3000 Stars

Ten Thousand

10-K.

Taehyung stared down at the flashing symbols on Yoongi's profile, chest heaving. 10-K. Yoongi was a 10-K. He had failed. Yoongi was a good fighter. It would only take him a few days to reach their ranks, and then the race would be hard, harder than anything he'd ever done.

And he'd lost all his battles that day, sending his rank plummeting to 999. He had to fix this. He had to do something. But what? What?

He paced his room, running his hands through his hair, letting the phone drop onto his bed. There had to be an answer. These rules were more restrictive, but there was no way they completely suffocated his fighting style, right? No injuries, knock them down or out of bounds... yes. It was simple. So why did he keep losing?

He slammed his hands down on his desk, scowling at the homework that had been well on its way to being finished before the notification came in. No. He wouldn't waste his time on this. Making sure Yoongi never met V was more important. He still had five hours until the fight club closed, and after that he could go to the old club, memories be damned. He wouldn't let himself think about Yoongi and his score. He would train until he collapsed, and then he would train more once he woke up.

He was halfway out the door when he remembered his parents. They would notice him leaving. They would want to know where he was going. He wasn't like other children who had easy escapes programmed into their houses. His parents would be watching and listening for any sign that he was sneaking out, too used to him doing it before when they tried to keep him out of the arena. He needed an excuse, and he needed a good one.

His first thought was Hoseok, but Hoseok was too honest. If his parents called and asked, they would easily guilt-trip him into telling them that Taehyung had never shown up. Next was Namjoon, but Namjoon would want to know why he was lying for Taehyung. He would want to know if Taehyung had gone back to the arena. And Taehyung wasn't ready to get into that kind of talk with him. He didn't know Jimin well enough to try, and besides, their parents knew each other.

That left Yoongi.

Taehyung's hand tightened on the doorknob. He hated the idea of owing Yoongi for anything, even a false idea. But his parents didn't know Yoongi's parents, didn't have Yoongi's number. They would be completely reliant on Taehyung's messages to know whether or not Taehyung was coming home. And if Taehyung said it was a sleepover and packed clothes... he took a deep breath.

Was it worth it? Was it really worth using his rival as cover?

His phone pinged, then pinged again. Confused, Taehyung pulled it out of his pocket. It was his old one. No one should have that number. He was leaving his new phone in the bedroom, although, come to think of it, that wasn't such a wise choice. He wandered back inside, grabbing a backpack and stuffing it and a change of clothes inside before opening FaceUpp and navigating to the messages, a part of his account that he had almost forgotten existed.

Min Yoongi: I did it

Min Yoongi: I'm challenging you

Min Yoongi: wait for me

Taehyung took a deep breath, leaving the messages and shoving his phone in his pocket. Yes. He had to do this. He had to protect Yoongi, the ever-idealistic, kind, strangely caring idiot who thought he wanted to meet Taehyung's alter-ego. He couldn't let Yoongi suffer this disappointment. Let him feel every other kind of pain, let him look failure in the eyes and struggle forward, but Taehyung would make sure he never met V.

He had to, for Seokjin.

He shoved a few more sleepover-worthy items in his backpack and hurried down the stairs, taking a deep breath as he crossed the hallway to the front door.

"Taehyung?" his mother called. "Where are you going?"

"I'm sleeping over at Yoongi's," Taehyung called, then left before his mother could ask who Yoongi was. Once safely out of sight of the house, he dashed to the train station, pulling out his phone and activating his hack. He would do this. He had to do this.

He wouldn't let V ruin Yoongi the way he had ruined everything else.

In honor of my having a rough draft of every chapter up to the end of the book. Cheers! I hope you're all taking care of yourself and drinking lots of water. I should have had more today. I'm sound sensitive again and probably sleep deprived, so I'll have to see about getting a nap in tomorrow afternoon... oh well. I love you all! Any theories?