I knew Jin was lying to me about something. I just couldn't figure out what. Or why.
"What are your orders?" Jin asked, nonchalant as always.
I moved the pebbles around the table, clumping them in threes. There was no way to surround the emperor's prison in a useful way, and I wasn't going to lose more men in a hasty battle plan.
"Don't advance," I said. "We still need to collect more information."
I need more information on them... and you.
He gave a mild nod. "And what about our men hiding in the city? Should I give them orders to weaken the emperor's men, as before?"
"No. Tell them to wait."
"Then the forest troops?"
I sighed. "Hold."
"You seem distracted today."
"I need sleep. You keep asking questions."
He clicked his tongue. There was silence.
"Very well,"he said. "Would you prefer a report?"
"That's another question."
"Hosoek is taking Y/N to the Red House."
My head shot up. "Why?"
"Intelligence."
I snorted. "Debatable."
What information could Hoseok want from the Red House? I knew he visited there every once in awhile to keep appearances, but taking Y/N... that was different.
That was something I didn't approve of.
"I think he's following a lead," Jin said. "I wouldn't get worked up over it."
"I'm not worked up."
"You're crushing rocks with your hand."
I looked down at the pebbles in my hand, now half-ground into dust. I dropped them on the table and sighed again.
"Where is he?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Do you have clearance for this?" I asked Hoseok.
He wagged his head back and forth, like a puppy holding a rag. "Didn't think it was necessary. You never required it before."
I looked over my shoulder to Jimin and Taehyung, who were pretending not to listen.
"That was before the woman," I replied.
He frowned. "You think I won't protect her?"
"You keep putting her in danger."
"She's not in danger. She's with me."
"That's the most dangerous situation there is, if you ask me."
He smirked, irritation puckering in the corners of his lips. "It's only to collect information. To introduce her to a mission. There's very little danger. She'll pretend to be a hostess -"
I couldn't help but laugh. "A hostess? She would slit throats before wrapping her arms around them."
"Maybe... But I can teach her to do both."
His gaze held mine, challenging me. I let the bastard get away with too much - I knew that - but I couldn't put up a harsh boundary like I did with the others.
I looked down at my hands.
"Don't take it too far," was all I could say.
I stepped out before he could say something witty. I didn't have the energy for it. I couldn't argue with him either. He was cocky, but he got the job done.
He was reliable despite our differences in leadership. I could only force my way when appropriate. I held back more orders more than necessary when it came to Hoseok.
After all, it wasn't his orders that got Yujin killed. It was...
I shook the thought out of my head. I couldn't think about the past now. I had to take care of the forest troops out west, and our allies towards the kingdom prison at —
I stopped.
I blinked. Was I having a vision? A mental breakdown? Because for some reason, I was seeing ghost.
I tried to shake the image of a female ghost out of my sight. But it stayed.
The ghost was real.
Y/N.
She was dressed in blue and green with embroidered gold, her hair wild around her shoulders. Her gown was lopsided and sloppy. I tried not to laugh outright.
Could she even be part of regular society?
"Is this your side business?" I asked as she came near.
She looked up at me, her bright eyes complemented by the colors in her dress. She frowned with pale pink lips.
"Hoseok's idea," she said. "I'd rather swallow fire."
Would the Red House even accept her like this? Hmmm... The truth was, Y/N had a rough beauty to her. Not cute nor sexy, but something raw and natural.
Like the woman I saw in the lake so many nights ago.
"Almost presentable," I teased.
Before she could run her mouth at me, I reached out and straightened her clothes. It was obvious she had no idea how to properly assemble them. Not that I was an expert, but mother was rigid about appearances.
I applied what I knew; straightening out Y/N's bows and retying them, adjusting her seams, and anything else she had clumsily put together. She said nothing as I did it - her tongue finally silenced.
But I could feel her breath quicken under my fingers as I touched her, and it sent me into a flurry of thoughts that distracted me from my task.
As for her hair... I only knew one way to do it. The same way I did mother's hair each morning before she died. The way Yujin begged for me to do her hair both when my mother was alive, and for months after my mother was executed.
I think it was Yujin's way of helping me through it. I couldn't cry when the emperor killed her. Father was too far gone for me to be the weaker of us two.
I pulled Y/N's hair back into the familiar braid, her hair heavy and stubborn in my hands. But there was something that soothed me as I braided her hair, nostalgia running through my mind at the sensation.
I stepped back. Y/N reached for her hair.
"You fashioned my hair?" she asked.
I looked her over. She wasn't any different from a minute earlier - not really - but touching her had created a burning in my eyes that I couldn't blink out.
"Now you look presentable," I said. "More suited for a man to have tempting thoughts about you."
She said nothing and swallowed. It took me a minute to realize I was staring.
"Remember our deal," I said. "Don't get distracted by men with large purses."
Or by commanders with wandering hands.
"I had no intensions."
"Good. Keep your focus and you can have anything you want."
I walked away before she could say respond, and before my eyes could drink in much more of her.
I regretted making her better to look at. But better my fingers to do it than Hoseok's.
After all, I didnt feel anything for her. And Hoseok... Hoseok wasn't allowed to.
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The Rebellion (BTS Rap Line x Reader)
FanfictionHoseok: That's why they call me Master, sweetheart. Now it's your turn. Say it. Yoongi: If you want my help that badly, you need to give me something in return. Something I can't get anywhere else... Namjoon: If they want to take you back, they have...