Chapter 1
After breakfast, you checked the text message Grace had mentioned. It was an email.
‘Such an idiot.’
The email was an invitation:
“Hello, this is the Ellen crew from The Ellen DeGeneres Show. We want to invite you for another interview and a prank on fans. There might be another star featured with you, but we’ll confirm details as we finalize arrangements. Please respond by Friday, August 10th. If you accept, we’ll keep you updated on any changes. Thank you.”
You playfully slapped Grace on the back of the head. “You silly thing.”
“Ow! What was that for?” She rubbed the spot you’d hit.
“Because it was an email. You almost had me worried for a second.”
If it *was* a phone call, the caller would have asked for your name. You always answered “Y/N,” a habit born from the fact no fans had ever discovered your number.
‘I really should change that.’
You prepared for the day, opting for your usual all-black outfit.
“You might love black *too* much,” Grace observed as you walked out of your room.
“I’m going to need you to shut up,” you retorted, heading for the kitchen to grab an apple. “I’m out.” You walked out with the apple and camera in hand.
The outside brightness was jarring, but you ignored the urge to put on sunglasses—the subway was shaded.
Inside the subway station, the sheer number of people was overwhelming. You put on your mask and waited for the next car to stop.
A boy, around his teens, stood next to you. Next to him was a little boy. They stood silently for a few minutes, then the little one spoke. “Hey, are you The Masked Dancer?”
The older boy quickly interjected, “Sorry, my little brother’s really annoying.”
“He isn’t annoying, he’s adorable,” you laughed, watching the little boy perk up.
“Well, my brother likes to dance, and he learned a bunch of your moves from YouTube. I wanted him to show you, but he’s too scared.”
“Really?” You looked at the older boy. “You should make a video and send it to me. I bet you’re really good.”
“Oh, he is! He says one day he’s going to marry you—and then…”
The older boy laughed nervously.
“Okay, Danny, don’t give too much away,” he cautioned.
“Oh, well…” You noticed a car stopping and the doors sliding open. “Ah, I gotta go, bye!” You waved them goodbye, catching a glimpse of the little boy waving back.
‘That kid was adorable.’
You reached your destination and searched for the perfect filming location. After about thirty minutes of wandering, you found it.
‘This is perfect.’
While waiting for the music to download on your laptop, you set up the camera and connected it to a portable speaker. After everything was ready, you began filming a new dance routine.
[A GIF or video would appear here.]
It took over an hour to get the perfect take, but the dance was worth the effort. After filming, you made your way back home.
~~TIME SKIP~~
It was late when you arrived at the dance studio, around 10 PM. The surprising thing wasn’t that the door was unlocked, but that three masked men were standing in the middle of the room.
They were startled by your entrance, but one spoke up. “Uh, hello.” He waved, his accent thick—you couldn’t place the origin.
“Did I go to the wrong room? This is 1497 Hollywood Boulevard, right?” You asked, ready to leave.
“Oh, no, I think *we’re* in the wrong place, sorry,” another replied, taller and also accented, though less intensely.
“Can we take a picture with her?” You overheard one whisper in Korean. You remained silent, letting whoever was supposed to answer do their job.
“He’s asking for a picture, do you mind?”
“Of course not, let’s take a picture.” You said.
Setting your bag down, you quickly walked to the three men. One of them pulled out his phone. “One, two, three, cheese!”
They checked the photo and nodded. In response, you said, “Hey, you should send it to me.”
“No problem,” one of them replied. “Oh, and thank you for the picture.”
“It’s nothing,” you shrugged.
As they walked out, they waved happily and headed for the next room. After they left, you waited for Grace to show up, opening a large bag of chips.
After half an hour, Grace ran in, breathless. “What’s wrong?” you asked.
“It’s late, and…” She paused to catch her breath. “And we need to practice, for those performances.”
“You need to sit and drink some water.”
She nodded, grabbing a bottle of water from your bag and chugging it down.
You chuckled as you received a notification from Instagram—a DM. “Oh,” you said to yourself. You checked it and froze, shock registering on your face. “Are you okay?” Grace asked.
“No, I am not.” You couldn’t believe what you were looking at—the picture you’d just taken with the three men.
Sent by BTS.