V
DARK MATTER
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MINNI HAD GROWN WINGS.
She was flying, light as a feather on air, as she twirled excitedly en pointe around the empty dance studio. The music intertwining with the beat of her heart and the quiet thump of her shoes on the floor.
Here, she could be anything–a mythical being, a young woman pining for her lover from beyond the grave, a loud soul–with just a few careful moves of her arms and legs. In her daily life, she was quiet and small, in the way that society had expected her to be. She did not know how to break out of that box.
For this, she blamed her mother. Yes, her mother, with her unique penchant for manners and tradition. Under her roof, to be a girl and anything other than demure and quiet was to be shameful. The rule was to speak only when spoken to, and listen only where your ears were concerned.
Ballet was Minni's silent rebellion since childhood. With dance, she could speak without words, without permission. She could scream without a voice.
There, in her ballet leotard and pointe shoes, she was more than the flawed daughter or imperfect student. She just was. In the same way the stars just are.
She gave another pirouette in front of the mirror, the echo of her steps syncing with her heartbeat.
It sucked, but the emotional shock from her argument with Kevin had finally enabled her to focus on dance alone. Because to focus on anything else would mean reliving the pain on his face and the whispered reminders of a dancer's life cut short. And who wants that?
As she practiced alone in the dance studio, Dufort's harsh critiques played on repeat until she finally did the number perfectly. She made it through Giselle's hops en pointe, stuck the landing, spun perfectly, and maintained her balance, hands neat and elegant all the while.
She bowed as she settled into the ending pose. If she could manage to keep this up, maybe she could actually be cast as Giselle. Maybe she could prove herself to the world that seemed dead set on shutting her out.
A proud smile split her lips, chest heaving. Her eyes slowly trailed upward from the creases in her ballet shoes to her form in the mirror. She pushed an errant curl that escaped her bun out of her face, vision slowly clearing.
Her smile shattered instantly. The shadows in the hallway were not flat. Slow claps sounded behind her from the darkness, the echo a warning alone.
She spun around quickly, nearly jumping out of her skin.
A face and body came into focus, the glint of pristine teeth lighting up the dark.
Juyeon.
He stalked forward, the light of the dance studio highlighting the return of his false smile. Behind him, Yeosang stopped at the doorway, leaning a foot against the wall. He did not bother with appearances unlike his twisted counterpart. He watched Minni unabashedly, eyes slitted like a predator on the prowl, in wait for the pounce.
"Impressive performance," Juyeon said with a nod, dropping his hands back to his side.
Minni rushed to gather her belongings, eyes wide. "I...I didn't know someone else had reserved the studio. Sorry, I'll get out of your way."
Juyeon held up a hand in protest. "No, don't worry about it. You know that's not why we're here."
If it weren't for the glimmer of humor in his eyes and the tension in his shoulders, she would have thought this was a friendly visit from his warm smile. Yeosang was significantly harder to read. Tense always seemed to be his default.
She couldn't help but wonder how he got dragged into this. Because as violent as he could be, he was far from the scheming type, always electing to solve his issues in a more hands on manner from what she knew.
Her heart dropped and she stood straighter. "If this is about what I heard that day, I didn't say anything."
"–Yet," Yeosang cut in from the door, jaw tight.
Juyeon ignored him, the humor draining in favor of something more solemn. "The Night–I'm sure you've heard of it. We're a part of it."
Both Min and Yeosang seemed stunned by the reveal. The latter straightened stiffly, teeth bared. "Juyeon, what the fuck are you doing?"
Minni froze like a cornered animal playing dead as the air in the room became heavy. There was a clear sense of hierarchy, a sick sort of power at play. Juyeon did what he wanted, got what he wanted.
And how dare a mere king crowned by violence, bloodthirsty as he was, curse a god among men? The god in question straightened his crisp collar, face twisting into a glower that betrayed his true self under the glamour.
"Don't worry about it. Remember our talk." Minni's eyes fell to him as he spoke, the warning in his voice sending a shiver up her spine. His black gaze slid, like a knife on velvet, as he refocused his attention on her. "You know about it, right? The blog?"
She bundled her arms over her chest, nerves frayed. "Yeah...who doesn't?"
"Good." He nodded, satisfied with her answer. "I'm asking you to join it."
Her eyes widened then clenched shut. There was a flash behind her eyelids, the tattooed images of an anonymous blog post and the spiteful scream of a dead girl. Something stirred within her, weeks of stress rising to the surface.
"Did you write it?" Her voice quivered despite herself. When she did not get an answer, she cast her gaze upward to two pairs of unmoving dark eyes, ravenous black holes that were pulling her apart and threatening the fabric of her universe. "Did you do it?!"
Juyeon laughed even as his eyes narrowed, sickly saccharine and entirely fabricated. "Min, what on earth are you talking about?"
In the corner, Yeosang had gone pale and his frown deepened.
Her gut twisted. "You know exactly what I'm talking about."
He sighed then, like the patient parent dealing with an unruly child. "Just answer me, Min."
Her name from his lips felt wrong. All of it did, from his seemingly calm demeanor to Yeosang's sudden decline in mood at her subtle mention of Somin.
"No," she gritted out breathlessly. "I won't do it."
The male dancer blinked owlishly. As though he never heard the word before. Then as if her refusal suddenly registered, his smile became impolite.
"No?" he repeated.
"No. This is insane. You're insane." Her gaze dragged to Yeosang who was still in front of the door, as if he expected her to make a run for it. "The both of you."
Min knew her emotions were getting the best of her. Juyeon's eyes dropped to her trembling hands and she quickly tucked them behind her back.
"We don't mean to freak you out. I just need to make sure you don't cause any undue misunderstandings."
He smiled like usual. A crooked little thing, forked tongue and razor-sharp teeth. It had been believable once, but ever since that day in Drierston she learned everything he said were just honey-coated lies. A pretty act to lure someone in before they even realized they were trapped and caught up in his whims.
"You're threatening me," she rasped, taking a useless step backward. Neither of the men missed it.
"No shit." Yeosang rolled his eyes, finally dropping his leg off the wall. He shot a glare at his counterpart. "This is a waste of time."
"Patience. She'll come around." Juyeon waved a hand dismissively, calling him forward. "Bring it out."
The violinist scowled and reached for his pockets as he stepped further into the room.
She shifted uncomfortably on her feet, nose wrinkled in distaste. He fixed her with a scathing look and inhaled.
"Listen up. Minni, right?" He stopped a few feet in front of her, far enough not to panic but too close to be calm. It felt like he was breathing down her neck despite the distance. "I'm not in a good mood so let's make this fast for all of us."
Min was stiff and unmoving as she willed herself to stay put, sure that if she let go of herself for even a second, she'd find herself running out of the door and into more trouble.
Fists clenched, she met his eyes, a sky gone black and lawless. The intensity in them along were like flames licking at her skin, burning away what little calm she had left.
"I already said I won't join you two or your sick blog," she said, anger eating away at her slowly through the fear.
He shrugged, but discreetly cast a glance at Juyeon in the mirror over her shoulder. The taller boy nodded back at him.
"Alright. Have it your way." Yeosang's arm stretched behind him, drawing a rectangular object from the back pocket of his jeans. He dangled the dark notebook in front of her eyes for a few seconds until she recognized it.
Her journal. Her journal from her room. With all of her thoughts and every single detail about her struggles. It had never been misplaced, it had been stolen.
Now they had it and her life was in their hands. They took it from her simply because they could. Nothing was too far or too cruel for them if it meant obtaining the upperhand.
In one fell swoop, they had access to every tiny part of the quiet mysterious woman that was Minni Lee. Her apartment. Her words. Her secrets. Her life.
Everything.
"Give that back." She hurried forward, arms outstretched. Yeosang snatched it out of her reach just as easily, lips pulled into an irritated sneer. "Give it back!"
"You heard her," Juyeon cut in, his gaze sharp and calculating. "Go ahead. Give it back, Yeosang."
The violinist made a gruff sound in his throat, leaning away from Minni before tossing the book up into the air. Paper fluttered out from between the pages and floated to the ground. Every part of her life scattered across the wooden floor like debris from the unseen storm that was the Night.
She fell to her knees as if to pray in the face of death. She ignored the pain that shot up her sore legs. Her arms spread, trying desperately to sweep all of her doodles of the stars, photos of Dasom, Kevin, Jennie, and Jisoo, and carefully written postcards from her father's trips around the globe into her reach.
Those were everything to her, the last fragile connection to her dad. She scrambled helplessly to hide them from their sight. Her vision fogged over in horror, a few silent tears staining the envelopes despite her miserable attempts to blink them away.
A shadow stretched over her, looming and impervious. Juyeon eased forward and stood pridefully over her crumpled figure. "You're a great writer, y'know. Real good at figuring people out. Nosy too. You'd fit right in with the rest of us."
She was cornered. An unfortunate, dangerous twist of fate was all it took and their paths had intersected and now intertwined in the birth of a strange new galaxy. Never in her life had she felt so small, a flower crushed underfoot.
His eyes twinkled, darting around her in a strange pattern from her inflamed cheeks and flailing hands to a spot just beside his feet where her notebook lay open on the spine. He snatched it up before her outstretched arms could reach it.
"Oh wait! I almost forgot. Let me read you my favorite part." He cleared his throat theatrically as he thumbed through the worn pages. "'The party... I can't stop thinking about it. About Seulgi. About him. Juyeon seemed nice enough at first, but something dark seemed to creep through his smile when things didn't go his way. Like a cracked porcelain mask. And Yeosang–'"
"Stop it," she croaked. His smile widened at her weak demand. He was in complete control and everyone knew it.
He didn't stop reading, eyes full of mirth, even as Yeosang's expression turned caustic at the mention of his name. "'Yeosang didn't seem to bother with masks. That darkness just seeps out of him, drowns those around him. He lets it. I think they both enjoy it. The control. Juyeon with whatever god complex he has. And Yeosang, a violent force that everyone seems to be afraid of. Still, it haunts me. Someone killed Somin. It's not that hard to think it could be one of them or maybe both if not more–"
Her cheeks erupted in flames, unable to lift her eyes to either of them. "Stop. Stop reading!"
"How poetic."
Juyeon finally tore his gaze away from her messy scrawl but his smile didn't return. Seemingly having had his fill of entertainment at her expense, he tossed the journal at her feet. She clutched it to her chest, the binding weak and wobbly like her mortified spirit.
"Look, as I said before, we can't afford any misunderstandings. How would you feel if someone knew about the things you did." Her heart lurched, icy dread lodged in her veins.
They knew the truth about her gap year. Not even her father or Levi knew about that. No one was supposed to know.
"You wouldn't," she rasped.
"Do you really believe that?" interjected Yeosang, eyes void of light.
One look at the fear on her face and a smidge of satisfaction took over Juyeon's voice. "I could make a post about it but I won't. I'll give you a chance first. All I'm looking for here is a mutual exchange. Join the blog and no one will know about your little accident. Deal?"
Mutual exchange, she thought bitterly. Nothing about this was mutual. She was every part the caged animal waiting to be butchered and they knew it.
"Fine," she murmured dryly, unraveling the knot of pride in her throat. "I'll do it."
"Finally." The violinist scoffed. He cast a hard look in Juyeon's direction. "We done here then?"
Juyeon nodded, his normal smile intact once more.
Yeosang extended a hand to help Minni up. Her eyes trailed down his fingertips, past the silver rings, to bandaged knuckles and to his face. His hair curled at the nape of his neck and had fallen into his eyes again.
Minni wanted nothing more than to ignore his hand and bolt out of the room but she knew Juyeon could see the glint of defiance in her eyes. His gaze on her cheek stung so she begrudgingly let Yeosang help her to her feet.
Her fingers brushed lightly over his callused fingertips and the expensive fabric of his shirt where it met his wrist.
She took a step back and tore her arm away before she could try to make sense of any of it. Juyeon's goals. Yeosang's part in all of this. Indulging her curiosity had always been her worst habit. It had been what antagonized Juyeon, what trapped her now.
So for the second time in the span of a few hours, she turned and fled as fast as her feet could take her. Yeosang watched irritatedly as she left. Being around Juyeon when he's in the middle of a power trip had always made him sick to his stomach.
He turned to face the dancer. "Why the fuck did you drag a stranger into this?"
Juyeon rolled his eyes as though his motivation in getting a nosy scholarship student wrapped up with the rest of them was abundantly clear. His goals never were that simple. If they were, he would have just blackmailed her into silence and stopped there. But Juyeon's plans always prioritized his own entertainment over convenience.
"She's observant. It'll be useful for us. She'll have to stay quiet unless she wants to go down for it too."
Yeosang scowled, barely resisting the urge to smash his face in. "You exposed us. The others won't like this either."
The dancer's eyes turned venomous. "I'm in charge. I don't care if they like it."
"You know what, fine. Do whatever you want. When this shit goes wrong don't come running to me to fix it."
Juyeon's lips curled into a sneer. "It won't. Just keep an eye on her for me."
Yeosang clenched his fists, frustration boiling his blood. He wanted to swing on him like he had Seungmin, but dealing with someone of Juyeon's status meant things had to be handled more discreetly unless he wanted to go toe to toe with a prosecutor.
Instead, he grit his teeth as the anger spilled onto his tongue. "Watch yourself, Juyeon. Your authority doesn't mean shit to me."
A distance away, Min had just boarded the bus to get back home, thoughts racing as the scenery rushed by. Her enemies were keeping her close. It was all about power and control, reminding her that she had nothing against them. That, she knew.
What she didn't know: The Night was on the verge of a civil war and she was just another pawn on the chessboard.
//
Double update today since I've been on hiatus for so long.
If you're still here, thanks for sticking around! ♡