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The time always went so quickly. Soon Jungkook would need to eat another meal, and currently there was no food at all in my house; I planned to rectify that in the near future. Time to return to the human world. As long as we were together, it was not a burden but a joy. So a meal, a little while to soak up his nearness, and then I'd have to leave him. I expected he would want to talk to Jaewoo alone before my introduction.
But as soon as I turned onto his street, it was clear that my expectations for the afternoon were thwarted. A 1987 Ford Tempo that had seen better days was parked in Jaewoo's usual spot. And under the meager protection of the porch roof, a boy stood behind a man in a wheelchair.
Jungkook beat him home, the old man thought. That's unfortunate.
Hey, it's Jungkook! The boy's thoughts were much more enthusiastic.
I could think of only one reason that Minho Kim would be unhappy to see Jungkook arrive before his father. And that reason involved a broken treaty. I would have confirmation soon enough; Minho hadn't seen me yet.
"Has he forgotten who the treaty actually protects?" I hissed.
Jungkook glanced up at me, confused, though I doubted I'd spoken slowly enough for my words to be intelligible.
Minghyu saw me in the driver's seat just a second before Minho did. Him again. So Jungkook must be dating him. Or could they just be best buds? Naw, they're probably dating. His enthusiasm vanished.
NO! Minho's thought was a shout, and then a mental groan. No. I heard his half-articulated fears-should he tell his son to run? Was it already too late? And then his guilt. How did it know?
I saw that I was right, that this visit was no innocent social call. Parking the truck against the curb, I locked eyes with the frightened man.
"This is crossing the line." I enunciated clearly this time. I hoped he could read my lips.
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Jungkook understood immediately. "He came to warn Jaewoo?" He sounded horrified by the idea.
I nodded, not breaking away from Minho's stare. After a second more, he looked down.
