Borrowing Fear

6. begoggled

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The computer systems student turns the corner, rapidly. He yanks a frayed navy hood up and over his head.

He's spent the last class hour skimming through news updates on the Pluto Rooms case whenever his professor isn't paying attention.

Countless headlines such as Millions Hacked in Love Game Over the Weekend, and Pluto Rooms About to Crash and Burn? have him smiling sinisterly. If only his mother and father were around to see how famous he's become overnight! This act of vengeance has placed him in the spotlight, and he never wants to let it go.

He wanders to the school cafeteria, searching for a quiet place to settle down and monitor his assets. If he really wants to get under the skin of Pluto Rooms' CEOs, he'll have a chance soon. He's been planning the barrage of a different server related to the matchmaking game, which will predominantly affect Sperosity's tech market.

As he goes to sit down at an empty red table, away from the other students, something flashes in the corner of his eye. It's a watch. Not just any watch, but a silver watch that glimmers in the early morning light falling through the campus windows. It blinds him briefly; he lifts a hand to block out the direct hit of rays.

"Need help cracking the code?" He hears vague chatter. "I know someone who could help. You know the girl who did that presentation...?"

He grimaces, lifting his hand. The owner of the watch is nowhere to be found. The person chatting sits at a nearby red table, speaking into their computer screen over video call. He can't make out the face of the owner.

It gets him thinking. He pages through more search results of Pluto Rooms news. He's about to quit his searching when a headline catches his eye.

"PLUTO ROOMS CEOS MISSING. SUSPECTED KIDNAPPING. IF YOU HAVE ANY INFORMATION..."

His eyes widen. Has someone beat him to the prize?

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"Damn. You smell good."

"Shut up. We have to look desperate and sad. This ransom video needs to be realistic."

Jimin squints into the obnoxiously bright fluorescent lights mutilating his pupils. "Help. Ah. I am sad and afraid. But this dude next to me smells like he ate candles for breakfast and passes a lot of scented gas. Cinnamon apple flavor or something. Why do you smell so good, Kook?"

"You two are disgusting." Naomi, sitting in the corner of the room staged for the kidnapping, crosses her arms.

"Must be the pheromones excreted in my sweat." Jungkook watches as a group of contractors shuffle past their spot in a tied up heap on a floor purposely made to look dingy and isolated. "I mean, we are tied up. Usually when I have the rope out we're doing...different things."

"Mmm." Jimin rubs his palms together, trying to erase the dirty thoughts flooding in his mind. "That's a lovely thought, but I don't need a boner captured on this ransom video. What will they think then? That we were kidnapped by some sex master who makes us fuck on camera?"

An intentionally loud grating sound captures their attention. 

Jungkook clears his throat, examining the source of the noise with barely concealed teenage embarrassment. Naomi releases a puff of air and grates her chair back into place.