Beastly Beauty ✓

40. The Winter Showcase

A/N: the attached song is the closest track to what I imagined for this dance! this video is the only one I found, so the dance in the video does not correlate with the choreo Jangmi made (though a few parts are similar to what I pictured). Hope you enjoy this chap!

40 | THE WINTER SHOWCASE

Trusting them was foolish.

I knew that's what Hoseok, Jimin, and Jungkook thought. I couldn't disagree. But so long as we were all together, the Hood would not out himself, and I needed to learn more about my power so I could stand a fighting chance against him. Besides, after hearing their side of things, I failed to see how any of them could be the beast who haunted me.

Taehyung helped more than anticipated. We spent the remaining days leading up to the showcase training together, in which he taught me how to summon the essence of light inside me. He showed me how to call it forth, how to guide it to do what I wanted but only to a certain extent.

"It has a will of its own," he explained one evening as the others watched, "so you can't count on controlling it, only keeping it within a certain boundary. You are a vessel—it doesn't belong to you. But the more you practice, the more it may resonate with you and bend to your will."

"How long does it usually take for that to happen?" I asked as Taehyung's hands encircled my wrists. He focused on my glowing palms, leading me to extend my fingers. The white light grew brighter, rays seeping through invisible cracks in my skin.

"Months. Sometimes years."

My heart sank to the pit of my stomach. We knew the Hood would strike only a few days from now at the masquerade dance. I wouldn't be anywhere close to prepared.

Fear devoured more ferociously than ever. But that was because this fear wasn't the same as the one I'd been fighting for so long. I won over the worry I always had for my own safety. Now, the dread deep in my blood was solely for the wellbeing of those precious to me. I knew they'd be willing to go down if it meant keeping me alive, so I had to know I could protect them... no matter what it took.

"You have nothing to worry about as long as we're with you," Namjoon said as he moved closer. His golden brown eyes latched onto mine briefly, and Taehyung stepped back so they could swap places. "Growth takes time. Strength takes time. But you're still better off than you were a few days ago, so quit worrying and show me your stance."

Yoongi and Namjoon were in charge of teaching me physical combat. They mostly covered the basics of self-defense, but they also went over a few moves and tips that were meant to specifically work against Bul-Gae. Certain herbs, like the one embedded in my necklace, repelled them and could even dull their abilities. However, they mentioned that the effect was strongest with direct contact, and it was less bothersome to Bul-Gae who used their abilities more often and were not weak—surely the reason why my necklace had never brought a noticeable rise out of anyone but Hoseok.

The two hunters also taught me about the key spots that were most vulnerable in Bul-Gae. Areas I could target if ever I needed to incapacitate one. First was the throat and jaw, both of which were needed for them to consume a Descendant's power. Next was more obvious: claws. Yoongi muttered about how helpful it had been over the years to cleave off their fingers or chop entire hands away, and I went pale at the thought. He had spared a glance before Namjoon went on to the most important weak point. The lower abdomen right above their pelvis—deep in the gut—was where the main source of their power resided, much like mine. According to the two of them, a strong enough hit from Descendant magic on that spot could rid the Bul-Gae of their abilities entirely, at least for long enough to gain the upperhand.