Beast, Blood, & Soul

* 32 *

I stood by watching the work crews carefully seal up the cliffside so that nobody could stumble onto the cave. An entrance was being installed so Bangtan could still go in and a gate was being placed so that nobody else would go near it or the edge of the cliff, which was still unstable.

A golden retriever stood next to me, watching the work progress. An owl was sitting on my shoulder. Or trying to, I should say, the damn bird was heavy and I didn't have a shoulder pad on. I kept having his claws poke me every time he had to rebalance on my smaller shoulder when I moved.

"Knock it off, Hobi. Your claws are sharp." I hiss after his claws poked the back and front of my shoulder. He hooted, nipped my hair, and flew to the nearest tree. Grumbling, I massage my sore shoulder and try to ignore the pang of annoyance and hurt I was getting from Hobi's strand. First time I've felt anything in several days and it's Hobi's hurt feelings. Great. I roll my eyes. I send a loving caress along his strand and I hear a happier hoot from the tree. I'll take that as I'm forgiven. I'm still on time out, but they need reassurance.... Good grief. I just shake my head.

"You're naming the animals?" Ceren asks me as she joins me to watch the work crews.

"Actually, Bangtan already gave them names. I just got to learn what they were. This here is Jimin." I gesture to the golden retriever patting his neck.

Ceren bows her head to the dog, her braids swaying as she bows, "Yes, we met my first night. Nice to finally know your name, Jimin." I smile as she talks to the dog like a person. Of course, he is a person, but she doesn't know that.

Jimin barks to her in recognition. He nudges her leg with his head as a sign of affection. I smile as I see Ceren look alarmed at first, but then beam as the dog charms her. Yeah, Jimin has that effect on people. He charms me regularly.

"Brendan likes to call the owl, J-Hope." She says, I can't help but laugh.

"His real name is Hobi, but I think I like J-Hope better," I grin, I glance over to the tree where the owl has been sitting. I give him a smirk. The owl hoots from his tree. I can almost hear him laughing.

"Aren't these animals supposed to be dangerous?" She asks me, I can see she's a little weirded out by all this.

"Yes, they are poisonous, but as long as they don't drool all over you, and you lick it, you should be fine." I give her a naughty grin.

She laughs and nudges my shoulder, "I'll keep my tongue to myself, thanks."

"That's not what Brendan said," I tease. Her eyes widen at first but then she realizes I'm teasing and she punches me in the said shoulder. I pretend that hurt and we laugh.

A car drives up and Daniel gets out and walks over to us, "The work crews should be done in a couple of days. Hopefully, the fence will keep people safe and away from the cave."

"We may want to put up some sort of camera here so that we can watch the area and make sure nobody tries to climb the fence and risk falling over the cliff," Ceren says.

"Perhaps, I'll check with Bangtan on what they want to do," Daniel says. I exchange a glance with him, knowing that no way do we want anyone seeing Bangtan using this place. If there is going to be any CCTV coverage, only Bangtan would have access.

"Also, the big family reunion campout that is happening in 2 weeks is all confirmed," he says.

"Are you excited to see family?" I ask. This campout was a yearly tradition for the Kim Foundation so they could check on Bangtan and just spend time together. Everyone thought it was just a big family campout for Daniel's family each year. They had no clue it was their biggest backers.