Greaser Namjoon may tutor you in math on Mondays, but he can’t help you prepare for your dance recitals next week.
Your body’s been extra stiff from being pent up in your room during this terrible virus outbreak. Weeks without access to the dance studio have forced you to seek cardio in other, more stationary forms...breaking sweats to your wild imagination as you pour over telegrams from your favorite tease, Mr. Jung. Sure, he’s way too popular to ever be yours, but when this varsity jock comes over to massage out the knots in your neck and stretch you out once a week, are you one to complain? “We look so good together, Baby. Let’s dance.”
“Jinnie-hyung sure knows how to throw a party, huh?” Jimin giggles out his last words before hurling into the ice bucket in your arms. “Uhm, can I leave you here? hELLO? Should I go look for him? Jimin! ….wake up! Someone should take you home...”
You’re dead serious but he keeps bubbling up with laughter. He throws himself back onto the couch to rest but his eyes pop open again to side-eye a girl sat nearby. He motions for her to remove herself from the armrest, flicking his wrist like a king dismissing a peasant from court. Satisfied, the smile returns to his shiny face and he falls asleep. “Jimin?” He gone.
A few hours earlier, Seokjin had greeted you somewhere near the snack bar with a sly “Do I know you from somewhere?” Your exchange was short-lived as he was soon dragged back into the noise of the party. Did you really think he invited you because you are special? You look around at the other guests. You might share in his space, but in actuality, you are lightyears away. He’s out of your league. They all are. Y/N, you delusional bighead, this is not your scene.
For one, you’re thirsty. For two, particular guests keep glaring at you for showing some skin. What…it’s a hot summer night! The music only gets louder as you push through the disheveled partygoers, looking for Seokjin.
“Are you lost, Kiddo?” Oh, Hoseok. Grim Reaper of Fuckboys. Does he eat them in his protein shakes? you wonder. His bright smile at this moment, just for you, reminds you that something about him is always warm and protective and assuring. Like a candle inviting you inside to safety, only for you to get too close and die. Sizzling out like all the other pathetic moths. But if you ask the moth, was it worth it? It would say that until the very end, it was worth it, to die while kissing the sun. You snap out of your weird drunk monologue and hope you didn’t say any of it out loud.
“N-no, I just can’t find Seokjin anywhere. Have you seen him?” You gulp. The dehydration is starting to set in. He seems to be out of breath from dancing, sweat pooling in his prominent collarbones, exposed just beneath the popped collar of his shirt.
He peers through you like he can read your mind. “He’s probably playing 7 Minutes in Heaven,” he grins at your shocked reaction.
Hoseok takes your hand and leads you through the crowd until you find Seokjin surrounded by his athletic cronies near the pool. Jimin has safely found his way back to Taehyung who is now giving him sips of water. “Look who I found.”
“CHOCO PIE! Where have you been? Come join us, we are playing a fun game. It’s called Truth or Dare.” Seokjin pats the grass beside him joyously.
The group of athletes lets out a collective grunt. “But Jin, we weren’t done with the last round of Spin the Bottle!” You take in this new member who looks more like a weightlifter than a football player with that build.
“Excuse me, this is my party and I make the rules. Now that Y/N has joined I think it will be more fun this way. Don’t be sad, Wonho, you’ll get your turn.” Seokjin blows him a kiss but Wonho is not having it.
The sudden disappointment from the group has you uneasy. “Wait, I—I’ve never played this game before. How does it work exactly?”
“Hoseok, please explain while I get the betting chart ready.”
“Well, it’s the WORST GAME because you can never win. It’s more about how much you lose. Someone starts off and chooses between truth or dare. If you pick truth, you must answer a question posed by the group. We can ask any question and you have to answer it honestly. If you pick dare, the group will pose any act and you must do it. They will try to pick things that will embarrass you, but you can get revenge by picking the question or dare for the next person. Make sense?”
“Yes, but what if I can’t do it? Then what—”
Seokjin cuts in, “—then you break the rules. This game has four. One. There are no skips or passes. Two. You have 30 seconds to answer the question. If 30 seconds pass, your truth escalates to a dare and you have one minute. Three. If you don’t complete the dare in time, you are banished from all house parties….for life.”
“What’s the fourth rule?”
Wonho cuts in, “We bet, for who will break the rules. If you lose the bet, you have to do the ultimate dare…..” They collectively snicker.
Seokjin’s eyes are glowing. “It’s a secret we don’t tell newbies, Choco. It’s a dare you must live through to tell.” Hoseok and the others burst into laughter.
You consent to the game. It only takes a few turns of humiliating questions before you get a hang of it. So far, they’ve all bet that Jimin will sober up and skinnydip before the night ends. Deep down, you’re thinking about why you keep catching Hoseok staring at you from across the circle.
“Hoseok, your turn. Truth or dare?” You breathe a sigh of relief. It’s not your turn yet.
He fidgets with his eyebrow piercing, “Truth”. A collective “ooh” follows. Seokjin and the others whisper in a huddle.
Hmmmm. “True or false? Even though you are resident-fuckboy, you have been eyeing Y/N all night because you’ve started to have feelings.” The group goes silent as everyone’s heads turn from him to you.
Jimin and Taehyung erupt in giggles and Seokjin shoots them a stabbing glare.
You look at Hoseok, curious for the answer but also anxious to death. You feel like the moth nearing the flame, getting closer. He stares back. Silence. Clearly, he was not expecting this question. Still, you are surprised why. Can he not answer truthfully? He isn’t remotely interested in you, he is FUCKBOY JAY. He’s not capable of genuine feelings, right?
“…28….29…….30! Time’s up. You have failed the truth, Hoseok. We are disappointed in you, in all the game’s history. We will commence with Rule Thre— “COOOPS!”
A police siren echoes from the front of the house and the party hurries to clear. You instinctively turn to look for him. Hoseok. But you can’t find him anywhere.
“Excuse me, do they know who I am?” Seokjin calmly saunters to this front door while his guests run about for cover. Jin banters with the police officer for a few minutes before the officer bows and leaves. Apparently, the officer is green and didn’t know that Jin’s father is the head of police. The cop apologizes profusely and leaves.
You’ve ended up in the worst circumstances, as usual. In the bushes.
As you untangle yourself from the hedges, you hear a “pssst” nearby. You search until again, “pssst”. Your eyes finally land on the source. Hoseok’s beaming from the pool.
With the cops and party cleared out, you sneak over to the pool’s edge. Hoseok moves in the water and the light surface reveals that he is nude. “HOSEOK!”
He laughs at you and swims over to your side of the pool. In one motion he pulls himself up on the ledge and holds, half of his body out of the water. You fall backward on the tile. He's pulled up until his waist, with the ledge covering his lower half.
“Are you okay, Y/N?”
“Um, no, I’m not okay. You’re in the pool! Naked! What if someone sees?” You get your bearings.
He snickers. “I lost the bet…rules of the game. Besides, everyone’s gone. It’s just the moth and the flame now.”
