"Do you know who it is? Or who might be the creator?"

  You shake your head at Jin's question. "My father never mentioned Thanatos, not in front of me. Oppa never dropped any hints, either."

  Yoongi catches your eye and holds the stare, emotionless except for the slight quirk of his brow. You shake your head slightly. You're telling the truth...no more secrets. Yoongi nods once, trusting you.

  Speaking of no more secrets...

  You turn to Namjoon with a curious stare, not letting any coldness creep in; after all, you both were guilty. "Joon Oppa, back then, before the call from my fr- from Baekhyun, when we were talking to Kwang..."

  He swallows, looking away briefly. You're one of the only people he can't bring himself to look directly in the eye while hiding something, you've come to notice.

  You lean forward from your place on the couch to narrow the space between you and the man sitting on the carpet, his arms wrapped around him like a pitiful shield.

  "It's okay that you didn't tell me about David's master plan. I wasn't 100% honest either, yeah?" The right corner of your lip lifts. "I thought that he was just in our way for destroying the corruption. Turns out, it's a way bigger scale than that, huh?"

  He nods, skin glowing golden from the soft light of a nearby lamp. "My reasoning was a bit different. I-I just didn't want you to know how massive this whole thing is. I thought the less you knew, the..."

  As he trails off and blinks rapidly, you furrow your brows in confusion. What is he struggling to say?

  Yoongi licks his lips before picking up the sentence. "He didn't tell you Burke was after Thanatos to protect you. After the first time," he clears his throat, the words paining him. "After the first time you were taken, I stumbled upon some things and we figured out that Burke was hunting Thanatos this whole time. Joon here thought that if we didn't tell you, you'd be safe because you wouldn't know as much as us, making you a lesser target."

  With each word, you feel your heart race first with anger, followed by pain, then a soft affection mixed with frustration, before slowing into a steady beating of love.

  "Oppa..." You let the smile on your face grow. "Sometimes it feels like Junseo Oppa never left," your voice cracks at the end and you come down on your knees the envelope the older man in a tight hug, forcing your eyes to remain dry.

  You hadn't told them you possess Thanatos out of fear, out of doubt. He kept one secret out of care.

  He holds you tight, wrapping his large frame around yours. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I know I shouldn't have treated you like someone who needs protection-"

  You pull back, stopping him, and smile softly at his sad eyes that reflect hundreds of stars from the night sky. "We all need protection. I'm glad I have you," you look around. "All of you. But we have to be open with each other because it's dangerous not to be. To do this...we have to rely on each other."

  Jimin nods, looking down. "I agree. The eight of us...we have the same goal. We're a team."

  Hoseok smiles and gives everyone a quick hug, lightening the mood with his aura of positivity. "We have that out of the way now! No more secrets and no more worries. Burke is a tiny bug in front of us!" He pulls a silly face before flexing his muscles.

  All of you laugh, an easy happiness creeping into the room now that the air is clear.

  "You're right, Seokie Hyung! He's toast once we find the creator! We'll grab the Cure and then bam!" Taehyung pretends to punch Jimin in the nose, who protects it fiercely from a third bruise.

  The creator...

  You gently take the note from Jungkook and unfold it, smoothing out the crumples caused by his strong grip. You go over the words, reading them again and again.

  Namjoon notices. "Don't spend too much time on that. It'll be a good idea to take a break before looking for clues in his words."

  Jungkook immediately brightens. "It's been so long since we've played something! What do you guys wanna do?"

  Jin sits up, stretching as he lets out a long sigh. "I, for one, think I'll curl up with a book and then head off. It's like," he checks his phone, the fluorescent light unnaturally bright in the dim room, "2 AM. We should all try and get some sleep to make it easier to get back to the normal routine."

  Yoongi grumbles a bit at the thought. "In payment, can you make cupcakes when we wake up?"

  You grin, poking his soft cheek. "Does Yoongles wan a cwupcwake?" Your baby voice makes Hoseok giggle and join in with the poking.

  "Ooh, ooh!" Jimin springs up with a hopeful smile. "Can you?"

  "Can you make your vanilla cupcakes? With the coffee buttercream?" Namjoon asks excitedly.

  "Oh, with the ganache, too!" Hoseok adds.

  Jin chuckles, brown eyes twinkling. "Consider it done...as long as none of you bother me for the next hour, and that includes loud noises." He gives the three youngest boys a pointed look before glancing at you, too.

  You can't deny that the child in you does come out around the boys...but you enjoy it. The feeling of carefree youthful joy is an escape from the pressured reality you face.

  "I'll help with the cupcakes, Oppa," you offer, hoping to spend some time with the eldest.

  He gives you a soft smile and pinches your nose lightly. "Sure."

  "Okay, so what should we do? Play on the PS4? Or a boardgame?" Taehyung's eyes shine as he thinks of countless fun activities.

  "We could play Twister," Jimin suggests with a smirk, a proud glint in his eyes.

  Yoongi rolls his eyes. "Yeah, what win will that be? The 40th?"

  "48th, actually," Jimin smugly corrects.

  Your eyes light up. "What if we play Cops and Robbers? But Mafia style."

  Jungkook's curious eyes meet your sparkling ones. "Mafia Cops and Robbers?"

  You give him a look, to which he shrugs. "No way," you exclaim. "You guys haven't played it? Oh my gosh, are you even Mafia?" you laugh.

  Yoongi leans forward, intrigued. "Go on."

  "Like, we used to play Mafia Paintball as kids, too. It was a way to have fun and train, y'know? We'd use rubber bullets instead, which hurt more, so that our pain tolerance increased."

  Jimin's mouth opens in amazement. "Wow. That sounds awesome!"

  Jungkook glances around with a bit of pity in his eyes, but you ignore it. You have Royal blood. Your childhood was most definitely not 'average.'

  "So Mafia Cops and Robbers is virtually the same thing, but with some new rules, but the basic robbers-hide-cops-find-them. After the Cop finds a Robber, they shout out the Robber's name really loud. Then, the Robber either says 'surrender' or 'last stand.' If they surrender, the Cop takes them to the 'dungeon,' but if they want a last stand, the two of them fight it out, but hands only." You explain.

  "Aw, so no bashing your skull in with a lamp?" Yoongi asks sarcastically.

  "If the Robber wins the fight, the Seeker has to stay in place for 30 Mississippi seconds, counting out loud, before they are released," you continue. "But if the Seeker wins, the Hider gets put into the 'dungeon' and has to get busted out."

  "Busted out? The dungeon?" Taehyung asks.

  "The dungeon is basically a chosen room where all the caught Hiders are kept. The catch is that the dungeon doors can be unlocked and the caught Robbers busted out, but only once in the game, so timing is key." You can't stop the grin spreading on your face as the memories rush in.

  "Strategies," Jungkook muses, a thoughtful expression on his face.

  "The main objective of the Robbers is to find the hidden object, which the Cops hid, before they all land in the dungeon, which means game over and execution for the Robbers. The Cops have to keep catching the Robbers and not let them find the object, or else they get fired and fed to the dogs!"

  "Joyful," Jimin mumbles.

  "It's not the Mafia version for nothing," you chuckle. "So...shall we begin?"

☆Hi guys! We are now transitioning into some lighthearted fun after all that heaviness of the past chapters, and I'm so looking forward to the next one! I used to love playing Cops and Robbers as a kid (but not Mafia style lmao)

Sorry for the late update, I just haven't been feeling my best. I'm probably just moody from my period but I genuinely hate me rn 😂😔

Anyway, thank you for all the love and support I've been getting 🥺💞 my favorite thing is to read your comments and smile

Stay safe, stay home and be kind to each other 💜

  -SugaKookies05 ♡