Take Me to the Sky | BTS+

Trickster Pan Likes to Play

Shae scanned the room for the refreshments table.

Spotted.

She weaved her way through the throng of bodies dressed in black luxury, up to the long skinny table with a flowing white tablecloth fluttering in the breeze. There were three separate bowls of delicious smelling liquid with pre-poured drinks arranged around them. Each set had a pale hint of different color in them: pink, purple and green.

Which to choose?

"I recommend the pink if you're looking for something mild," a bored voice stated in her direction. Shae looked to her right and a very short, very stern, and very disinterested looking man with buzzed black hair stood there giving her a relatively blank look. He held a crystal glass of the pale green liquid and gave it a sip. He was definitely older than her, Shae thought, and yet he had a childlike face.

"Uh, thanks." Shae reached for a crystal glass that had already been poured full of the pink-tinged liquid. She held it up and wafted the smell in front of her. It smelled like a Starburst candy in a cup. "Ooooo...."

"You're Joonie's girl, aren't you."

Shae debated giving the drink a sip or not, still unsure. "I came with him, if that's what you mean."

"Ah, so it's like that," he said lazily, as if he could really care less. "Well, my name's Dee-Oh. Some people call me Doh, but I prefer Dee-Oh. I like your dress."

"Uh, thank you. Dee-Oh." Even when he gave her a compliment, his voice remained flippant. "Are you here with anyone?"

"No. I find the business of escorts to be quite a bore. They always want to fall in love, but I don't have time for that nonsense, so I left mine down at the casino areas." He sipped his drink again, his haugty eyes surveying the room.

"Oh. A common problem for leaders and their escorts then?"

"For some. Depends on your disposition, I suppose. Take that girl over there in the glittery black dress, the one with the giant bow on her ass. That's Jenni, and she's the leader of Sonnee Fortress. She's MADLY in love with her escort from some godforsaken planet called Earth. I mean, can you imagine?"

"Oh?" Shae found this Dee-Oh simultaneously repellant and fascinating.

"Or then there's that guy over there wearing the sunglasses. He's more the five ladies on each arm type in public, but anyone who's anyone knows that he's actually in love with his secretary. They have a kid and everything."

Dee-Oh's tone of voice dripped condescension, but Shae thought the man he spoke of looked friendly enough.

Temptation prompted her, and she simply couldn't say no. "So what do people say about Yoongi and Hoseok?"

Dee-Oh turned to Shae, the corner of his mouth barely flickering into a smile. "You naughty, naughty girl. You want to know Joon's dirty laundry, don't you?"

Shae was kicking herself for being so vulnerable with someone she'd only just met. Especially someone who clearly liked to gossip.

"Fret not, you innocent young fawn. Joon's had his passing flings, but nothing as captivating as I hear things are between the two of you."

"What?" This comment nearly toppled her. She needed to down all of this drink to recover, she thought, but she didn't want to lose her head in the presence of this strange man.

"Most people deal in goods. I can do that too, but I'm much better at dealing in secrets. And let me just say," he looked Shae up and down pointedly, his dull eyes bearing right through the tight folds of her black minidress, "that if it's secrets you're looking for, I'm the man for the job. But that kind of information will cost you."