HOBI POV:

I hold my finger up to my lips, eyes wide as I shake my head at Min-Jun, watch as the sweet baby bear had gone from content and playing to going stiff and wide-eyed when I'd silently began stepping close and droopy when he sees me, when he sees my shushing gesture, going back to playing with his plushies, curled up in his nest, hands slow and eyes droopy once more.

Not at all on edge anymore around me, which had made me giddy the first time he'd leant into my touch rather than away, a moment engrained in my memory with how my ears had twirled with giddiness, how I'd yelled out for (Y/N), startled her but victoriously showed how Min-Jun was curled up in my hold rather than stiff.

And it's a flash of mischief I see in his eyes as he curls back up, fluffy brown ears perked up and eyes awaiting to see how it unfolds, as he peeks out over the edge of a fluffy cat ear to look at me quietly approach (Y/N), her back turned and unsuspecting as I move closer and closer, hands held out and ready to dart forward to surprise her.

And when my hands grab at her, she startles, tail suddenly flicking up and going stiff for all but one moment before she melts, leans into the touch as I hug her from behind, peering over her shoulder.

"What are you doing? Min-Junie's nap time always means we go for a break or walk. Not look at...papers." I grumble, unable to figure out what the papers are for no matter how  much I tilt my head or squint. Unable to make out what the content of the papers are beyond the legal terminology and mentions of care procedures.

"I'm looking at the new cases we've got in.  Min-Junie is my main focus but it's not uncommon to be assigned more children in our care, especially when his recovery is going so well." She says, patting my hands around her almost absently as she turns the pages, eyes scanning them intently.

"Hmmm...but again. Time for a break? The papers will still be here in twenty minutes time, a quick walk will get you some fresh air, a drink and then we'll be back, baby bear will be sleeping and I can help you!" I offer.

I see the way she relents. Able to read her body posture by now to see the way when her shoulders slump and her back droops, sinking momentarily to rest against me more properly, that she's caving.

"Please~ my shift is shorter so I'll only get to see you when you get back." I wheedle.

And then her ears flick, soft brown curving inwards.

Bingo.

"Fine Hobi...you win. Another random drink off the menu today?" she asks turning to face me, my hands sliding away as she looks up at me, amusement in her eyes, arm stretching down to put down the papers.

"Yup! That's the fun in it all, trying out new things. I never expected the hybrid centre to have such an extensive menu though..." I muse.

She steps around me, giving me a little poke as she moves to check up on Min-Jun, crouching down and her entire posture changes.

It goes soft, curving forward as her fingers card through his hair, lightly trailing to rub at his ears and smiling when all droopy eyed and content, he leans to nuzzle at her wrist, a sleepy scent as she draws the blanket over him with a fond touch, lips curved into a smile as she looks at him.

There's always something so tender with the way she took after children, always something so innately tender and nurturing that I felt the bask of that loving glow seep out, feel it brush against me even now as I watched her allow him to nuzzle sleepily at her wrist, leaving behind an imprint of him on her skin.

And then she's standing up, stepping away, body turning to face the front only at the last moment, eyes lingering on him, as if staying behind to protect him, to look after him even as she goes with me, steps out of the room as a supervisor comes to watch in her place.

It's habit, familiar and comfortable as our stride matches, an automatic action to step to flank her side that faces the more open side of the centre, so she walks close towards the wall, protected and cocooned. And whilst I wouldn't put it past her to notice the action, she never comments on it, nothing but a small smile on her face when I tug her to the inside or when I switch our places around.

"How's uni going? It must be hard balancing your placement year and those lessons you still have to attend." She asks, hands curled around the takeout cup.

(Y/N) was a woman of habit it seemed, the same way her fingers always curled around her cup, the same way in which she took sips, unhurried and slow, between snippets of conversation when she wasn't talking. She always had a habit of searching the space wherever she walked too, a silent scan of the people, of the sessions taking place. Always in search for something and when she didn't find it, her posture would imperceptibly loosen.

And even now as she'd asked, her eyes had done a brief scan of the few workers around us, had come to settle on me now that she was assured that the people weren't unfamiliar or strangers, eyes warm and focused, the weight of her gaze settling over me.

My fingers drum nervously against the cup, somehow feeling the intensity of her knowing gaze even without turning to fully acknowledge it.

"Hobi...are you struggling?" she asks, stilling me and her hand on my arm turning me towards her, silently waiting for me to meet her gaze.

"A little...?" I admit, sounding tentative and uncertain.

But then her hand is giving my arm a small squeeze.

"And that's fine, you don't need to be nervous. What are you struggling with?" she asks, tugging me alongside her, to come to stop at an outside bench, to sit down as she tugs me down beside her. Leg brushing mine as she turns.

"A bit of the written assignments. Like I know what I want to write about, I know how to pick apart details from the prompts and how to help hybrid children, it just...doesn't come out properly." I confess, feeling all at once silly for worrying over it so much but relieved too, relieved that it's not being turned over and over in my mind alone.

It felt too minor, too bothersome to tell Yoongi hyung about, didn't feel like the others could do much about it when it was academic related stress. But somehow it's easy to tell (Y/N), somehow it feels that she can help, that confiding to her didn't make me feel smaller or childish.

And when I look up at her and see the easy warmth, the genuineness of concern flashing in her doe eyes, I feel those thoughts become cemented by truth. 

"It's been a while since I've done uni style reports but they're not too different to how we write up progress files for the children. So if you want...the next time you get an assignment, I'll help you out." She offers with a curve of her lips, eyes sparkling and promising.

Inviting and safe.

"I'd like that. A lot. Thank you (Y/N)." I say, that burden that had been heavily weighing me down, boring down on me now lightening, now uncurling from where it was squeezing me inside, making me crumble over the assignments that kept getting returned as mediocre, no matter how much effort I put in them, no matter how many words I tried to use to word my thoughts.

But now I had help, I had (Y/N) offering to guide me through it. To give up her time to help me through this hitch.

As if she wasn't giving enough anyways. As if the majority of her time wasn't already so invested in always giving, in always helping others. Whether that was Min-Jun, whether that was guiding me when I worked with the other children or whether it was trying to make her presence less 'forced' onto my packmates.

She always gave and gave and gave. And still she was giving. Still she gave once more. With that offer to help.

So it's an immediate response to lean in and draw my arms around her in a giddy hug, fingers tightening around the cup and holding it away from her as I squeeze her to my chest, mumbling thank yous into her hair.

Smile when her arms curl around me, light soothing strokes as her hand drifts from the base of my neck to up and down my spine.

"It won't do to have my sunshine assistant all down would it? Friends help each other." she adds.

Reminding me that her support wasn't because she was my supervisor, or the one helping me to train for this. But as a friend too.

As a friend before and above everything else.

And the same went for her, the same would always go for her.

I'd do everything I could for her.

That and some more too.

-----

"(Y/N) over here! There's no rule that says that paperwork has to be done behind a desk. Do it whilst being comfy!" I urge patting the spot beside me on the soft padded mattress, tugging at cushions to draw close.

Min-Jun had gone for his check up and for his lessons, his nest all tucked up, close to her desk where he liked to sleep, choosing the space on the mattress that was closest to her, instinctively registering her as safe, as a source of security and comfort.

She looks at me from where she'd been gathering the papers, blinking slowly before her face scrunches, a smile making it turn softer and so much more inviting and gentler, broken out of her silent reverie to nod, tucking the papers close to her chest as she walks around, shucking off her shoes to clamber on, feet padding forwards silently to get to me.

Her feet are slightly unsteady on the giving mattress, sinking in and wobbling slightly as she treks forward, my hand shooting out to steady her as her foot catches on one of Min-Jun's stray plushies, body curving forwards when I dart forward to help her, hand gripping her calf and the other her arm, her body curved forward and staring down at me.

"Thanks. I should probably stop buying him so many toys. Or at least get a storage box for them." She says, pink cheeks as she straightens up, regains her balance.

My hand lingers, squeezing her calf as my eyes flash with amusement, leaning back to sink against the cushions.

"You're spoiling the baby~" I trill, even if my heart soars with fondness at her actions, at the way she doesn't even bother to deny it, just settling down into the cushions beside me.

"And so what if I am? If I could spoil each and every child here rather than just the ones in my care then I would. They all deserve every bit of happiness we can give." She answers, wriggling around to get comfortable, tugging at a cushion to nestle against and hand curled around the papers.

"I'm pretty comfy too...just saying." I mumble.

Ears twirling and twitching with happiness when she pauses, reconsiders, and drags the cushion closer to me, nestling into my side so she's curved against me, sides touching as she sinks down, getting comfortable.

"You're right." And shifts, subtly moving closer but not fully reclined into me.

That wouldn't do. And my hand goes to tug her close, tugging at her sleeve until she goes willingly, sinking into me with a knowing smile.

It was moments like this when she curled against my side, tucked close that I wish I could smell her scent, could tell whether she was okay, whether she was as comforted and soothed by it as I was.

But even so, she's content to remain like this, quietly sifting through papers, going through them quietly, pen making small notes on the side, brows furrowed. I lean forward, peering over her shoulder as she sorts them out.

As she places them into piles, drawing the smaller one onto her lap.

"What's the difference between the two?" I ask, leaning over to pick up the larger pile, carefully sifting through them and seeing no photos attached, for protection I figured. Especially if they weren't determined cases or permanent residents at the centre yet.

"These ones are children that'll need more intense caregiving, will need more immediate therapy and counselling. The children who've had some of the most trying experiences in life." she murmurs.

"Am I allowed to look?" I ask, hovering close.

She makes a small sound of agreement.

"Of course. You're working here aren't you? And under me, so technically we're working these together." She says, legs shifting as they brush against me, wriggling close an inch to turn the papers so we're both seeing them properly.

And as I lean in close to read with her, eyes drifting over the details.

I feel a knot begin to wrap around my chest, an ache that settles and grows with intensity, an agony that ripples through my body as I read over her shoulder, read about the details of abuse, malnourishment and neglect.

Read about the description of marks left to be scars on the child's body.

I don't even realise it's begun to pulse out strongly until (Y/N)'s turning to face me, alarm on her face before it softens with understanding.

"Hobi...you...don't read them. Not if they're distressing you." she murmurs, tugging the papers out of my sight, hiding the horrific details from my eyes.

I make a small sound, low in my throat. A hiss that escapes, muted and suppressed.

But enough that she notices, ears stiffening as she registers the sound.

Stiff ears and an achingly soft face.

"It's okay Hobi, we'll help them through it. That's why we take on the cases where everyone else gives up, we don't stop helping, don't stop giving." She whispers gently, hand going to take mine that had curled into a fist to rub her fingers over my knuckles.

Soothing light touches until I stop clenching, uncurling my fingers under her careful ministrations, letting her turn my hand over to rub at where my nails had dug in, thumb brushing back and forth over the reddened lines.

"How do you bear it?" I ask, voice trembling, eyes flashing with the mental images the words had created.

Gritting my teeth to stop a sound from escaping.

"Just because we work with them, doesn't mean we're immune to their pain. We don't bear it, we simply learn to work even if our instincts are a mess." She answers.

My fingers curl around her hand, holding her close.

Wondering and realising maybe for the first time, just how much strength she had, how deep that resolve and determination ran. I saw with fresher eyes just how much she was giving and giving, even if it kept tearing at her instincts, kept pushing her into a constantly heightened need of protectiveness.

Minutes stretch out between us, hands curled together, holding hers in mine, leaning in close to give me comfort, pressed nearly into a seated embrace, body tilting in that I should be able to tell how she's feeling, pheromones clear and unmistakeable. But there's only the sharp bitterness to my own nutty scent, the caramel sweetness gone dark and burnt. Softening and turning back to its sweetness as she slowly helps me, slowly eases me out of those negative thoughts, consumed by the worry and hurt for the children who came through here.

"Hobi do you want to continue? You say no then that's perfectly fine. You say yes then you're holding my hand throughout." She says, lips quirked at the corners even as her doe eyes trail over me, silently searching even if the decision was ultimately mine, even if she didn't take away that choice from me.

My hand squeezes hers.

"Guess I get to keep your hand in mine." I mumble.

The touch brings us physically closer to each other, (Y/N) ends up getting impossibly closer, half her body pressed against mine, leaning against my chest as she brings the papers back, constantly giving small squeezes and light touches of her foot playfully nudging my calf to get me more relaxed as we keep reading.

It feels wrong to compartmentalize the details, to try state them as bullet points when they're more than just a scenario given as an assignment.

When it's actually the matter of someone's life.

But still my mind does. Automatically sifting it to process as information, to try and dull the pain a bit.

Eight years old.

Mute.

Easily startled. Highly on edge and strung up- paranoia and anxiety.

Damaged tail.

An array of marks on their body, puncture marks.

Found on the outskirts of Seoul. Abandoned near houses.

Case was called in.

And (Y/N) stiffens. Stiffens and turns to stone, suddenly cold and ungiving against me, fingers going lax in my hold.

And even if there's no scent to describe it, there's agony and shock and terror that flashes through her frozen figure, see it sear across her features.

Then she's tugging herself away, twisting and wrenching her hand out of my grasp, hand twisting to get free.

"Hobi...Hobi let go." She utters, voice panicked and shot with nerves, authoritative and demanding but also wavering.

My fingers uncurl, her hand snatched away as if it's been burned, but I know it's something else, something more serious and major with the way when she staggers to her feet, they're unsteady, legs trembling as she scampers off the mattress as if something has shaken her to her inner core, shaken her that it's showing in the way her body betrays her.

And she's stumbling, stumbling to hurriedly push her feet into her shoes, rushing out the door on shaky legs without another word, hands fisting the papers she'd been reading as she rushes out. 

It's only a moment of bewilderment before I'm rushing after her, rushing and weaving in and out of the occasional caregiver walking around, around the secretarial staff, hastily yanking her door shut, the beep following me even as I run after her. Chasing after her, at the way her trembles had abated to morph into sheer urgency as she rushes forward, path cleared by the impatience her body transmits, others moving away as she moves towards the administration wing.

I see her rush through a pair of large doors, hands fumbling with the lock before she's disappearing inside and when I move to follow, I'm stopped.

Stopped because it's strict access, higher clearance for the data inside.

And when she emerges after some time, it's with her pallor blanched and a file in her hands, an iron fist with how she holds it.

It's almost unconsciously that she senses me, eyes rising to meet mine.

And in them I see a storm, a flood of emotions and thoughts and instincts clashing fiercely and merging into one.

See that in that moment I see a glimpse of a  (Y/N) I'd never seen before.

Fiercely vengeful and just as terrified.

(Y/N) POV:

Even as I rush away, even as the details of the case file Hobi and I had been examining scream at me, jump out from the page, I still move with a prayer in mind.

For whatever I'm thinking not to be true, for it not be true, pleading and screaming inside that it can't be, it can't be, please let it not be.

And yet when I rush in to get Min-Jun's file, when I rush in and hurriedly search through his growing paperwork to fish out the ones from when he'd been brought to the centre, from when he'd first been submitted, my eyes frantically search for something, search for a particular detail.

There.

Matching symptoms. 

Easily startled. 

Displaying signs of paranoia and anxiety, lashing out at workers, needing sedatives to be put to sleep, to be put through a recovery phase in the infirmary ward before they could be brought to someone, before they could be matched to a caregiver.

Just as Min-Jun had been.

Marks on their body. It was with a sickening lurch to my stomach I remembered with nauseating clarity just how marked Min-Jun had been, how his skin had been a map of mottled blues and purples and reds, skin covered with grime and dirt but when washed had revealed so many marks, so many signs of abuse and manhandling.

And the final thing that drives the nail into the wall.

Found on the outskirts of Seoul. Abandoned near houses.

It seemed too coincidental to overlook, felt too glaringly similar as the words flew out and slammed into me.

Instincts screaming and screeching with unease, with that rolling heavy onset of protective rage and realisation, that this was the same.

This child had been hurt by the same hands, the same circle of people.

It was gut instinct that screamed it to me, told me in an endless stream of words that this was the same, this child was part of the business the traffickers were doing.

And whilst that began to dawn on me so did the horrifying realisation that this child was eight. Eight. Older than Min-Jun, more likely to have endured more too as a result, just as it was likely that this was the life they'd only ever known.

Which meant it'd be harder to rehabilitate them, harder to help them.

But that just made me all the more wanting to help them, all the more to get them away, instincts frantic with the thought of an eight-year-old, mute child unable to ever express their pain, unable to have ever made a sound or cry for help.

And when I stumble out, it's on legs that feel brittle, feel close to snapping at any given moment, n crumbling and caving under me, strength failing.

But I force one foot in front of the other, sheer will and determination to get to the bottom of this pushing me out of the office, hands shaky as I grip the door to shut it, to lock it up once more.

Then feel the weight of a gaze, heavy and worried on me, feel it as if it's a warm blanket trying to cover me, hide me away from everything. And when my eyes rise and land on Hobi, see the protectiveness and worry flash in them, I want nothing more than to be hidden away, to be tucked away from the world and its brutalities, with its mercilessness.

But I can't.

I couldn't back then and I can't right now.

Not when I know that somewhere in the hospital, a child needs attention, needs it and pushes away every other coherent thought and impulse in mind.

Nothing but the word protect, driving itself over and over into my head, pulsing out with every thud of my heart and every breath of air.

I needed to protect.

I needed to see.

And if...if it was confirmed once I'd seen the child. Then I needed to call Namjoon or Jiminie. Needed to tell them that the web of filth and horror had just gotten more entangled, more vicious with the children it preyed on, drew in.

------

It's purely driven need that has me hastening as I move through the centre, feeling Hobi's presence like a shadow, constant and comforting, reminding me I wasn't alone.

But still I force my feet to stop, stop to face him, watch as his face shifts with confusion, surprised when I reach out to gently grip his arm.

"Hobi as much as I want you to come with me, I need you with Min-Jun." I say, voice tight and rolling with heavy authority but also protectiveness.

"But there's something going on. Something serious and (Y/N) why will you do it alone?" he asks, voice slightly vulnerable but eyes flashing with challenge, with that part of him that refuses to back down, refuses to concede to the order.

"I need you with Min-Jun Hoseok, I need someone I trust to be with him. You go back, you stay with Min-Jun until I myself come find you. No-one else, Hobi please." I say, voice softening, pleading and imploring.

My mind was frazzled with the possibility, with the almost certainty that what I feeling, what I was drawing together was true. But I needed to know Min-Jun was safe, I wasn't going to risk putting him into a setback, or trust him with anyone other than Hobi. Other than someone I knew cared for him, would unhesitatingly protect him.

I needed to know one ward was safe before I went to see the other, heart already resolved that I would be the one to help them, I would be the one to begin to try and unravel the damage that quite potentially, could be eight years in the making.

"Taehyung was meant to be coming today, to spend time with me and Min-Jun, but it'll have to be you. Only you two. Don't go beyond the walls of the centre if you're going outside but it's best if you stay inside my office." I say hurriedly, skin prickling with that uncomfortable sensation that time was slipping away, that every precious second that did matter was being lost. Skin tight across my body, crawling with the feeling of the countless eyes of people walking past, of them undoubtedly taking in the scene.

The less that knew the better.

Namjoon's words echoed in my head like thunder, a deep commanding rumble that filled the silence, that took over it.

"(Y/N)..." he begins voice softening, those fiery brown pools turning molten and gentle, the warmth of a hearth in them.

I wait for him to finish, looking at him expectantly, trying to ease the stiffness from my spine.

"Take care. And I'll be waiting for you." he mumbles, tugging me into an abrupt hug, tight and squeezing, a fierce clench as he encases me in his arms, silently and forcefully tells me it'll be okay, banishes away the stiffness by folding me into him, cradling me close.

Safe and protected.

Hidden away from the world even if for a few moments.

I wish I'd known Hobi the first time I'd had to go through something like this. When I wanted nothing more than to hide away from the horror than to confront it, to try and get through it.

The softness of his voice, of his words make me smile. Makes me forget for an instant just why I was so harried, why I was rushing.

Because he arrives, a grounding force in the midst of a storm, he arrives as a beacon of light shattering through the darkness that was swirling around in my mind and he arrives just to tell me he'll be there on the other side. Waiting.

I give myself in to the hug, smile hidden, tucked away against his chest, going to settle there and when I lean away there's a fraction of calm settling over me.

That it would be okay.

Somehow when I'd said it over and over to myself since opening that paper and reading it curled up in him, it had seemed like a lie, echoing in the depths of my mind.

And when he'd implied it. Just the once, it'd settled with assuredness, like the thud of my heart over and over.

It'd be okay. It'd be okay.

And this time it's a mantra, washing over me to bring me calm, to bring me control.

And it rushes around my head as I sign myself in to the infirmary, as I call for clearance to head towards the isolated hospital rooms in the far corner, protected and guarded. Looking after the children inside.

But still those soothing wash of words don't prepare me for when I enter, the smell of medicine, the sounds of beeping, a constant reminder that this was a hospital, that the bed despite its bright covers held a hurting child inside.

Nothing prepared me for the deadness I saw in the blank eyes of an eight-year-old girl staring unseeingly up at the ceiling. Nor for the countless puncture marks dotting her skin, the sensitive reddened skin of her throat, pulse weak and staccato- almost as if somewhere inside, she was losing the will to exist.

And nothing could've prepared me for the way she remained limp even as I stepped close, heartbeat racketing up, a sudden fluctuation that had me freezing in my steps, freezing and stopping me from getting closer.

For that silent cry of anguish I saw flicker through shadowed eyes and lips that wouldn't move, still and pale.

Because I'd entered a hospital room, I'd heard the beeping of the machine monitoring her heart.

And yet it felt like I was looking at a corpse. It felt as if what I was seeing was a husk, an empty shell. A doll, broken and discarded.

And my soul wept for her. Wept and screeched and screamed with the agony I felt looking at her, hot tears prickling the corner of my eyes as my hands curled into fists.

Because someone had done that to her.

Because that someone I knew with a certainty that settled in my bones as I looked over her paperwork, blurred words and merging lines.

That this case was even worse off than         Min-Jun's.

And had filthy trafficker written all over it.

Even if I know she can't respond to me, can't and won't turn to me as I speak, still my mouth parts to form words.

Strangled and hoarse, but full of promise.

"Ji Ah, you're a fierce survivor. And I'm going to help you through this. Whatever it takes."

And whatever it takes begins with checking her vitals, with making sure that the people she's left with are people I've known for years, people who fill form the small circle of protection and security for her once she settles in.

And an aching heart that rages with agony, that burns with fury about another life being torn apart in front of my eyes.

It's hard to pretend to be okay when I walk through the centre, hard to dredge up a smile, when everything inside me thrums with a vicious fierceness, to turn to the other caregivers, to stop and make small talk when there's this restlessness inside me, making my skin itch, making me want to move.

It's this constant feel of anxiousness that has me cutting conversation short, has me silently rushing to find Hobi, heading first to my office.

And when the door unlocks, when I step inside and see three figures huddled close, I sag, energy draining out of me when I see Min-Jun fine.

More than fine.

And giggling where Taehyung had been playing with him, his large hands darting over his squirmy figure, at where Min-Jun had been rolling around to evade his ticklish attack.

Feel the three of them stop to turn to me, see Hobi's eyes silently fill with questions he doesn't word, doesn't voice around Min-Jun, eyes silently trailing over me in a way that feels examining, feels searching. Hunting for a clue.

See the way Taehyung's stripey ears twitch, see the way his excited swish of his tail turns slow and calculated, careful even.

See the way Min-Jun's startled figure melts into happy surprise as he clambers over Taehyung's lap, standing to rush towards me with outstretched arms that he expectantly holds up, peering at me with wide honey eyes.

"Want me to pick you up sweetie?" I ask, voice softening for him.

Always for him. But it sounds forced and strained to my own ears, sounds slightly distant.

But he nods, pushing himself up onto the tips of his toes, bouncing up and down with eagerness.

I bend down to scoop him up, smiling when he latches on immediately, curling around my frame as his legs wind around my torso, arms- chubby and soft around my neck and head going to nuzzle my throat.

Diving in to scent.

It's automatically that my head tilts to the side, angling my neck to him so he can eagerly scent, now more assured, now no longer as frantic as he was enthusiastic as he nosed against my skin, rubbed his scent onto me and constantly searched for me own, constantly chased after the weak scent that lay subdued under the scent blockers. The scent he'd never found but unfazed, hunted for, small growls as he laid a claim and tried to obtain one too.

But it's the first time I feel a heavy intense gaze narrow in to the sight, eyes meeting Taehyung's and surprised by the razor-sharp focus in them, the way his tail curls and his eyes zero in to the sight. Unable to look away from it. It's the first time that the sight of scenting triggers a burst of sweet, ripe berries to pulse weakly, pushing through the scent blockers with just how heavily it seeps out of him. See his eyes flash, lit up with instinctual need too.

And I see Hobi, fond and amused, lightly trail his fingers over Tae's ears, tug him beside him and push a cushion into his hands.

See the way his hands curl around it, long fingers sinking into the cushion as he grips it tight to him, gaze longing and wanting, holding himself back by making do with keeping his hands full.

And like always Min-Jun hums against my neck when he catches trail of the fruity scent from the body wash, always assuming he's found my scent because he gives a final few nuzzles before he's content to just hug, to keep himself close.

"Min-Junie do you want to go to the gardens?" I ask, voice soft, tender.

I hoped he'd say yes. Hoped he'd nod against my neck.

Because I needed to tell Namjoon, needed to tell him that the case was getting messier and that we had another child victim of the case. That this child victim was much, much worse off, much more harshly damaged by whatever had been done to her.

"Mmmm...can I go with tiger? He smells nice." He mumbles, blinking at me with wide soft eyes.

I smile instinctively at him.

At the soft plea.

And the way his eyes drift hopefully to Taehyung, soft brown tail twitching.

I watch as Taehyung beams. A flash of fangs as he gives a boxy smile, discarding the cushion as he bounds to his feet making a beeline for me and Min-Jun.

"Of course! I've heard there's a flower garden." He adds, watching as Min-Jun's face scrunches with exuberance and then he's wriggling to be set down, hopping on the balls of his feet as he tugs at Taehyung's trouser leg, eagerly beckoning him to walk.

His smile is bright and enthusiastic as he lets himself be led out of the office by Min-Jun, reaching to open the door for him, smiling when Min-Jun ducks behind him and eyes the outside, eyes whether it's busy or not.

But when he turns to shoot us a final look, there's a silent knowledge in them.

A knowledge that he knows something's up and that this is a way of getting Min-Jun to leave.

A perceptiveness in his gaze as his eyes drift to me, warm and reassuring to Hobi who he gives a small nod too, a curl of his lips.

And then he's gone.

Vanishing with a baby bear as they head to the gardens.

Leaving me behind with a watchful caracal.

Who's ears curl and twist when I turn to face him, silently waiting, silently apprehensive.

Just seeing Hobi makes something crumple inside, makes all that bravado and wall crack and threaten to fall apart.

Because I want nothing more than to burrow myself close and hide.

Know very well that he'd hold me through it.

But this had only begun.

And it's with weariness heavy in my voice that I lift the papers.

"I need to call Namjoon. We have another trafficking victim from the same circle."

And when I see his face shutter, shock flashing across his features.

I know that today is far from over.

That this mess that had barely begun to be cleaned up and sorted has suddenly been plunged into chaos once more.

JIMIN POV:

I tug at the strands of my hair, a frustration growl slipping out when the eyes we'd planted into the seedier backstreets come back with no new intel. With no new whispers of the trafficking circle we were trying to close in on. 

Hands curling into my hair and tugging, patience slipping slowly and surely. Worn away day by day.

Worn away because Lee Dong Woo didn't have anything to offer. A common lackey, someone low down the ranks with not enough importance to know anything major, to be able to share anything helpful about the case.

Because the lab results of the tracker had come back. Cleverly concealed and disguised hadn't been it's only strength. It had also lead to a dead end, to a manufacturing site that produced too many electronics in mass to be able to figure where small bits of equipment went missing.

And with the endless list of employees, it was too hard to narrow down who it could've been. And still futilely it seemed we clung onto that, still there were a few officers trawling through that list and searching for anyone with motive.

A hand settles on the nape of my neck, squeezing gently, easing out the tension as fingers rub at the tension, at the stiffness, moving to tug my hand away.

"Yanking your hair out won't give us a clue. Otherwise we'd have endless ones with how many times I've been doing that." Joon hyung's voice, soft and yet just as disappointed.

Just as seething with frustration that we constantly seemed to be set on wild goose chases that led to nothing. That we were running in circles and constantly ending up where we'd started.

We were getting nothing.

And the silence, the lack of knowledge and info we had was terrifying.

Because no news was bad news when it came to such major cases.

And this silence. This deafening silence we'd been thrown into this past fortnight or so was making my instincts jittery. Made it unsettled and worried about what was happening, about what we were missing out on.

And then the sharp ringing of a phone cuts me off.

Shatters through the silence that had fallen over the two of us and makes me lift my head from the map I'd been pouring over.

Trying to figure out why it was meaningful that the children that had been found were dropped off where they were.

Trying to figure out if there was any meaning in the random placings of where we'd found Min-Jun and where before him we'd found bodies.

Brutally broken, battered bodies of children.

A growl bubbling low and vicious at the thought.

"Hobi! It's a surprise to hear from...(Y/N)?Is something the matter, you didn't call from your phone?" Joon hyung asks, voice going from surprised to tentative, stance unconsciously straightening and turning broad.

Defensive and on edge.

His fingers curl around his phone, tightening at whatever's being said, lips pressed tight and unable to speak because she's talking, because she's filling him in on something.

"I'll get a car to bring you over. But I need you to stay focused for me, gather what you need..." he murmurs, voice low and soothing, a rumbling tone that's meant to calm and coax. 

But it's clearly not working with the way his brows pinch and his hand splays across the table, trying to remain calm in response to the distress she was emitting.

The thought of her being hurt, being distressed had me shooting up from the chair, moving closer so I could curve my ear close, straining to catch onto sound through the speaker of the phone.

"Hyung what is it?" I ask, voice shot with nerves.

With worry that's something happened.

But surely if she was hurt then she wouldn't be able to call, surely that means she's unharmed. Safe.

But Joon hyung doesn't give any indication of having heard me, eyes narrowed and focused as he listens to her, body stiffening and emitting strong dominant pheromones.

Pulsing out of him as his scent spikes even as he gently murmurs to her, tries to keep her relaxed.

But whilst Joon hyung might have patience, I didn't.

It's a need that drives me to pluck the phone from him, tugging it towards my ear.

It sends him into a flurry of movement as he grabs up the car keys, rushes to tuck his gun into his holster securely, moving towards the door without turning because he knows I'll follow.

"(Y/N) tell me clearly. What's wrong?" I ask.

Trying to be patient.

Trying not to let a flood of questions burst out.

Are you hurt? Did something happen to you? Where's Hobi hyung? Tae? 

Instead, it's a deep level voice that replies.

"Jiminie, I think this is a conversation best done face to face. And away from the centre." Hobi hyung. Voice such a far cry away from the exuberance he always had.

Stiff and professional. Curt too.

It made me wonder if there was someone else in the room, or whether he was dampening down his voice so his emotions didn't bleed out, sounds of slight shuffling as (Y/N) moves, a restlessness I can feel, can imagine clearly even without seeing her.

I take a deep breath.

"One thing I need to know. You're all okay? You, Tae, (Y/N)." I ask.

"We're okay. But everything else isn't." he answers.

My stomach sinks at his answer, plunges all of a sudden. Feet already moving to follow Joon hyung, shutting the door to his office behind me as I rush after him, hastily enter the passenger seat and see him already belted in, hands tight on the steering wheel and engine on.

"We'll be there soon." I promise.

His answering hum is distracted, busy, occupied.

"(Y/N)..." he speaks, voice a low aching murmur of her name.

Soft and devastated.

And then the call gets cut, disconnected.

And I'm left staring at it, hoping for answers that we don't get, looking desperately at it as if it'll unveil the truth, the problem to us.

But it's clear Joon hyung is just as uncertain, just as bewildered. Driven by instinctual need as well as whatever he'd heard in (Y/N)'s voice.

It makes my body feel confined behind the belt, trapped by it.

When I want nothing more than to be there already, to bolt over and ask what's wrong. To make sure she's fine.

Wondering distantly why she didn't call me, why she didn't tell me.

And heart aching for a confusing mix of reasons.

-----

She's stiff. Forcefully so as she gets into the car, arms clutching tightly onto her bag, she's stiff and ungiving even as Hobi hyung murmurs to her, tells us that he and Tae will head back once he's finished his tasks. Stiff but also restless.

And hurting. Hurting even as I undo my belt to clamber into the back beside her, unable to keep myself away, to keep myself still when she'd approached the car with a face forcefully composed and kept together. Legs jittery and feet tapping against the car rug, a jostling of her legs constantly moving with pent up energy.

Couldn't keep myself away when she was stiff as she met our eyes, pain and hurt and terror a searing blaze that scorched us. And when I sat next to her, sat beside her and saw the nervous fiddle of her fingers, winding and clenching into her bag, I knew whatever it was had shaken her to her core, had frazzled her instincts.

My tail swished, brushing back and forth as I silently reached to take her hand, to give it a small squeeze, felt her fingers curl back, saw her attention the entire car journey back to the station remain on my tail. Almost entranced as she followed it's swishing movements, followed the way it curled back and forth and occasionally brushed against the side of her thigh, slowly but surely leaning into the touch, shifting closer rather than away, rather than remaining stiff. Slowly the jitters of her legs eased, came to rest and her leg pressed into the touch of my tail swishing back and forth.

Slowly the ice thawed, chipped away bit by bit and there was an urgency that she tugged me out of the car with, fingers tugging and drawing me out with her, bag drawn over her shoulder as she made a path. Cut through the figures at the station with ease as she navigated her way to the office. There was determination and urgency in the way she moved, those same jittery legs now firm and solid as she cut a path for her, carved it with the way her demeanour demanded it, officers moving to the side, surprise flashing when they saw that her hand impatiently tugged mine, Joon hyung barely a step behind.

And only, only when the door to his office was closed did she slump, momentarily drooping before pushing herself forward. Hand sliding away from mine as she set her bag down and pulled out files. A sheath of them, a wad clutched in her hand.

"(Y/N), will you say now what you wouldn't say over the phone? What's happened? Did someone try something at the centre? Were you followed?" Namjoon hyung asks he follows her, steps close to her to take a closer look at her, ears perked up and stiff- standing to attention as he carefully examines her, trying to see if she's hurt and we somehow missed it.

His questions propel me to hurry forward too, coming to stand on her other side, arm brushing against hers in silent consolation.

"Your office is safe right?" she asks, hedging carefully.

Joon hyung startles for an instant before his scent softens, curls around the two of us.

"Safe. Only the three of us will know what you're going to say." He assures.

Her fingers clutching the papers sets them down.

"We had a set of new cases come in for some children. And...there's one girl, Ji Ah, who's physical state and details surrounding her being found sounds exactly like Min-Jun. Too much like Min-Jun. And...I think...I feel so certain that she's tied into the case. That she'd also been kept by the same traffickers before she was found." She reveals, words rushing out of her, trying to be calm but trembling.

Instinctively, the sight of her distraught stirs up a reaction in the two of us. My hand goes to wind around her, rubbing up and down her arm and Joon hyung's scent turns soothing and protective, pheromones seeping out as he turns to cover her from way of the door.

Unconsciously shielding her.

But at the same time her words keep rushing around my head. The same silence the two of us had been fearing, had been paranoid of had been so suddenly shattered with her news. With the realisation that somehow the traffickers had snuck under the radar and it had ended with this.

"How is she? Ji Ah?" Joon hyung asks.

The timbre of his voice has deepened, close to a growl and I see the way his hand curls around the edge of the desk.

"She's...Namjoon, she's worse than what    Min-Jun was. She's mute too so I don't know how hard it'll be for her to open up and try to heal from her traumas. And she's...so badly marked. She's got puncture marks all over her." (Y/N)'s voice is soft and low, a hushed whisper that reveals horror after horror.

Has my heart tightening and my ears pinning back.

Hurt. Hurt after hurt.

Child after child.

And failure after failure.

"Puncture marks? Like...injections or fangs?" I ask, words having stuck to me.

Turning to face her, a flash of understanding in Joon hyung's eyes.

"There's bruising around some and redness around the others. It could be both. I think she's been injected with several venoms. Whoever did it is playing around with her animal biology." (Y/N) remarks, anger and rage in her voice.

Anger that makes her stand up taller, pushing herself upright as she tugs out the papers.

"Why's that?" I ask. Not sure I even want to know.

Her gaze is nothing short of wrathful and grief, a mixture of the two that yanks at my ever need and impulse, makes me want to get rid of whatever's making her transmit such waves of anger, such hurt that it makes me want to protect. With whatever means necessary.

"Because she's a meerkat hybrid. Because meerkats are immune to venom and someone thought that was a valid reason to try it out on a child. To test her biology by injecting her over and over...the tests have been sent off to give us a clue about what's pumping through her body." And the more she reveals, the more she seems to tense. The more her body stiffens from where I'm holding her, the more it feels like all three of us are falling apart inside.

Trying to keep ourselves together.

"I'm sorry to ask...but how close are you? How many leads have you got right now?" she asks several long minutes later.

Vulnerable and urgent. Needy and hopeful. But also despairing, also slowly and surely submerging in the same pit of grief and depreciation and self-blame.

Eyes steeped with the same restlessness that made my skin itch and crawl with the active need to do something, anything.

And as she awaits an answer, she curls in on herself, fingers distractedly sifting through pages, eyes scanning the map and work we'd left out before getting a call.

Because she is sorry, feels burdened and guilty for asking. And I see it in the way she shrinks when my minty scent sharpens, when Joon hyung's rich earthiness becomes a strong almost unbearable wave.

"It's like searching for a needle in a haystack. It feels like clues are in front of us and I'm incompetent to spot them." Joon hyung admits.

He gets a dig to the ribs for that.

A careful, gentle elbow that barely digs in but the look (Y/N) shoots him is reproachful and chiding.

Uncaring that he's a massive wolf hybrid, broad and tall and standing next to her. Uncaring of how when he'd spoken his face had twisted, a growl slipping out.

Uncaring except it seems dispelling that.

"I didn't say it to make you put yourself down Namjoon. It's not your fault you're dealing with monsters." (Y/N) says.

"But I'm in charge of the case and I'm failing these kids. I failed Min-Jun and I failed Ji Ah now as well...ouch!" he says voice morose.

But this time her elbow doesn't dig in as nicely or as gently.

And his sound of being shocked out of his depreciation makes me crack a small smile.

"Guess I fail too. All the time. Over and over and over again. Guess I'm going to be the biggest failure because I work with Min-Jun all the time and yet I don't have anything to share with..." matter-of-fact and blunt but then trails off.

My hand gives her arm a small squeeze, tail brushing against her calf.

"What is it?" I ask.

Knowing that this silence is a different sort. That this silence is one that her words had trailed off into.

"What are these marks for?" she asks pointing to the map, to where there was red marking every location we'd had cases reported in from.

"They're where we found Min-Jun and where other cases and reports tied in. Why?" Joonie hyung asks, looking slightly nervous as his eyes go to her, tail swishing and moving with pent up nerves.

Worried he was going to get another dig.

It makes my lips twitch.

Maybe all I needed, it turned out, to rein in the big buff wolf when he went off into a depreciating tangent was a fiery fawn.

(Y/N) hums. A small sound, thoughtful and contemplative.

And then she's reaching to pluck out a red marker, adding on where Ji Ah was found.

Head turning this way and that. Tilting to endless angles. A cute frown on her face as she turns her head, thoughtful as she examines it. Hand reaching to twist the map instead, trying to make sense of it.

"There's something awfully similar about their placings. They seem random but at the same time...not." She remarks.

Head still tilted, ears flicking, the soft brown of them twitching as she thinks.

My hand itches to reach out to rub my fingers against them, to marvel at the softness under my touch.

Joon hyung leans in, head curved over her shoulder as he peers at the map, head hovering close to hers. It's clear she senses him, turns to face him and freezes. Wide eyes blinking at him, lashes fluttering as they rise and fall, taking in his curious, intrigued expression.

"Right? There should be some common ground between them but I can't for the life of me figure it out." He muses, turning to look at her and stopping.

Heads tilted close, wide eyes as they both take in the closeness. I watch, endeared, as their cheeks pinken, cheeks dusted with a rosy hue. At the way her breath hitches when he leans to take the marker from her, still hovering over her as he connects the marks, connects them until they're forming a rough circle around the heart of Seoul.

There's a reason behind why all the children were placed on the outskirts. A reason why the suburbs were chosen.

A reason that dangles enticingly in front of us but snatched away just as our hands reach out for it.

"And you're okay? You weren't hurt were you when you called?" Joon hyung asks, voice kept light and trying to not look too flushed when she blinks at him.

"I am. You asked on the phone too Namjoon, but I really am." She reassures.

"It's just...you sounded terrified. You were distraught and I couldn't help you. I wasn't there." He bites out.

Soft alpha wolf Joonie.

"It was...if you'd seen her, you'd know why. But...but I'll head back. I'll start making up a care plan for her. The damage might be worse but I'll give everything into helping her." she says with determination, resolve, that sheer, consuming feeling of hurt being swallowed up by the protectiveness flaring out of her.

And still.

Still I see she's perhaps more torn inside than she's letting on, can sense and see it with the way she keeps shifting her weight from one foot to the other.

I see it.

But Joonie hyung acts on it.

Gentle and careful as he turns to fully face her, marker dropping onto the table.

"I'll drive you back. But if I'm not allowed to be a failure, you're not allowed to drown yourself in working just to make things better." he mumbles.

Arms broad and muscled but daintily folding her into them, gently tugging her into them until she's pressed against his chest, carefully kept safe within them.

His hands are careful like he's afraid of crushing her, of being too firm with her as he cradles her close and loops his head over hers.

She remains still for a few moments before her arms rise, moving to wind around him, shifting closer as her head leans against his chest, tucks herself into his embrace.

"Hmm..." she mumbles.

Though it's a sound more than an agreement, more of a confirmation of his words.

My brows rise at her, mentally making sure to keep checking up on her to make sure she doesn't overwork, that she doesn't push herself to the edge of a very dangerous cliff.

But also smile because it seems as if hyung's already onto her, tail silently swishing. Lips tilted up at the corners.

And somewhere in the midst of a horrifying, brutal situation, the three of us had come together. Were together in this.

And I knew (Y/N) was that extra push, that extra nudge we needed.

So maybe taking her along to the site wouldn't be a bad call at all.

Maybe what we needed was a pair of eyes that weren't trained, weren't of an officer's. What we needed was to see how someone saw the scene without ever having seen it.

Maybe (Y/N) was the key.

(THERE. WE. GO? SO....THIS WAS A LOT MORE PLOT HEAVY AND DIALOGUE HEAVY THAN THE PAST FEW CHAPTERS, THROWN RIGHT BACK INTO THE TRAFFICKER PLOT SO I ONLY HOPE THAT IT WAS A NATURAL FLOW RATHER THAN THROWING YOU ON AND OFF, RATHER THAN IT BEING LIKE SOMETHING RANDOMLY LUGGED IN? AM I MAKING SENSE?? AND Midiiplier MY DARLING...SURPRISE? WELL HOPEFULLY ANYWAYS! *PEEKS OUT*, I HOPE THAT THIS PLOT DRIVEN CHAPTER WAS ENJOYABLE TO READ....? AND!! WE DON'T JUST HAVE MIN-JUN ANYMORE, WE HAVE A NEW BABY TO ADD INTO THE PROTECTION LIST AND SHE'S A LITTLE MEERKAT! THERE'S SO MANY TRAITS I WANT TO PLAY AROUND WITH AND MINIMONI- YOU ARE VERY COMPETENT OFFICERS!! I'LL BE DROPPING CLUES FOR THEM AND THERE'LL BE SOME FOR YOU TOO SO LET'S SEE HOW MANY PICK UP ON IT! THERE'S ACTUALLY ANOTHER SECRET THAT I'VE LEFT HINTS FOR THROUGHOUT THE BOOK SO LET'S SEE WHO NOTES THAT TOO! PLEASE LET ME KNOW HOW IT WAS WHILST I GO HIDE! TAKE CARE, ENJOY AND STAY SAFE LOVES!!)

QUESTION...SOMETHING THAT HAS BECOME A PART OF YOUR NEW NORMAL?

Mine is...this isn't a GOOD part of my new normal but headaches. I actually think I've forgotten how it feels to have a head that isn't aching and throbbing most days. And the odd random days in between WITHOUT a headache seems to be when I'm tired instead. So....a bad thing of my new normal. But a GOOD part of my new normal is that I always start my day with a walk! I get weirdly odd or guilty if I don't know- but that's a habit I'm glad is sticking with this pandemic!

Borahae! 💜💜💜

PurpleQueenie <3