Catalyst

Part 10

"Hyung!" Jimin whined and stomped his foot, the carpet absorbing the sound. "I was abducted!" 

Yoongi eyed Jimin skeptically before turning his attention back to me. "Why are you here?"

"Yah! Yoongi!" Jin gave Yoongi a smack upside the head. "We don't speak that way to guests. This is a house of respect!" 

Yoongi rubbed his head while glaring at Jin. "She bought some shit from me earlier today. Her being here is suspicious given the circumstances."

"She's with me, hyung." Jimin was suddenly standing beside me, and wrapped an arm around my waist. With his hand placed on my hip, he roughly pulled me closer to him as if to emphasize his statement.  Was this his way of staking his claim? 

Worry spreading over his beautiful face, Jin asked, "What kind of shit? Yoongi, are you dealing drugs?"

"Ugh, no!" Yoongi dropped onto the nearby plaid couch, and rubbed his face in frustration. "I needed money for rent, so I sold her one of Jimin's leather jackets." 

"You're a monster!" Hobi gasped in horror. 

Jin sat down next to Yoongi on the couch. "Yoongi, if you needed money, you should have told us. We're always here for you." 

Jimin's hand slid from my hip to the small of my back, and he gently guided me to sit with him on the loveseat. 

Namjoon and Hobi disappeared around a corner, and I sat silently next to Jimin while the guys discussed finances and the importance of knowing when to ask for assistance. 

I looked around the living room, taking note of the decor. The matching plaid couch and loveseat had seen better days. The worn brown leather Lay-Z-Boy recliner denoted the bachelor pad status of the home. Framed movie posters adorned the walls, and the flat-screen television was no less than 60". The home looked remarkably clean despite being inhabited solely by men. 

"So, what the hell happened, Jimin?" Yoongi's question pulled me out of the daze I had slipped into. "Hoseok told me something about a science experiment, and that you were with Tae and Kook?" 

I could feel Jimin stiffen beside me. I wasn't sure when he had draped his arm around me, but Jimin's fingers were tightening their grip on my shoulder causing me some mild discomfort. 

The tension was broken by a loud crash followed by what I assume was swearing in Korean. Jin jumped up and ran into the kitchen. 

After some arguing in Korean, Jin came back into the living room and announced we were going to order pizza. 

"We'll talk about the state of things after dinner." Jin gave Yoongi a pointed look, and disappeared back into the kitchen. 

Namjoon walked back into the living room, dejected. He sat down next to Yoongi. Leaning foward, Namjoon rested is head in his hands. "I was just trying to help. I didn't mean to drop it," he muttered. 

Jimin snorted. His grip on my shoulder relaxed, and I took that moment to inch away from him a bit on the loveseat. I tried to be subtle, but accidentally made eye contact with Yoongi while distancing myself from Jimin. 

"How long have you two known eachother?" The smirk on Yoongi's face was arrogant but somehow sexy at the same time. It was almost like he enjoyed seeing me try to put some space between Jimin and myself. 

"About 24 hours?" I looked to Jimin to confirm. He nodded in agreement. 

"Good." Yoongi's smirk transformed into a full fledged grin. His lips pulled up, exposing his gums in the most adorable way. I wanted to pinch his cheeks. So grumpy and squishy!

***

Jimin shared his story in detail while we ate.

Long story short, Jimin had learned that one of the scientists was severely allergic to cats. Up until that point, Jimin had only been able to turn into a squirrel, but he practiced when they weren't actively conducting experiments on him. One day, when he and the scientist were alone in the lab, Jimin managed to turn into a cat and sent the man into an asthma attack. He used that opportunity to snag the scientist's key card, and escape Kronos entirely. Stealing a moped, Jimin rode into the heart of the city before ditching the moped and continuing on foot. He knew where Hobi kept a spare key hidden, and waited for his friend to get home. 

"Why didn't you take Taehyung and Jungkook with you?" Namjoon asked quietly, looking at the floor. 

Jimin's shoulders fell. The guilt on his face was painful to behold. His eyes glistened with the tears he was desperately holding back. 

Gently, I slid my hand into his and gave it a small squeeze. He let out a ragged sigh before making pointed eye contact with each of his friends. 

"I wasn't entirely sure where they were. Looking for them was too risky. So I left." Jimin took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. "I had to get out of there to let you guys know what happened. It was the only way." 

The silence in the living room was thick with emotion. Anger. Fear. Frustration. Dread. Guilt.

Jin walked over to the loveseat where I sat with Jimin. He bent down and embraced the younger man. "You did what you had to do."

Yoongi cleared his throat and rolled his shoulders. 

"Okay. Now what? What's the plan?"