Tomorrow│YM

[04] Oedipus

"Are you going to pet her or not?" Steve whined, growing impatient with the pair as they stared each other down.

Jimin bit his lip. He didn't have a plan to get Yoongi out, all he had was the goal. He didn't want to upset the cat either. At a loss, he lifted his hand slowly towards the hybrid's ear, stopping about an inch away. The cat's eyes flashed a myriad of emotions at once; suspicion, panic, desperation and... hope?

Jimin could have been wrong, but he thought he felt a sort of cautious hope emanating from the cat.

His hunch was confirmed when the hybrid tilted his head and leaned forward, touching the tip of his ear to the palm of Jimin's hand. It was the validation the human needed to quell his doubts.

Jimin gently ran his fingers over the shell of the cat's ear, a genuine smile forming on his lips. "Wow," he breathed, the fur was even softer than he imagined.

Yoongi gasped at the contact, too quiet for Steve to hear. But Jimin heard and it was music to his ears. His stomach churned with an unfamiliar fluttering feeling. Was he going to be sick?

The puffed up fur of Yoongi's tail settled, and the appendage's staccato movements smoothed into a graceful swish. His eyes remained locked on Jimin, communicating a swath of emotions that the human could barely decipher.

"See?" Steve boasted, rudely interrupting their moment. "Shit's soft as hell, isn't it."

Fucking Steve. How was Jimin going to deal with this invalid?

"How long have you had him?" Jimin stalled.

As soon as he finished his sentence, he knew that he messed up. Yoongi's eyes widened in surprise, while Steve's manner soured considerably. Fuck.

"I've had her since I was a kid." Steve gritted. "As you've heard my mother was always away on business trips, so she bought me a pretty kitty to keep me company."

A lifetime. Yoongi had been with this fucking animal for a lifetime. The thought twisted Jimin's stomach in knots. He dropped his hand from the hybrid's ear and closed his eyes, taking a deep shuddering breath.

His coat pocket started to buzz, startling him. Jimin stepped back and pulled out his phone, exhaling when he read the name of the caller. He lifted the phone to his ear.

"Hi, Tae."

"I know it's early but I couldn't wait-"

"It's okay. You should come pick me up," Jimin soothed, ignoring the way Steve's mouth popped open in silent protest.

"Good, cuz I'm about to pull up."

Jimin bit back a relieved smile and lowered the phone to his shoulder. "He happened to be in the neighbourhood. He's gunna be here in a second," he bullshitted, watching Steve grow visibly upset again.

On cue, the headlights of Taehyung's royal blue Kia lit up the living room as it pulled into the driveway. Car left running, a tall silhouette cast a quick moving shadow on them as Jimin's best friend sprinted around the car and up the stairs.

Yoongi flinched at the frantic knock.

Steve growled. "You fucking texted your precious loverboy to pick you up, didn't you?" he snarled, advancing on Jimin. He looked halfway deranged, but the blond anticipated the turn.

Steve was a jealous fuck, too.

"No, my friend was worried when I told him I was kidnapped by a crazy person and came here of his own volition, asshole." Jimin spat, confidence boosted by knowing Taehyung was just a few wood studs and sheets of plaster away. He slipped his phone back into his pocket and slowly backed up, drawing Steve further from the hybrid.

"I didn't kidnap you, you melodramatic slut-"

"OPEN UP!" Taehyung's angry voice carried over another bout of furious knocking. "I WILL BREAK THIS BITCH DOWN, I DON'T GIVE A FUCK!"

Frankly, Jimin didn't care what Steve called him. All he cared about was getting Yoongi out of there. So his following words were calculated, down to the inflection.

"Don't you fucking call me that you pathetic piece of shit." he sneered, "No amount of mommy issues will ever excuse your pitiful husk of a personality, you fucking psycho!"

That struck a nerve. Steve's face flushed with anger. He lunged forward and snatched Jimin's wrist in an iron grip.

Jimin stood his ground. He could see Yoongi hesitating over the seething man's shoulder, raising a hand as he inched forward and then dropping it. The human understood the situation was not cut and dry for the cat. Steve was his owner and the hybrid had been dependent on him his entire life, even if the man was an abusive jackass. Somehow, he needed to convince Yoongi to make a run for it.

The door rattled violently, followed by Taehyung cursing. "I'M NOT FUCKING KIDDING, I WILL DESTROY THIS TACKY ASS DOOR IF YOU DON'T LET ME IN!"

THUMP!

Jimin suppressed a smirk at the sound of his friend kicking the door. His soulmate was nothing if not loyal to a fault.

The desire to smile quickly evaporated when Steve's grip tightened enough to bruise. Jimin tried to yank his arm away but his hold was too strong. "Don't fucking touch me you nasty son of a bitch!" he fumed as Steve squeezed even harder. "Here I thought you were just another kinky perve but no, you're a full-on sadistic degenerate, aren't you?"

THUMP!

Jimin paused his tongue-lashing to assess the reaction. To his disappointment, Steve only gritted his teeth and glared. Yoongi remained a few feet back, ears lowered and tail twitching. Clearly Jimin hadn't found the jugular. Maybe it was time to go Psychology 101 on this ass.

"Let me go, you sick fuck! Find a new sex toy to tolerate your Oedipus complex, mother-fucker!"

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the hybrid's lips quirk into the smallest shadow of a smirk. Jimin whimpered when he felt nails pierce his skin.

"THAT'S IT! DON'T SAY I DIDN'T WARN YOU!" screeched a raging Taehyung. "JUNGKOOK, GET THE CROWBAR FROM THE TRUNK."

Steve expelled a frustrated grunt and rolled his eyes. "Get the door before the bitch breaks a nail," he barked.

The hybrid left the room immediately. Jimin prayed that his strategy was working; that getting the cat to the front door was progress. Steve's grip on him loosened, but not by much.

He heard the latch click and then a gasp. "Holy shit, a hybrid!"

And then he kneed Steve in the groin.