3000 Stars

FaceUpp

"Well," Yoongi said, wiping his face with the back of his jacket. "That worked well."

Taehyung stayed frozen where he was while Jimin and Namjoon ran over, taking his phone out of Yoongi's hand and looking it over. They knew better than to turn it on, but Taehyung wished they would. He needed an excuse to be off FaceUpp for awhile, long enough to be forgotten.

Why was it so hard to avoid attention once you had it?

Finally he sighed, walking up to them. Yoongi smiled.

"Fancy phone."

"Yeah," Taehyung said, slipping it out of Namjoon's hand and shoving it in his pocket. Hoseok gave him a sharp look. He ignored it, running a hand through his hair. "Thanks, I guess. Now he'll be back on my case."

"What's your power?" Yoongi asked, looking him over.

"Face," Taehyung said shortly, crossing his arms. "What's it to you?"

Hoseok stepped between them, throwing his arms out. "Stop it!" he said. "He's not gonna tell you to go fight. Flashes, Tae, why are you so sensitive?"

Taehyung rolled his eyes, forcing his shoulders to relax. Hoseok was right. This was Yoongi, a complete stranger. He didn't know anything. Taehyung would make sure it stayed that way.

"Face?" Yoongi said. "I haven't heard of that before."

"Because people with that skill have a different arena," Namjoon said quickly, shooting Taehyung a nervous look. "It's more about audience appeal. Which he would have if he didn't hate it so much."

The last part was meant to be a jab. Taehyung took it with a blank face, taking a deep breath. He couldn't let Namjoon see how angry it made him to hear his skill talked about like that. He would never fight. Never! What a waste of time.

"Audience appeal? Has he been famous before?"

"Once," Hoseok said. He didn't add anything, and Taehyung shot him a grateful look. Hoseok didn't know the depth of the situation, but he knew enough from the people who had been around Taehyung at the time to appreciate that Taehyung didn't want just anyone knowing.

"Then you could be a 10-K by now?" Yoongi whistled. "You must really hate this app."

Taehyung raised his eyebrows. "Oh? And you love it?"

"Of course," Yoongi said. "I have someone I want to find. FaceUpp is the best way to do that."

Namjoon gave him a sly look, bumping his shoulder with his elbow. "Gonna get into the arena today, then?"

"Of course," Yoongi said. "The more exposure the better, right?"

"Who are you looking for?" Hoseok asked.

"Honestly, I'm surprised more people aren't looking for them," Yoongi said. "They stopped posting years ago. Great pictures, too."

Hoseok's eyebrows rose. Taehyung frowned, then sighed, starting to pull his phone out before he remembered it was broken. "Can you give us a username?" he asked.

"V," Yoongi said.

The first emotion Taehyung felt was shock. Then hot, heavy anger rolled through him, and he gritted his teeth, shoving his phone deep into his pocket. "Oh. Him."

"You know him?"

Taehyung hated the eager look on Yoongi's face. He hated the surprise on Hoseok's. "Yes, I know him," he said. "He wouldn't want to have anything to do with people like you."

Yoongi's brow furrowed. "Why not? He's a 10-K. All of them fight in the arena--"

"This one doesn't," Taehyung snapped. "He's done with FaceUpp. Stop looking."

"Tae," Hoseok started, but Taehyung had already spun on his heel and started stomping back up the street, one hand clenched tightly around his phone. He heard Hoseok bid a hurried goodbye to the others, then call to him to wait up. He didn't slow until Hoseok appeared in his field of vision.

"What was that about?" Hoseok asked.

"He asked me not to tell people where he is," Taehyung said, biting his lip. "He's done with FaceUpp and everyone who uses it."

"Doesn't that include you?"

"Yeah, I guess it does," Taehyung sighed.

Hoseok didn't question him any more after that.

***

That night, Taehyung posted a captionless photo of the dark space under his bed. There. That should do. He wouldn't need to post any new photos until it had all blown over. On a whim, he opened V's profile, staring at the last picture-- cherry blossoms scattered over a thin layer of snow. It brought a smile to his face. The date was years before, but that didn't matter. It was clear why the votes sat at 10-K.

10-K. The smile slipped off his face. He doubted he could get regular 10-Ks if he tried, but when he scrolled down to the vote-log on the photo, Yoongi's account sat on the top. Taehyung bit his lip, considering it, and clicked on the profile.

Yoongi used his real name, and the most recent photo on his profile-- a shock of messy green hair against the dull white of a wall in the morning light-- was still receiving stars. Taehyung sighed. Yoongi might decide to keep the picture up, to see how far the votes would go. But Hoseok was right. Once you did something once, there was no guarantee you would get the same amount of votes again. He rolled his eyes, considering the picture, and tapped the small star icon in the upper left hand corner. It wouldn't matter. It would quickly get lost among the others. And it was a good picture. He stared at the profile a little longer, then hit follow, flipping back to V's profile. He stared at it, tapping his lips with his finger.

Then he plugged his phone in and tossed it on the floor, rolling over and burying himself in his blankets.