3000 Stars

Panicky

Taehyung knelt next to Hoseok, shaking him as hard as he could, but Hoseok didn't stir. Taehyung's breath clogged in his lungs, and he fumbled for his phone, hands shaking so badly he dropped it three times before he managed to call Namjoon.

"Taehyung!" Namjoon said. "I saw your score. It--"

"Hoseok won't wake up," Taehyung said.

"What?"

It was getting harder to speak. Taehyung sucked in a breath, shaking himself. "My power activates by eye contact. It happened right after I saw the score. He won't wake up."

"Tae... breathe. Repeated what you just said?"

"Just get your *ss over here," Taehyung said, then tossed his phone on the floor, moving back to Hoseok to check his breathing. His vision fuzzed, and for a moment he saw another image layer itself over reality, blocking it out. What was wrong with him? He had dealt with a 10-K surge before. Why was he losing control? He choked and began to cough, folding up beside Hoseok and struggling to pull in air. The image sputtered to life around him again, and he recognized it as Hoseok's kitchen. They were lying under Hoseok's table, and while Taehyung choked and struggled to figure out how to shut it down, he saw an image of Hoseok talking happily to a figure he couldn't see clearly. A hallucination.

No. He had to break it. He couldn't lose control like this. Not again. He remembered Yoongi and took a deep breath, reaching for the dim outline of Hoseok's prone figure. He had to distract him. To break his concentration. There had to be a way. He would not let Hoseok remain stuck in his illusion.

But before he could do more than shake Hoseok the panic reached its climax, slamming through him and leaving him limp and breathless on the floor. He watched as the illusion solidified, all outlines of his bedroom disappearing. He still couldn't hear anything, but perhaps that was due to his heart thumping in his ears. Hoseok smiled and laughed, completely oblivious. Taehyung couldn't find the energy to lift his head, much less scream. There was no eye contact, but that didn't seem to matter. What if Hoseok never woke up? He would lose his best friend to the same game he had sworn he would never play again. Tears filled his eyes. He couldn't do it. He couldn't free himself. How could he have been so stupid?

This was all Yoongi's fault.

Taehyung knew it was irrational, but he blamed Yoongi. He blamed him because the alternative was too much. If he had never met Yoongi, if he had never thought about V again, if he had never made that stupid promise...

The promise. He couldn't escape Yoongi unless he found a way to prevent Yoongi from meeting the criteria. He would never let Yoongi meet V. He would never let Yoongi win. He would show him. He would show him. He would make Yoongi see why the game was no good, why the sparkles could never change the reality.

Then Yoongi would have to quit, and Taehyung would be free.

A loud, screeching tone ripped through the hallucination, shocking Taehyung and dragging him back to reality. Namjoon knelt beside him, holding his phone to his ear. Taehyung gasped, shuddering, and rolled away, sitting up and clutching his head.

"What the hell," Hoseok groaned. "What happened?"

"You made eye contact with Tae," Namjoon said.

Taehyung didn't look at Hoseok. He let his chin drop onto his chest, struggling to breathe. He hated it. He hated feeling so helpless. How could he have let his powers get away from him? He needed to be alone. He had to figure out a way to keep this from happening again.

He couldn't become like V again.

"Taehyung?" Namjoon asked, resting a hand on his shoulder.

Taehyung swatted him away, squeezing his eyes shut. "Get out."

"Tae, we just want to help--"

"Then get out of here!" Taehyung yelled. His voice broke and he coughed, shaking his head. "Get out."

"Tae, please--" Hoseok said.

"LEAVE!" Taehyung said.

Silence. Then his bedroom door closed. He waited until the footsteps had disappeared down the stairs to open his eyes. When he saw only the empty room, he felt a rush of guilt and relief. Safe. He was safe. He stumbled to his feet, grabbing his phone, and logged out of the account, sucking in one breath after another. This power wasn't safe. He couldn't use it. He had no idea how it worked, and the 10-K ranking was hard to shake unless you went inactive quickly. He would have to work with something else.

He walked to his windows and checked the curtains to make sure they were shut, peeking outside to make sure none of his friends waited below the house. Once satisfied that he was alone, he walked to the bookshelf and pulled out the box he had left behind for his first duel under the new system. His phone chimed, but he ignored it, sitting down on his bed and opening the box.

Inside was a phone, wrapped tightly in a bulky black and white hoodie. Taehyung let out a shaky breath as he opened the hoodie, checking to see if it would still fit. Beneath the phone and hoodie was a black face mask with a large white x across it and a pair of black gloves. He slipped them on, then picked up the phone, turning it on and sticking it in his other phone's charger.

While it charged he pulled the hoodie and mask on, grabbing a set of silver earrings from the bottom of the box and using the reflection of his phone to put them in. It had been awhile since he wore dangles, and they brushed against his neck, tickling him as he took a deep breath and ran a hand through his hair, squeezing his eyes shut. Logging out of the account had shut the power off, but he still wondered if it would manifest without warning. He had to figure something out.

The phone display blinked on, flashing a brand name before settling to a black lockscreen. Taehyung tapped the code in with practiced ease, taking another deep breath, and navigated to the FaceUpp app.

Alright, he thought. Let's get this over with.

As he took a picture of his gloved hand on the carpet, his phone chimed again. He sighed and picked it up, gritting his teeth in frustration when he saw the strange number.

***-***-****: I see you V

T: I'm not V. Go away.

***-***-****: lmao you turned your account on I'm not stupid

T: I beg to differ

***-***-****: whtvr fight me

Taehyung gritted his teeth, shivering as he felt the tingle of the phone hack passing over his body, painting false tattoos and changing the color of his eyes and hair. It had been so long since he felt a thrill like this, an angry need to burn energy and use his power. He took a deep breath to steady himself, then scowled at his phone.

T: Fine. 

Double update pt. 1