Guardian

4

Yoongi's friends were nice, if a bit excitable. Namjoon had to admit that the only ulterior motive they had was to draw Jimin into their group.

That didn't stop him from glaring every time Taehyung opened his mouth.

Taehyung was clearly used to talking, and within the space of an hour Namjoon knew too much about him, from his major to his powers (yes, he read minds), to his relationship with Jeongguk, the quiet young man who kept trying to get Namjoon to sit in his lap.

It would be all too easy for him to expose Namjoon by accident. And when it came to humans and mind-readers, Namjoon no longer believed in accidents.

So while Jimin relaxed and began to laugh and talk, Namjoon paced the house, checking for exits and wondering when he could leave, whether Taehyung was hiding anything in the rooms on the upper level.

"What's your real name?"

Namjoon spun from his position on the kitchen counter, one leg dipping off the edge before he caught his balance. Taehyung stood on the other side of the kitchen, watching him cautiously.

"What's your real name?" Taehyung repeated. "Jimin calls you kitty, but that can't be--"

Namjoon, Namjoon thought, sitting down and wrapping his tail around his legs. What do you want?

"Why doesn't Jimin know what you are?" Taehyung asked. "He's got no idea-- why?"

I haven't been human in years, Namjoon thought with a shudder. And I won't be one anytime soon. He doesn't need to know.

"But that's lying."

Namjoon winced, looking away. I can assure you he would prefer to see me as a cat, he thought. He has enough trouble with humans as it is.

"But won't this make it--"

"Tae? Why are you talking to the cat?"

Jeongguk. Namjoon turned, glaring at Taehyung. Taehyung, in turn, glanced at his boyfriend, shrugging sheepishly. "No reason," he said.

Namjoon swore he saw his eye twitch. Had Taehyung not mentioned a second skill? They weren't rare, but among mind-readers second skills were downright obnoxious. Could Taehyung project his thoughts?

Taehyung let Jeongguk shepherd him back into the main room, but he glanced back at Namjoon as he did so, confusion plain to see on his face.

Namjoon told himself he didn't care. He didn't owe anyone an explanation. Cautiously, he leapt down from the counter and wandered back out of the kitchen, straight into Jimin's lap.

Here was somewhere he could be comfortable.

"When did you meet him?" Taehyung asked.

"Huh?" Jimin said, looking up. His hand, which had been dragging slowly through Namjoon's fur, paused. "You mean him?"

"Yeah," Taehyung said. "You look really close."

Namjoon forced himself to stay still. I hate you, he thought. When Jimin didn't move, he sat up, turning around in his lap and noting with satisfaction that Taehyung's ears had turned bright red.

"Hmm... he just wandered around my house a couple days after I moved in," Jimin said. "I guess I disturbed his haunt or something. But he kept coming back."

Namjoon remembered. He closed his eyes, purring as Jimin's hands returned to petting him. That had been one of the quietest, most peaceful days of his life. He had known that day that he wanted to be by Jimin's side. The comfort Jimin lived and breathed was everything Namjoon had been missing every year of his life.

Besides, Jimin was an angel.

"He was cautious at first," Jimin said, trailing a hand over the top of Namjoon's head and down his back. "But he showed up soaking wet in a rainstorm one day and I knew he was different from the other cats."

Now Namjoon wanted to bury himself. Different from the other cats? What a joke. Namjoon was a cat, just like the other cats. That day had just been harder than most. And Jimin had helped him, let him inside, given him free reign of his warm blanket-covered house without grumbling about the mud in his fur or his startled yowling when he picked him up for the first time. Namjoon still regretted the scratch he gave him.

"He's different all right," Yoongi said. "Following his human to a stranger's house? I've never heard of a cat doing that."

Oops.

This time Taehyung stifled a laugh. Namjoon heard Jeongguk grumble 'what?', but Taehyung didn't answer, and Namjoon refused to move. Eventually his laughter died down, and silence fell on the room.

"I guess I should go," Jimin said quietly, glancing at the clock. "It's late."

"Want me to walk you home?" Yoongi asked.

"We'll be fine," Jimin said, smiling and cradling Namjoon in his arms as he stood. "It's not a bad neighborhood. I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Yeah," Yoongi said, sharing another soft smile with him. "Tomorrow." 

Boo.

Thank you for always being so patient with me! I'm glad I was able to get this update in. Life has been a headache lately. Writing really does help me cope.