Leap of Faith: BTS Hyung Line FF

Silver Bell

"Is this Sung Hana?"
"Yes, who is this?"
"I'm looking for your friend, Winter Cary."
"Look somewhere else."

***

Winter could tell Jin was unhappy. He never spoke once on the ride home with Jackson, and it concerned her more than he knew.

She never meant for any of it to happen. When Winter promised Hoseok she wouldn't flirt, she whole-heartedly planned on keeping her promise.

She wanted friends, and Jackson and N were most definitely her friends. Leo was, too, but it seemed like he wanted a little bit more than that. Winter could feel the bad aura coming off of Jin the moment Leo grabbed her arm.

Once Jackson drove off, after dropping them at the dorm, Jin went ahead of Winter in an effort to get inside quickly. She hesitated for a moment, then followed him in.

Hoseok was sitting on the sofa next to Namjoon when they got home. Taehyung had been sitting on the adjacent chair, and he rose to greet them.

However, when he saw the serious expression on Jin's face, he knew they needed to talk alone.

"Come on, Joon hyung," Taehyung encouraged, taking Namjoon by the arm. "I have some song ideas I want to talk about if that's okay."

Namjoon was smart enough to catch on, so he let Taehyung pull him back to his studio, leaving Jin and Hoseok alone with Winter.

"What's wrong?" Hoseok asked, pushing himself up from the sofa to approach them. Winter lowered her head, really wishing she could avoid this conversation altogether.

"I think Leo has a little crush on Winter," Jin said honestly. "They bought her a gift, a necklace. For their little kitten."

Hoseok placed two fingers under her chin to tilt it up, which exposed the black ribbon with the little bell around her neck. It looked like a cat collar, but somehow fit her perfectly.

"What do you mean their kitten?" Hoseok turned to chin, dropping his hand away from her face.

"That's what they think. N called her 'our little kitten.'" Jin had never been that jealous before. His tone and expression were soft compared to Hoseok's, but Winter still hated that glint of anger in his pretty eyes.

Hoseok wanted to be mad. He wanted to be furious that she was even wearing something they gave her, a choker no less, a collar for them to put around her neck as if they were claiming her.

"Ya, Winter," Hoseok frowned. "You promised you wouldn't look at anyone else but us."

"I didn't," she hugged her body tightly. "I kept my promise."

"You told them you were nothing but a stray animal we took in," Jin reminded her. "Why would you say that, Winter? You know that's not true."

"I'm not an idol," Winter turned away from them entirely. "My reputation doesn't matter. Yours does. You didn't say anything, so I thought you wanted to keep it a secret."

"Not from them," Jin shook his head. "I want them to know you belong to us. I want them to stop looking at you as if they're imagining what it would be like to get their hands on you."

"I'm sorry, Jin oppa. I didn't know it would be like this," she nearly whispered. She wanted to leave the conversation.

Winter didn't think she had done anything wrong. Other than the small incident with Leo, she thought the dinner went well. She had fun.

"Did you tell them?" Hoseok looked to Jin for an answer, and the eldest member nodded his head.

"I told them she was with you and me."

"Good," Hoseok folded his arms over his chest. "They need to know."

"It doesn't change anything. They still adore her, and Leo grabbed her arm as if she was his to grab."

"He was trying to be nice," Winter defended. "They're my friends, Jin."

"Why?" Hoseok grimaced. "Why do you need to be friends with them? Why do you need to wear their gift?" He stepped over to her, lifting a hand to reach for the choker around her neck.

He was stunned into silence when Winter shoved his hand away.

"Because I want to wear it," she glared up at him, her eyes turning to obsidian instantly. She touched her fingertips to the black ribbon gently. "It's a gift from a friend, and I like it. I'll wear it if I want, and I'll visit my friends if I want. I'll keep my promise, Hoseok, just like I kept it tonight."

She stormed off then. Hoseok and Jin watched as she went straight for Jimin's bedroom door. Winter knocked, then disappeared into the room once Jimin opened it.

"We can't let her sleep with Jimin tonight," Jin sighed in defeat. "He will get the wrong idea."

"Winter isn't interested in Jimin. She just wants to punish us," Hoseok reassured him. "I'm sorry, hyung. I didn't mean to make her angry with us."

"No, it's my fault, too. I don't know what came over me. I've never... felt like that before." Jin softened, his anger fading into a pang of guilt.

Winter really hadn't done anything wrong, yet his frustrations with Leo had been directed at her. Jin should've known better. She had once told him she was the person she went to when she wanted to feel better, but he was the one that upset her this time.

"She drives you crazy," Hoseok explained for him. "The same way she drives me crazy. I've seen the way they look at her, hyung. I understand. It makes me imagine these terrible things, then it makes me angry."

"I wanted to slap his hand away," Jin admitted. "I felt... territorial. I've never been so..."

"I know," Hoseok let out a slow breath. "She has that effect on people."

"I never wanted to push her away," Jin shook his head. "It isn't her fault this time. Winter did keep the promise she made you, Hoseok. I just... seeing that choker on her is like seeing someone else's mark on her. It should be our mark around her neck, not theirs."

"But you were right," Hoseok reminded him. "If we push her too hard, we'll end up pushing her away. We have to do things differently with her."

"Alright." Jin pondered for a moment. "I think I know exactly how to do it." Hoseik tilted his head, looking up at Jin curiously. "We just have to fight fire with fire. I'll explain later. You should go grab Winter out of Jimin's room."

"She's still pissed off, though."

"Yes, she is, but would you rather leave her to sleep in bed with Jimin?" Jin raised a brow. "I don't imagine he'd keep his hands to himself. He's always had a little crush on Winter."

"I guess so." Hoseok sucked in a deep breath and prepared himself for the worst. He went after Winter, knocking on Jimin's door before letting himself in.

Jin paced back to his bedroom, waiting just a moment by his door until Hoseok emerged, dragging along an adorable pouting Winter behind him by her wrist.

Jin pushed the door open to let Hoseok through, then followed them in so they could all get some rest.