The Hunt

18

Dinner was strangely normal. 

It had been a couple years since I had spent any significant amount of time with several other hybrids, and I was surprised at how comfortable I felt with this group. I still didn't trust them enough to let my guard down, but I believed they were not an imminent threat. 

"You're not full Korean, right?" Taehyung regarded me from across the table, his sudden question catching everyone off-guard. 

"No, I am not." I smiled at Taehyung, and continued, "My mother is a little bit of everything, but mostly Scandinavian. Her family owns a large pharmaceutical company in the US. My grandfathers met at an international medical conference and bonded over both being wolves." 

"So they agreed to combine the families and businesses with a marriage?" Namjoon asked. 

I set my utensils down and leaned against the back of my chair. "Kind of. They mostly just own stocks in each other's businesses. It would be a conflict of interest for the hospital owner to also be in the business of developing pharmaceuticals. But my American grandpa's company doesn't import to Korea, so Grandpa Choi owning stock in that company isn't as frowned upon. It's all a little complicated."

I was met with a chorus of hums and nods as most of the men took their final bites of dinner. 

"Oh! I almost forgot dessert!" Jin jumped up from his seat and rushed over to the kitchen island. He walked back and proudly deposited a platter holding a perfect-looking 2-tier chocolate cake topped with strawberries in the center of the dining table. He then went back for smaller, dessert plates and clean forks. 

"Hyung, you spoil us!" Jungkook laughed and leaned forward to cut a piece. Jin smacked his hand away. 

"I'll serve," Jin said, scolding Jungkook. "You cut the pieces way too big last time."

Jin carefully cut the cake in half, then cut one of the halves into eight equal pieces. He handed me the first slice. The cake appeared to have whipped cream between the layers and was slowly oozing caramel. 

I took a bite once Jin sat down with his own plate. 

"Jin, this is amazing!" I exclaimed before scooping up another forkful. 

"Thank you, Waffles! It's Better Than Sex." 

I choked a little. 

"Well, I wouldn't go that far..." I mumbled, earning a snort from Yoongi, who was sitting next to me. 

"Oh, no," Jin chuckled. "It's my take on Better Than Sex Cake. That's the name." 

I laughed, hoping it would hide my embarrassment. "Well, it's delicious."

"Thank you." 

Jungkook finished his cake first and started clearing the table. Taehyung joined him, while the others remained seated. 

"They're on clean up duty," Namjoon explained. Nodding to Jimin, he asked, "How did it go today?"

Jimin leaned back in his chair and ran both hands through his hair before letting out a groan. 

Namjoon glanced over to me, then turned his attention back to Jimin. "So, not well I take it?" 

"She didn't find anything in the alley. Something about 'residual scent' being too strong-"

"That's not quite what I said, but sure," I couldn't help but interrupt when he was talking about me like I wasn't there. 

Jimin shot me a hard glare. "So we came back to check out the surveillance footage from the night of the murder. Y/n noticed some stickers on the back of the car, one for our university and the other for Danish Bros., that coffee shop chain. It's possible the hunter has ties to campus, so we all need to be more careful at school. And we should check out the coffee shop, too." 

"Good work, Y/n!" Namjoon said. The others nodded in approval. 

I was stunned. I wasn't used to receiving praise, let alone credit when I did something right. Not knowing how to react appropriately, I lowered my head so the men couldn't see that I was blushing. 

"Thank you." 

"So, tomorrow we'll check out the coffee shop." Jimin stated and motioned to me. "I only have one class tomorrow, so we can both camp out at the coffee shop like we're working on a project. The rest of you guys can stop in between classes."

"Hopefully the hunter either works there or is a regular," Hoseok said and the others agreed. 

"I hope they have good pastries," Jin mused.