A Dangerous Game

Chapter 1

The fall semester for Taehyungs third year of university was off to an oddly great start, with him getting through registration quickly and having a choice of which bedroom he wanted between the three in his shared dorm room, he was content. The past two years always had a problem that took forever to fix so, by the time he was actually was able to get his dorm room problem solved (never getting the choice of which room he wanted) and his schedule organized, he would be behind in all his classes at least two weeks. That's not even counting the times when coming back for next semester his dorm room would be changed because some hotshot who had money wanted to have all his friends in the same dorm building which forced Taehyung to move two or three times before the bastard was satisfied. He had been expecting the same chain of events or close to them happening again because third times a charm, had even prepared to take a quick stop at the library to set up his study station in order to finish those two weeks of missing assignments. Instead, nothing happened, which had warning bells ringing in his head that this year was going to be even worse (oh how right he was).

Rather than dwell on the warning, he opted to start his daily trip to the library in hopes to get closer to his goal of reading every book there before his graduation. So far he was proud to say he had gotten halfway through the library, starting his mission from the second floor on the top right corner and ending it all at the bottom front left side. He had if he recalled right only a couple more books on language left for the second floor, giving him two more years to finish the bottom half; he was confident that as long as things went like they usually did he would be able to do that. He knew that something different was going to happen this year and so, he took his trip to the library as soon as he dropped his stuff into his room, taking his keys, wallet, and jacket before heading out on his adventure.

When entering the familiar dimly lit library, Taehyung took a minute to breathe in the musky scent of old and new books; a smell that he enjoyed immensely even connecting it with the feeling of a home. This was his place, the only place in this school Taehyung had grown attached to. A glance at the front desk showed Mrs. Soo who gave a knowing glance and a gentle smile to the only boy who took as great care of books as she did. He was one of the only students whose company she enjoyed as much as she enjoyed reading, often basking in the silent companionship they shared full of jasmine tea and personal fantasies. Those moments they were both in a bubble that helped keep them calm even on the roughest days. If asked who her favorite student was, she would drift her eyes toward the window on the second floor where Taehyung usually read his books, before stating she loved all students equally.

Giving the dear elderly lady his boxy smile only ever seen by her, before ascending to the second floor where he would find the next book on his list to finish reading. After finding his marker from his last book the previous year, he retrieved the next on his list Russian: Art of Pronunciation, before taking the window seat directly looking out at the currently empty garden, glad to be able to enjoy this view once more. This was Taehyungs spot, the only place at the school that made him feel both relaxed and safe, two feelings he rarely gets to have much less enjoy.

Taehyung for the first time since he came to this school, had an easy first day of registration and class scheduling. Finishing everything quickly, gave Taehyung the chance to go to his quiet place and bask in the scent of books just how he liked it. There is where it all goes wrong, a year that goes downhill from that point on. If only he could turn back time.

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Jimin and Hoseok were troublemakers. They enjoyed running around causing mischief and tiring out the others with the messes they make. Evil was the perfect word to describe them both. Evil troublemakers who came up with the most bizarre ideas and didn't do well with people telling them no. Most would think that people like that wouldn't be allowed to do the things they did. If it were anyone else they would be suspended or worse expelled. Jimin and Hoseok should be expelled with how many times they painted the school different colors or when a teacher said no, locked them in a closet to be found hours later traumatized. But these evil troublemakers had two things on their side. Their eldest hyung Jin who had enough money to basically do anything he wanted, from changing dorms several times over to keeping his two dongsaengs from getting permanently expelled and rarely suspended. He spoiled them way too much, but that's where the other thing comes in handy. Their strongest weapon against both the school and their hyung's.