•𝑶𝑻𝑯𝑬𝑹𝑺𝑰𝑫𝑬•【√】

〃CHAPTER 25〃

Joon vetoed the plan to go shopping for the movie. He wouldn't even hear of it. We've all been cooped up in the firehouse in a code red lockdown for days. Jin and Yoongi have been running back and forth to pick up the things we need for the spell. Not Hoseok. Apparently he went postal when Joon asked him about his suicide note. On the upside, he did in fact write one. Yoongi snagged it from Hoseok's mother two nights ago after what sounded like a very long, very loud conversation that started off as him asking Hoseok's permission, and ended up with the two of them not being on speaking terms. It was very dramatic and awkward for everyone, but we got the note. Jin said Hoseok's okay with it, and I hope he is. The soft-spoken ghost has been dead less than a year, so it's still a touchy subject for him.

The moldy meat in the garage is putrid. Maybe I just have a weak stomach for smells, but I refuse to go near it, so (much to Jiwon's chagrin) we are practicing in the living room. At least we moved the couches and chairs back, and it's not like there're a lot of breakables in here. We've been taking turns with the trusty wooden spoon, mostly to let out some of the pent up nervousness we've all been dealing with. Everything goes down tonight, but if we sat staring at the clock we'd go crazy counting down the last few hours. We're focusing our energies on the immediate, and right now it's Jimin and Jeongguk spoon dueling.while Taehyung  is slumped against my shoulder, pouting like a toddler while his arms find themselves sneak around my waist. At this point I don't even care about his whiny manner.I always find him stuck to me, be it my back, shoulders or lap he is such a cuddler that I'm almost sold to his sneaky tactics.

Jeongguk has the size and strength advantage, but he's slower and less tactically proficient than Jimin. It's far from an even match. Jimin has the spoon, and I'm forcibly reminded of a bull fight. Jeongguk is much larger, and he charges wildly. So far he's only landed one hit on Jimin, but it was a doozy. Jimin has left chalk marks all over Jeongguk's shirt. He makes it look so effortless, while Jeongguk is clearly going all-out just to keep up.

"Alright, we get the point. Now both of y'all sit down, and let someone else try," Taehyung groans behind me and  jumps into the middle of the room and snatches the spoon from Jimin, waving it over his head in a circle, deciding who to challenge.

"I'll go against you," I offer with a smile on my face. I like fighting Taehyung. He jumps around erratically and has fun with it. The crazy thing is, he does the same crap during a real fight. Most of the Unit think he's mentally unbalanced, but it kind of works in his favor.

"No, ma'am," He shakes the spoon at me like an old woman chastising grandchildren, "I think you've hit me enough. Nope, I want to fight..." He whirls the spoon around, "him," He points to Junsoo, whose eyes go wide.

"It's alright," Jimin speaks quietly to Junsoo, and motions for him to walk out to the middle of the room. He whispers something in the kid's ear and steps back, letting the smallest smile show at the corners of his mouth. Junsoo looks nervous.

"Have you caught on to how this works?" Taehyung asks kindly as he twirls the spoon like a baton. Chalk dust drifts to the floor, flung unceremoniously from the spinning stick.

Junsoo's only response is a small nod. He takes a deep breath and rolls up the sleeves of the too-big shirt he borrowed from Jeongguk. We really need to get this kid some clothes. I try not to look at the wrecked condition his skinny forearms are in. I didn't think it could be worse than Jimin', but most of Junsoo's scars look pretty fresh.

"Show me what you got," Taehyung smiles and lunges, whacking Junsoo on the nose. The kid scrunches his face up and wipes the white powder away as best he can, then something clicks. The nerves disappear, and he slides sideways, out of Taehyung's reach. His hands are up, and he falls into a defensive stance. He's going to let Taehyung come to him.