The Hunt

68

"Did you find out anything new, hyung? Did Hyukmin recognize the woman from the video?" Jungkook eagerly questioned the older male.

Yoongi settled into the arm chair, taking his time to make himself comfortable, all while grinning so wide his gums were exposed.

"Ah, Jungkook-ah," Yoongi began, his tone indicating how much he was enjoying keeping everyone in suspense. "You stress about things too much."

I scoffed at his remark along with a few of the living room's other inhabitants.

"Get on with it, Yoongi," Sarah muttered and rolled her eyes.

Stretching his arms up, Yoongi brought them down to rest behind his head. "To answer your question, Jungkook, yes, we did find out some new information. Turns out some lower ranking Council members are causing some problems. They are wanting to overthrow the top tier Council members who they think have become lackadaisical. Their first target being Choi SeungHui. These 'rebels', and I use that term loosely, are wanting the Council to crack down on human/hybrid relations and eliminate Hunters."

"Who are these people exactly? Do we have names?" Namjoon asked.

"Are they behind JiHoon's death?" Jimin's voice was calm and even, but still heavy with anger.

Jin sat up straighter in his seat and directed his focus on Jimin. "We don't know that for sure. Hyukmin spoke with some of his colleagues who had been hired for jobs to rough people up. It's possible that they were behind it, or," Jin glanced at Yoongi who's gummy grin had fallen from his face completely. "Or, they may have been motivated by what happened and saw it as their opportunity to strike and carry out their agenda."

The room was quiet as Jin's words sunk in.

It seemed as if we were just running in circles. The feeling of progress always seemed to be followed by arriving back at square one.

I glanced around at the others, but they all seemed to be averting their gaze. Looking anywhere but Jimin's direction. I couldn't blame them. He was radiating frustration.

Jungkook cleared his throat, and quietly asked, "What about the woman from the video? Did Hyukmin recognize her?"

Yoongi nodded. "He did. She's also a contractor. Your cousin doesn't know her personally, but he's going to check around and see if anyone has her contact information."

"Good," Jungkook said and everyone nodded in agreement.

That's promising. Maybe she knows who hired her?

"So, it was definitely a hit then." Jimin's shoulders slumped a little, and so did my heart.

I leaned closer to Jimin, took his hand in both of mine, and rested my head on his shoulder in hopes that it might comfort him.

He sighed and placed his other hand on top of both of mine and gave them a gentle squeeze.

When no one responded, Jimin continued.

"There is a group who is actively trying to punish those who partake in human/hybrid relationships and Hunters, and they might have something to do with JiHoon's murder. But they could also just be opportunists seizing the chance to make their move on the Council and gain some power."

There were a few hums of agreement, none of which were very enthusiastic.

Jimin pressed on. "And we are now trying to track down the person who actually stabbed JiHoon and slit his throat, in hopes that we can find out who hired her?" Jimin paused and looked at each of his friends for a few seconds. "I just want to make sure I'm following correctly."

"Yeah," Yoongi said making eye contact with Jimin. "That pretty much sums it up."

Hoseok let out a small chuckle which gained the attention of everyone in the room. Noticing that all eyes were on him, he shifted in his seat. With an apologetic look on his face, he began, "It's like we take one step forward and two steps back. It's not really funny. I shouldn't have laughed."

"Right," Jimin stood up, separating our hands in the process. "I'm going to turn in for the night."

"But it's not even 8:00?" Taehyung turned the screen of his phone to show Jimin the time.

Jimin shrugged, "I don't care."

He paused just before turning the corner to head downstairs.

"Are you coming, Waffles?"