. She's obviously upset, what can I do to make her happy? What can I do to get a genuine smile?

In truth, I wish today was like any other day. I was tired this morning and didn't feel like getting out of bed. Yoongi had to drag me out and remind me of our schedule, but it was hard to keep smiling and pretend that everything was fine. 

I know, sounds dark for someone who's regarded as their sunshine, right? It's been getting so much harder, especially over the past couple days. I'm not sure why, but I know it started after Choi was arrested and taken away. 

I was feeling a mix of emotions the day we caught her. Rage. Happiness. Depression. Relief. All of these things and more consumed my thoughts for weeks on end after that day. But one of them stood above the rest, one that clings so tightly that it's become too difficult to ignore. 

Fear.

This emotion is not a foreign one, I'm scared of a lot of things. Roller coasters and fast rides, snakes and bugs, that kind of thing. But this time was different, and that fear began to develop into paranoia after a while. The fear of losing her and the rest of my soulmates was too grand in my mind.

I've done everything I can to give them the brightest sunshine they've ever seen. I won't stop until I can be certain that nothing will happen to them, that nothing will take them away, no matter how much it hurts me to do so.

I know that Taylor would call me a hypocrite. But I'm not blind to what she's doing, I know that she's fighting with everything she has to keep on smiling just like me. If I could just ease that burden a little bit, even if it's only one percent of her troubles, then it would be worth it.

"Hobi-oppa, where are we going?" Taylor asks as I lead us into an empty room, shutting the door behind us. The room is pitch black, so I reach over to flip the light switch with my free hand. 

Golden fairy lights spur to life around the room, illuminating the school desks littered around the place. The room is mainly used for storing old props like that, but I'd come in here every once in a while to clear my head.

Her eyes shine like stars as the lights are reflecting in them, her face lit up in amazement. "I want to show you something," I reply, and her eyes shift to me with a confused expression.

"Something that will make you smile again."

Ending this chapter was especially difficult this time around, but not as bad as before either. I was trying to think of a good way to end it off because you all know that cliffhangers are my specialty! Get ready for some wholesome shit next chapter!

Daily Quote: "That reminds me I've run out of laundry sauuuuce and I need to goooo to the waaaalmart place and buy some more, otherwise I'll both smell like human garbage and look like it too." -Ramsses

~Author-chan