Rivals

° Chapter Twenty One ° Yoongi POV

• Three Hours Prior •

I can't sleep again. It's been like this a lot lately.

I glance at the clock. It's the only thing in this dark hotel room that I can see.

4:08am

I

stare up at the ceiling even though I can't see it. There's two beds in this room and two in the one next to us where Hoseok and Jin are sleeping.

I can hear Hoseok snoring through the wall.

I can't help but keep my mind on the girl sleeping in the other bed next to me.

I let out a soft exhale before getting up from the bed and deciding to go to the vending machine for a snack to change my thoughts. As I slip on my shoes, I look over at her dark silhouette sleeping.

I'm making myself crazy with these fantasies.

The door locks behind me and I slide the room key into my sweats pocket. A girl sneaks out of a room a few doors down from me and I recognize her from the show. I lift my hand to wave but she hides her face as she passes.

Weird, but I continue on.

I reach the vending machine and decide on a dark chocolate wafer. As I reach into the machine, I hear our song being played on a TV nearby. Obviously I follow the sound to it's source and smile at our image onscreen.

I tear open my package and watch as the channel raves about our performance, even getting close ups of all of us in a good light.

But my mouth drops at the image of Y/N and Jungkook out in the parking lot.

It was a five minute conversation and they've spun it into a story.

"We are Pandora's Jungkook was seen speaking privately to Shadow Moon's Y/N, a former member after the show. A rivalry? Or a romance?"

I shake my head in disbelief.

"Paparazzi also captured the band later leaving with these three women and one even on the guitarists lap."

Now that I believe.

"Looks like heartbreak might be in the forecast for Y/N yet again."

They show pictures of Jimin and Y/N and I roll my eyes walking away. Media is so crazy sometimes. I'm four or five steps in when I realize...

What if I'm the one on the brink of a heartbreak? Y/N isn't looking for anyone...especially another member of the band...she's already done that.

I need fresh air.

The automatic doors open to outside and the rush of cool air hits me causing goosebumps to rise on my arms. There's another figure outside smoking a cigarette so I walk over.

"Can I get one?" I ask. He turns and I realize it's the bass player from her old band. He digs in his pocket for a lighter and tosses it to me.

"Couldn't sleep?" He asks casually. I shake my head lighting the stick between my lips. "You should try cocaine." My eyes widen. "Kidding." His teeth shine in a joking smile. "Sleep is hard to come by on nights like this."

"I've been like this for a while." I admit taking a drag.

"I'm not a shrink but I'd say you've got shit going on if you're up this time every night."

"Why are you up?"

He sighs, tossing the butt of his cigarette into the discard area. "Just....band shit."

"Me too I guess."

His hairs a mess but he rakes it with his fingers. "I drank tonight, otherwise I wouldn't be talking to you so casually. Jimin would flip shit."

"Do you always care what Jimin thinks?"

"He's the reason I'm even still here. I have to keep that respect."

"And what about Y/N?"

He looks at me with mildly interested eyes. I don't like that. "She chose to leave."

"You don't respect her?"

"I respect her skill."

I finish my smoke early, flicking the rest and turning to walk away. "Hey." He says while my back is turned. "You know Jimin's not the only one of us who loved her. That shits deeper than the surface. There's a reason everything happened the way it did. She's a black widow. Everything around her gets lured in until she strings them up in her web and sucks the life out of them."

"Coming from experience?" I ask over my shoulder.

"I'm just saying...music aside...man to man....focus on your passion and not the mirage before you."

I head back inside still replaying what he said over and over again.

What does he mean by that?