Take Me to the Sky | BTS+

Masks Unveiled

After she landed on the mat again, Ava's black haired instructor stepped forward and lent her a hand, pulling her to her feet. Yoongi smiled at her in satisfaction.

"You've more of a knack for ass kicking than some of our best recruits," he growled through a half-grin.

"Thanks." Ava was, by default, a fan of compliments from attractive strangers. Yoongi's words piqued her curiosity as she asked, "Recruits?"

Yoongi gave a nod. "Hoseok and I used to be part of Noon Mool Fortress. Now we've got our own thing going--but in Era you don't last long if you don't have allies or numbers to speak for, so. Yeah."

Yoongi put his hands on his hips and looked over towards where Hoseok and Shae continued to spar.

"So for real this time," Ava spoke between panted breaths. "Do you, like, teach people fighting technique all the time or something?"

"Nah. I work with tech all day. Security, weapons systems, design schematics, coding. Sometimes I just hang out in my shop and build shit all day. Mostly my life is lots of sitting at a computer, though."

"Really?"

Yoongi shrugged. "S'what I'm good at. That guy over there," he nodded across the mat to where Hoseok and Shae were continuing their sparring, "is the real combat teacher. He used to drill and train all the operatives for Noon Mool."

Ava looked over and, at the sight of Hoseok, her whole body stiffened. But what she was seeing didn't seem to match with the fierce anger she had stored away for him.

Hoseok was laughing so hard that he was doubled over, his hands on his legs and his red hair bouncing around his ears. Shae was holding her face in both hands as if trying to pad away the warmth that was showing on her face, smiling and clearly embarrassed.

"No, no, not like that! Here," Hoseok walked forward, his laugh rumbling away slightly, as he grabbed Shae's wrist gently and placed her hand on his own. Then, like a ballerina in slow motion, Hoseok stepped into her, his back against her chest, and began walking Shae through a series of motions, speaking low and in detail on what he was doing and why.

Shae's face was flushing. Ava couldn't tell if it was just the workout, or something else making her friend go red. The thought made her uneasy.

Yoongi continued to share in his matter-of-fact, unexaggerated tone, "Hoseok's a good teacher, especially for the less confident fighter. He's ridiculous. It helps people loosen up and then they can really focus. See."

Ava saw. 

Shae took his direction, and dove through it in rapid fire—and this time Hoseok was rolling onto the floor in seconds. He rolled backwards so hard that he rolled over his head, did a mini backflip, and landed on his feet. As he stood up his face was bursting with joy and his voice warm with enthusiasm, "Yes, that's it! Now, again. Let's make sure it sticks."

Yoongi cleared his throat. "I think I'm officially done for the day. You thirsty again? I can grab us some more drinks."

"Yes please."

"Ok."

Ava watched him leave the bright, domed sparring room, then went over to sit next to Lilith on the mat.

"Alright, now, here's where it get's easier if you're the smaller fighter...."

Shae didn't realize when the switch happened, but she'd fallen from nervous self-conciousness with this guy who'd previously marred her memories... into having the time of her life with him instead. It wasn't a win-or-lose scenario, each new move just felt like a game—and Jung Hoseok was the game master, steering the fun along with a bounce of laughter in each new directive, his positive energy boundless.