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We sat in a circle of six and kept silent for five minutes as we each appraised one another. The game was simple, you had to profile the person on your right, and the person you were profiling had to be honest on the accuracy of your statements. The profiler who made the most amount of accurate statements won, and then had to go up against the best profilers of the other three circles, and so on until the last man standing.
My turn came. I eyed the girl to the right of me. She was staring fixedly at the front, body straight, hands on her lap, determined not to give away any traces of who she was. But in the end, all she was doing was telling me more.
I looked at her name badge. "Your name is Joy. You're left-handed, have a leaking blue pen, and your parents run law firms. You're not on very good terms with your father at the moment, judging from the scowl you had earlier when you refused to pick up his call. You're well-off, judging from how you're wearing all the latest brands - but you're also a sentimental person, because the watch on your right wrist is old yet shows signs of being carefully taken care of. A gift from your boyfriend, perhaps? There's a little bit of baby food on your sleeve, which probably came from your younger brother, which no doubt you're always having to play mother to. Anything else?" I looked. "Uhm, you had a fall last week. Scraped your knee."
There was a brief period of stunned silence. Joy's jaw had fell halfway open.
The teacher looked amused. "Was that all correct, Joy?"
"Yes," she whispered, looking amazed. Applause thundered in my ears and I sat back, pleased.
"But - how did you know it was younger brother I had? And not a sister?" she asked.
"Uh..." I trailed off. Because ten minutes ago, I picked your purse and saw your family photo. Old habits die hard, and the way she had been letting it dangle had been too much of a temptation to resist.
I shrugged. "Dumb luck?"
I was the winner of my circle, and went up against the other three winners. They were all boys and this time, there was a definite aura of competitiveness. We had gone past the qualification round now, it was no longer just a game - we were in it to win it.
The guy on my right was definitely better at hiding his personal details than Joy was, and in fact even tried to slip me wrong information by putting on a Japanese accent and pretending to had a limp. Unfortunately he tried too hard and I picked him apart.
The teacher scribbled on the whiteboard. "47 points for Anis, which puts her in the lead. Now for our final student - Kim Taehyung, will you profile Anis please?"
Turning my head, I caught my breath.
Two black piercings studded his earlobe, and the tattoo that trailed up the side of his neck shifted when he shifted. I'd been so intent on profiling the guy on my right I'd completely neglected the guy on my left, which had probably been a good thing because my mind couldn't quite focus on anything else right now.
His grey shirt had a low neckline that drew my eyes greedily toward his chest, and the sleeves of his denim jacket were rolled up to expose his muscular arms. When he spoke, his voice was rough and deep and manly, and there was a flash of silver amongst the pink. A tongue ring.
Well damn me gently with a chainsaw.
Then he started profiling me, and every nerve in my being tensed up.
"You're right-handed, and light with your fingers. Very light. You know martial arts and is pretty good in it I say, with experience in more fights that you can possibly remember."
It wasn't just how easily he gained all those details by plain looking at me. It was also the smoothness of his tone, the way he sounded so assured, as if he had no worries he would be wrong. And as he continued to speak, I realized he didn't need to be worried at all.
Because everything he said about me was correct.
"You're very alert and aware of your surroundings, more so than average. You obey authority because of respect but not just because, and you'll rebel if you feel it isn't right. You're also very good at reading people, with a level of skill that doesn't come from just instincts, but also - experience perhaps? Your parents are probably involved in something big ... dark and dangerous ..."
His eyes glinted as if he knew something I did not, and I had the edge of my chair gripped so tight my knuckles were white.
"Something like criminal activity, perhaps?" he finished.
I could feel the class recoiling at Taehyung's implication that my parents were criminals. This was, after all, a school for the elite, and criminals to them must be positively disgusting.
How the hell does he -
"Now those are some heavy, heavy statements there, Mr Kim," the teacher remarked. "Is this true, Miss Anis?"
I couldn't respond. I couldn't speak. I was stunned speechless.
Taehyung leaned forward, just the slightest. His contacts were smoky blue and elevated the dangerous electricity around him to a whole new level.
"Remember," he whispered, "lying is a sin."
"Anis?" the teacher pressed.
"I - uh - " I had to swallow a few times to get my voice back.
Tearing my eyes away from his, I looked around. The whole class was watching us with bated breath.
Okay. Breathe, Anna. You got this.
In the end I nodded, once. "Yes. All correct."
Murmurs erupt but I quelled them with a glare. "Except for one thing."
"Which is?"
"My parents are not involved in criminal activity." A flash of genius struck me. "In fact, they are actually the very opposite. They're cops. Which explains how I know self-defense. And that I'm more aware than others. And reading people. All uh, cop skills."
The entire class "aahed" in unison and I let out a silent breath of relief. Taehyung's eyes were locked on me and I tilted my chin, challenging him.
A heartbeat later he relaxed, leaning back. His long frame draped over the chair like he owned it.
"My bad," he drawled lazily, even as his eyes continued piercing into my very core.
The teacher wrote Taehyung's marks down as 46 and announced that I had won the game. Taehyung's expressionless yet pointed look at me told me he knew exactly what I was thinking - that he had actually won the game. Not me.
Remember, lying is a sin.
As we filed out of the class, I caught the briefest scent of musk and lavender, as a voice whispered in my ear,
"Only the bad guys calls the police cops, sweetheart."
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Anyone noticed Taehyung's the only character without his own profile chapter yet? ;)
Also SHOUTOUT TO ALL THOSE WHO CAUGHT THE HEATHERS REFERENCE
