Take Me to the Sky | BTS+

Into the Lion's Den

The fateful day of the gala had arrived.

Shae kept getting thrown off about where she was. Were they inside of a space ship or a subway car?

The inward-facing seating and metal rails felt metropolitan enough. When she looked out the window, a hover bike zoom past in a rush of cloud and reminded her that this contraption definitely wasn't on it's way to Times Square.

Shae and Ava had undergone a severe beautifying routine that morning, thanks to a range of professional attendants--under the watchful eyes of Tae, Chim and Jin. The two young women now looked like they were about to attend a Hollywood premiere party.

Shae wore a long midnight blue dress with a sweetheart neckline, tight bodice, and train that fanned out from her hips like a fairytale dream. Her light blonde hair was curled just-so.

The self-conscious Shae kept fidgeting. She was trying not to think about how many strangers--mean, murderous, and meticulously dressed--might be at this gala.

She was failing.

Ava wore stunning emerald. Her own long, slimming gown was high against her neckline and shoulders, which draped open down the back and exposed her shoulder blades and the crescent indentation of her spine. The reddish haired Ava kept looking at her makeup in a hand mirror, baffled at how she could look any more exceptional than she always did.

Joon noticed Shae tugging at the folds of her blue dress where she sat. He leaned across the aisle towards her. "You'll be excellent. Don't worry."

Shae nodded, trying to offer Joon a smile that said, "Thank you," but really it said, "You're a lovely liar."

She couldn't help but admit that there was something pleasantly distracting about the black-on-black silk suit that Joon was wearing as he leaned back into his own seat. It was perfectly tailored to his long limbs. His carefully slicked back white crew cut was also doing him a few favors.

Shae also couldn't help but admit that Joon was in a particularly accommodating mood today, and it was making it even harder than usual to dislike him.

Apparently only invited guests were allowed into the galas—no extra bodyguards, for the sake of security and safety. Hence Jeon Jungkook, Ava's date for the day, was then busy piloting the shuttle. He had shaggy dark brown hair, almond shaped brown eyes, and he wore a traditional black suit with a white dress shirt. His black dress shoes had a fresh oil sheen.

Ava was enjoying going between making eyes at her own reflection in her hand mirror, to making eyes at the back of Jungkook's head. She couldn't decide who was more engrossing to watch: Tae... or this new player in the game.

Joon stood up and went to stand just behind the pilot's seat. "That's our entrance, Kookie."

"I see it." The young pilot waved a hand dismissively, as if shooing a fly.

Jungkook guided and landed the transport shuttle with ease inside of the metal hangar. The engine died. They had arrived.

The door to the shuttle fell open and became a gently sloping platform. Up the platform walked a middle-aged woman with a tight bun of brown hair and a clipboard under one arm.

"Noon Mool, reporting," Joon stated authoritatively.

She checked a few boxes, nodded at Joon, and gave a sweeping motion with her arms to invite them to follow her.

Joon looked over at Shae, expectant. It took her a split second to process what was happening.

Oh. It's time.

Shae got up, walked over to the top of the sloping exit hatch, and slid her arm through Joon's.

She felt like a quiet bundle of nervous tension linked at the elbow to the brazenly confident leader of Noon Mool. He offered down to her a reassuring smile, then turned his intense gaze forward again.

Shae wondered to herself, perhaps dress suits brought out the gentlemanly side of Kim Namjoon.

"Shall we?" Jungkook asked in Ava's direction, as he flashed a dazzling half-smile.

What delicious luck, Ava thought to herself as she took his arm.

They followed Joon and Shae down the ramp.

The Noon Mool crew walked down a silvery hallway after the woman with the clipboard, their shoes echoing off the hard floors. At the end of a long hallway, a set of double doors that reached to the ceiling opened before them automatically Then warm light and crisp air flooded over the four of them as they followed the woman inside.

Too sonorous to be natural, the woman in tan's voice echoed over the whole room, "Noon Mool, present. Kim Namjoon presiding, Jeon Jungkook accompanying, with two honored guests." Then the woman stepped aside, and Shae could hardly keep the panic off of her face at the sight before her.

Joon turned his head slightly towards her, but without looking down at her. The words snuck out of his mouth, "Just breathe."

They had stepped into a cavernous ballroom of white columns and golden angelic statues. A fresco of angels and devils in bloody battle was painted on every inch of the domed ceiling in earthy, rich tones. White light blazed over everything and everyone, but there were no windows or exits that she could see.

Below the entrance staircase there stood a sea of the most beautiful people Shae had ever beheld: ladies in brimming lace with bubblegum hair; men with suspicious eyes in a rainbow array of threads.

Joon took her directly by the hand before she could think better of it. He began leading her forward down that grand staircase, and by a small miracle her feet responded. By another miracle, she managed not to trip.

Shae attempted to practice Chim's advice from the previous day, of finding a spot on the far wall and staring at it with a hint of a smile. The problem was that as she did so, someone stepped directly into her line of vision—someone with hate-filled eyes and crimped red hair. His fierce look made Shae's breath catch in her throat, the dizzy haze of the crowd intensifying.

The last step. Almost there...victory. Shae sighed.

Joon led her from the bottom of the grand staircase, towards a far side of the room and well out of the way of the entrance. Other important figures were being led in and announced behind them, though the stares for Noon Mool only continued.

"Breathe," Joon whispered again, giving Shae's hand a squeeze.

Meanwhile, Ava was basking in the light of every eye upon her as she was led on display down the staircase and through the crowded room by, she was convinced, the most attractive man that could possibly be there. The more people stared, the more she felt her face glow with confidence. This only made it that much more effortless for her and Jungkook to swap flattering smiles at each other as they went, to the envy of everyone watching.

"You're a natural at this," Jungkook said, surprised laughter in his voice.

"Yes, I am quite gifted at being the center of attention," Ava responded with a self-satisfied smirk.

Overhearing the joke made Shae give a small laugh of relief, curbing her nerves a moment.

Joon looked from Shae to Ava in that moment, his expression thoughtful. But then—

....