Take Me to the Sky | BTS+

"What Is This Madness?"

"We smell like cinnamon and honey!" Ava took in a deep, satisfied breath and let out a happy sigh.

Much to the ladies' surprise, there was a sauna room attached just next to that fashion-boutique-mystery suite. After a nutrition wrap for their hair--like a small towel twisting luxurious ingredients into their hair--and after a long soak in the most luxurious baths of their lives, Shae and Ava had stepped into fresh clothes and then were escorted by female attendants back into the fashion suite once again.

Tae now sat in one of the spare barber shop chairs. He was casually looking through his golden wire rimmed glasses at a notebook sprawled open in his lap, deep in thought.

Jin was making different 'handsome' faces at himself in the mirror and enjoying the experience immensely.

"Where did Chim go?" Shae asked. The loud warmth of his presence was hard to miss, when suddenly absent.

Jin stated matter of factly, coming out of his reverie. "The golden retriever's finding skills were needed in the throne room."

"Y'all have a throne room?" Ava was stunned at the thought.

Tae rolled his eyes. "He's joking. Joon needed his assistance."

"Oh." Ava was kind of hoping there was a throne room.

"Alright ladies, take a seat," Jin commanded in his bossiest voice and gestured to two empty barber shop chairs.

Ava glared at Jin's smug grin as she did so.

Shae willingly obliged. She stared curiously at the indecipherable writing in the book that was sprawled open in front of Jin on a tall, skinny stool.

"Before we throw you into the lion's den of potential political anarchy," Jin mused, enjoying the anxious looks settling onto the girls faces as he spoke, "I have the task of making sure you're properly protected first."

"Excuse me?" Ava was not having what this guy was serving.

Tae sent Jin a dull glare, wishing for once that the good doctor would turn down the diva a bit.

Jin reached out and took Ava's right forearm, ("What the--!") twisting it palm-up and pressing her arm against the arm of the chair. Then he pointed to a picture in that sprawled open book. "I'm going to mark you both with a few signature protection runes, including the second one on that list you see. That one prevents basic poisoning. I promise it doesn't hurt."

Before Ava had enough time to flail away in a panic, Jin had begun.

The ladies stared in shock as they watched him trace beams of light from his pink pen-device in a cute little design on Ava's forearm—then marveled once more as it hardly lasted a minute before disappearing.

"What is this madness?" Shae asked.

Jin grinned devilishly as he worked. "Not madness. Magic. Welcome to Era, lovelies."

Shae muttered, "D-did you say...rune? So like a magic rune? A spell?"

Jin clarified, "It's not a spell in the sense that you probably are thinking. All our magic has a material source, like how lightbulbs work because of electricity. It's not from thin air or weird rituals or something."

Tae cut in with a careful voice, "But it it can still be scary, our kind of magic. There are all kinds of magic runes out there. Some of them are really simple, like defense runes that prevent you from getting too hurt when getting hit with a magical attack."

Jin smiled devilishly, "And some runes are what let you do the magical attacking."

Shae's fingers dug tightly into the ends of her barber shop chair.

Ava's lip twisted with distaste.

Jin went on, "Now, let's make sure you're fully prepared in all ways for your first diplomatic excursion...and ensure you make it out alive."

Tae sighed, folding his notebook shut and slapping it into his leg. "Stop being so dramatic, Jin, you're just trying to scare them."

Not pausing from his work, Jin retorted, "No, I'm just doing my job. Trying to save lives, you know."

"What kind of fancy dinners are these, exactly?" Shae asked, as Ava continued to squirm under Jin's unwanted and ungracious touch.

"Dinners, dances, galas, auctions—there's a great deal that can go on, and can go wrong, whenever the same man that takes your gloved hand to kiss it is also trying to drug your evening cocktail, or worse. It's all very thrilling, isn't it?"

Tae made a mental note to strangle their lead medical officer later.

Jin went on, "And that'll be your situation—because you're being announced at these parties as our honored guests. Which makes you, as we are, honorable targets. Now, stop twitching and hold still."

Shae fought off a mild panic as she wondered just how crazy this ride was that she and Ava had been strapped into against their wills. Was there any getting off now?