Chapter Text
“Thanks for letting me come over, hyung.”
“No problem, Hobi. You know you’re welcome here anytime.” Seokjin placed a bottle of soju on the table between them. Hoseok had called him asking to come over to help distract his mind from thinking the worst. Jimin hadn’t come home in a week and Hoseok had been so sick with worry that his mind inevitably went to the worst case scenario. To help the younger with his worry, Seokjin offered to let him come to his apartment.
“I just wish I had some sign that he was alright.” Hoseok said as he poured them each a shot.
“I know.” Seokjin agreed.
“It’s like he just vanished,” Hoseok downed his shot, “I try not to let my mind go down the path that leads to dark places, but,” Hobi’s eyes became glassy with unshed tears, “I can’t help but picture him lying in a ditch somewhere and it breaks my heart.”
Seokjin grabbed his friend’s hand across the table and gave it a squeeze. “Hobi, you can’t think like that. We don’t know what’s happened to him. And until we know, thinking the worst will only make us upset.”
He felt guilty that he knew where Jimin was, but had to tell Hoseok that he didn’t. He had to repeat to himself that it was for Jimin’s safety. It was best that no one knew.
“What’s for Jimin’s safety?” Hoseok asked.
“What?” Seokjin asked in turn. Had he accidentally said that part out loud?
“I thought you said something was for Jimin’s safety.”
Seokjin gave him a deer in the headlights look. “Um, nope. Didn’t say anything.”
“Oh,” Hoseok shook his head like he was trying to dispel his own thoughts, “I guess I really should stop assuming the worst. It’s messing with my head.”
‘Phew,' Seokjin thought, ‘It was almost like he read my mind. Just glad I didn’t say any of that out loud. Hobi would kill me if he found out I knew where Jimin was.’
Hoseok stood up abruptly, knocking over the bottle of soju in the process. “You know where Jimin is?!”
Seokjin jumped up and grabbed some paper towels to clean up the mess. “What? No!”
“Yes, you do.” Hoseok didn’t shout. He didn’t have to. His expression spoke volumes enough that he didn’t have to raise his voice. Seokjin knew he was in deep shit, but he still couldn’t tell Hobi the truth. He promised.
“N-no…” Seokjin tried to deny it again.
“Where is he?” Hobi asked sternly through gritted teeth.
‘My house’ was what Seokjin thought, but what he said was, “I don’t know.”
This time, Hoseok did yell. “HE’S AT YOUR HOUSE?!?!”
How the fuck did he hear that? Seokjin knows for a fact that he didn’t say that out loud this time. How was Hoseok hearing his thoughts? What the fuck was happening?
He had to warn Jimin that somehow Hoseok knew.
“Oh no you don’t!” Hoseok jumped at Seokjin as he was reaching for his cell phone. The phone was halfway out of his back pocket when Hobi slapped his hand away. His phone went flying to the floor. They both dove for it, but Hoseok was faster.
“Hobi, give it back!” Seokjin demanded as he stood back up.
“No!” Hoseok dropped the phone and stomped on it as hard as he could.
“What the fuck?!” Seokjin made a grab for the phone and turned to reprimand him for being so mean, but Hoseok was already running down the stairs. There was no way he would be able to catch him.
Damn it!
He picked up his busted phone and was relieved to see that it still turned on. The biggest problem was trying to navigate the phone’s apps without slicing his finger, which he promptly did as soon as he had the thought. It took him twenty minutes to clean the cut, find his antibiotic ointment, wrap his finger in a bandage and then finally get back to his phone to find the right screen showing the number Jimin had contacted him from. He rushed down to the empty restaurant to use the landline. He wasn’t going to trust that the phone would connect in its damaged state.
The phone rang around five times before he heard the line connect with a “Hello?”
“Jimin?”
“Jin-hyung?”
“Jimin, you have to leave. Leave now. I don’t know how he found out, I swear I didn’t say anything.”
“What? Back up a second. Who found out what?”
“Hobi. He’s on his way there. He left twenty minutes ago.”
“What?!?!”
Seokjin could hear Jimin shuffling around and a dull commotion in the background.
“Shit.” Seokjin heard come through the line before it went dead.
He tried calling back multiple times, but no one picked up. He would have to make the trip out to make sure Hoseok didn’t kill Jimin. He still wasn’t sure how Hobi had read his mind, but that was the only explanation as to how he knew.
Seokjin searched for his keys but they weren’t in any of his usual spots he kept them. He spent the next thirty minutes turning his apartment over, but he still couldn’t find them. He was halfway through searching his room again when the realization hit him. The little shit had taken his keys.
He had no choice but to wait for Hoseok to get back. There would be hell to pay when he saw him again.
*** ***
He was going to kill him. Park Jimin was a dead man and he didn’t even know it yet. Hoseok was going to kill him and bring him back. He was allowed one turn.
Hoseok knew it was a little hypocritical to be so angry with his best friend when he had put them through the same worry not but six months ago, but he couldn’t help it. And it was worse! He had only been gone for three days, and it had been out of his control. Being turned by a rogue immortal was not what he would call a vacation. Jimin had been missing for over a week, and come to find out that Seokjin knew about it and was harboring the liar in his own house?!
Hoseok was going to kill him!!!
Swinging the car into Seokjin’s driveway, Hoseok turned the car off and then got out and stomped up to the door. God help Jimin if he really was inside. He raised his fist and banged against the door as hard as he could. Maybe he was using the door to get out some of his aggression, but he didn’t care.
“PARK JIMIN, IF YOU DON’T OPEN THIS DOOR, I SWEAR TO GOD I WILL BREAK IT DOWN!!” Hoseok banged on the door for the second time. He was so incredibly angry. He had been so worried, and even filled out a missing person’s report with the police.
He was about to pound his fist into the door for a third time when it swung open revealing a disheveled Jimin. Hoseok was momentarily stunned that what he had read in Seokjin’s thoughts was true. Jimin was alive and well. The small moment of relief he felt was soon burned away with the rising of his anger.
“I can’t believe you!” Hoseok shouted as he pushed forward, making Jimin back up into the house.
“Hobi, stop shouting.”
“No! After all the shit you gave me six months ago I think I’m entitled to be a little angry right now,” Hoseok slammed the door shut and crossed his arms and leveled a glare at Jimin, “This wasn’t just a measly three days, Jimin! It’s been over a week. A WEEK! I even went to the police!”
“Calm-”
“No! Do not tell me to calm down!”
“Ho-”
“Jimin, I’ve spent a week crying on Yoongi’s shoulder because I thought you were dead in a ditch somewhere!”
“But, Hobi-”
“Only to find out that you were alive and well, and at Jin’s house no less?!?!”
Hoseok took a breath and Jimin saw his chance to intervene, “I had my reasons and if you would stop yelling, I’d tell you!” he yelled to get his point across.
Hoseok put his hands on his hips, “Well, what great reason do you have for lying to me and making me sick with worry?”
Jimin opened his mouth and then promptly shut it. How could he explain everything without revealing what Taehyung and Jungkook were? It wasn’t like he could tell the truth. He told the immortals that he would protect their secret and he meant to keep it. Even if it was from his best friends. Maybe he should stick to the story he gave Jin.
“Well,” Hoseok gestured impatiently, “What’s your excuse? What was soooo important that you had me believing that you were missing for over a week?!”
“Hobi?”
The two of them had been so busy yelling at each other that neither of them noticed when Taehyung came downstairs, followed by Jungkook.
Hoseok turned at the sound of his name and again was momentarily stunned. “Tae?” He then looked behind him to see the other immortal. “Jungkook?”
Jimin looked back and forth between his friend and his lovers. “You know each other?”
“He’s the life mate to another enforcer, our friend Yoongi.” Jungkook answered, still gobsmacked that Hoseok was standing in the middle of the living room.
“Yoongi’s an immortal?!” Jimin asked in shock.
Hoseok whipped around to face his roommate again, “YOU KNOW ABOUT IMMORTALS?!”
“Yes,” Jimin pointed to Taehyung and Jungkook, “Obviously,” he answered snidely.
“Okay, okay,” Taehyung approached the two when he could feel that the yelling was going to start up again, “It would seem that we all need to have a talk. Why don’t I make us some tea and then we can discuss everything.”
Hoseok huffed, then turned to stomp to the kitchen. His anger had cooled somewhat from the surprise of Jungkook and Taehyung’s presence, but he was still going to let Jimin have it for making him so distraught over his disappearance.
Hoseok, Jimin and Jungkook sat in tense silence as Taehyung made a pot of tea. Jimin glanced at his best friend and hated to see him looking so upset, but he had good reasons for not telling him. He wouldn’t have even told Seokjin if they hadn’t been looking for a place to stay for a couple of days.
He was turning his head because Taehyung had brought them their tea, when something caught his attention out of the corner of his eye. He turned to face Hoseok again, and that's when he noticed the gold flecks in his eyes. Hoseok had said that it was just the sun and lights reflecting anytime Jimin had asked. But with Jimin’s new knowledge he could see it for exactly what it was. Hobi’s eyes reflected light just like Jungkook and Taehyung’s did.
“You’re an immortal!” Jimin exclaimed as he quickly stood back up, knocking his chair over.
The looks of shock on all of their faces would have been funny if it were any other time. When Hoseok looked to the other immortals for guidance and the other two nodded, Jimin knew he was right. Everything started to make sense. Hobi’s disappearance, him suddenly having a friend from high school that neither he or Jin had heard about before, and the fact that Hoseok had come back nearly flawless. He’d been turned.
“The three days you went missing six months ago, and the months you spent with Yoongi ‘consoling’ him… It was to cover up the fact that you’d been turned, wasn’t it?”
Hoseok sighed, feeling his anger slip away and turn to exhaustion. He knew there was no way he could lie to Jimin and get away with it. “Yes. I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you before, but they have laws about telling people and I wasn’t allowed to.”
Jimin looked at Taehyung. “This is the same law that you told me about?” When Taehyung nodded, he lost some of his fight. He couldn’t really blame Hoseok anymore than he could blame himself. He too had promised not to tell anyone.
“Please, sit,” Hoseok gestured to the overturned chair. When Jimin had righted the chair and was settled again, he let out another sigh before beginning, “Those three days I was missing, I couldn’t contact you or Jin hyung because I was unconscious.”
“What?” Jimin now looked worried.
“The night I went missing, I was attacked by a rogue immortal. He fed me some of his blood and I was used as a distraction so he could get away. Yoongi and Taehyung took me to the enforcer compound so I could turn somewhere safe and away from mortal eyes.”
“Oh my god! Hobi!” Jimin was up out of his seat again, but this time to press his friend in a bone crushing hug. Had he known that Hoseok had been attacked and was recovering, he wouldn’t have been so mad when he showed back up to their apartment three days later.
Hoseok chuckled. Jimin would forever be their most loving and caring friend. He wrapped his arms around the younger man and would have stayed that way, but then he remembered why he had been mad. He sat back and gave Jimin a semi-annoyed look. “So why exactly were you gone for a week, and how do these two factor in?” He let go of Jimin and turned to take Taehyung’s hand, “Although I am glad to see you alive and well. Your disappearance has caused us no amounts of trouble. Yoongi is being watched like a hawk. But, we can talk about that in a bit.” He turned to Jimin expectantly.
“Well, you see…” Jimin hesitated, not sure on how to say what he needed to say.
“He’s our life mate,” Jungkook offered when he could tell that Jimin didn’t know where to start.
There was a few seconds of silence as Hoseok let those words sink in before he turned to Jungkook with a, “What?!”
“Please,” Taehyung held up his hands, “No more yelling.”
Hoseok looked appropriately apologetic. “Sorry, it’s just… surprising. And what do you mean your life mate? Last time I saw you, you said Taehyung was your life mate.”
“He is,” Jungkook affirmed, “And so is Jimin. Jimin is our life mate.”
“Oh,” Hoseok blinked a few times, trying to piece together what exactly that meant.
“We’re a triad.” Taehyung explained with a bright smile.
“So that means,” Hoseok pointed back and forth between the two immortals who then nodded their heads, “And,” he pointed to Jimin. The immortals, once again, nodded their heads. The silence seemed to stretch as Hoseok tried to process everything, before he jumped up with a happy cry, descending on first Taehyung with hugs, then Jungkook, and last but not least Jimin.
Taehyung laughed, feeling glad that the tense air between the two best friends had been lifted. But he knew he owed Hobi a better explanation. “It’s not just that he’s our life mate, which is a big factor, don’t get me wrong, but Jimin is actually the one who saved my life.”
“What?” Hoseok asked for what had to be the millionth time that night, as he sat back down in his seat.
Taehyung looked to Jungkook, nonverbally asking if he should tell Hoseok all of it. When Jungkook gave him a nod, he began to tell the younger immortal everything. His missing memories, being chased by three rogues, being injured and subsequently saved by Jimin stumbling upon him, asking Jungkook for help, both of them realizing that Jimin was their life mate, and finally finding evidence that Taehyung was innocent.
“When you say you saw it in a dream, what do you mean exactly?” Hoseok asked as they finished telling him what had occurred over the last few days.
“I don’t know how it works, it just happens.” Jimin explained. “Every night, ever since I met those two, I enter my dreams on these three paths. At first, I only noticed the memories on the central path, my path. It was like watching movies, but they were all my memories. Eventually, I saw Taehyung’s memories too, and then last night, Jungkook’s appeared.”
“That is odd, but if you say they were real, and true memories…”
“They were,” Taehyung answered for Jimin, “I saw my memories myself and they were very much true. Stuff that not even Jungkook would have known.”
“Maybe this is how we can clear your name,” Hoseok pondered, “If Jimin will consent to letting the council read his mind, although it may take some doing, they can see what you all have seen and it could mark your innocence.”
“What do you mean it will take some doing?” Jimin asks. “Is it going to hurt? Does reading someone’s mind hurt?” He looked to his lovers for an answer and was reassured when both of them shook their heads.
“Oh.. eh heh,” Hoseok scratched the back of his neck. How was he going to explain this without making his friend upset again? Jimin's brain was something of an enigma to him, Yoongi, and Namjoon. The first time Hoseok read Jimin’s mind, it wasn’t a problem. Neither was it a problem when Yoongi did it either, but every consecutive time after it would get increasingly more difficult to enter his mind. It was like Jimin was building up a tolerance to their intrusions, or an immunity. It was to the point now that Yoongi had to strain to breach Jimin’s mind, and Hoseok was almost no better. Even with his ever growing power to be able to read anyone and everyone. Even older immortals. The only person he still hadn’t been able to crack was Yoongi, as his life mate he would never be able to read him, and Namjoon, but when you’re over three millennia, it goes without saying that you’d have a strong mind.
“What aren’t you telling us?” This time it was Jungkook who asked, his shrewd eyes looked at Hoseok like he was a puzzle to solve.
“Well you see, now don’t get mad Minnie, but you're not exactly the easiest person to read,” Hoseok began to explain. He could see this just confused them more so he continued, “ The first time reading your mind or controlling you-”
“Controlling me?!?” Jimin’s eyes widened to the point of almost being comical.
“Yes, and don’t give me that look, I had to be able to keep you out of my room the first time you found my stash of blood bags. As I was saying,” Hoseok continued on more forcefully this time when Jimin opened his mouth to speak again, “The first time Yoongi, Namjoon, or I ever read your mind, it was like anyone else, easy to slip in and take control.”
“I honestly don’t know how I feel about this conversation.” Jimin interrupted again, looking a little uneasy.
“When exactly did Namjoon ever get the chance to read Jimin?” Jungkook asked directly after.
Hoseok let out a sigh before saying, “If you’ll just let me finish, I’ll answer your questions after,” Hoseok looked to the three of them expectantly and gave a pleased smile when they nodded, “As I was saying, the first time we’ve ever had to read or control Jimin, it wasn’t hard. But, any time after that, it would get harder and harder. It’s like Jimin’s mind starts to build an immunity to the intrusions. Namjoon has a theory that with enough exposure to immortals trying to read his mind, he may very well become immune to all immortal intrusion. So, yes, we might be able to have someone read Jimin’s mind, but I’m not sure how easy it might be. We won’t know until we get him in front of the council.”
“Absolutely not. I don’t want a bunch of stuck up pompous know it alls trying to dig through Jimin’s brain. And what if they can’t get into his mind? What would they do then? Who is to say they won’t try a three on one?” Jungkook looked like he was ready to spit fire when he was done with his tirade.
“We won’t let it come to that,” Hoseok reassured, “You know I’d rather die than to let anyone harm Jimin. But you know that they’ll want to see it for themselves. But the first step is getting him back to Namjoon and Seojoon.”
Jungkook held Hoseok’s gaze for a long while before nodding his head in agreement. He didn’t like the idea, but he couldn’t argue with Hobi’s logic. But he was also going to get some answers before they went off to try and clear Taehyung’s name. “Now, about the whole Namjoon reading Jimin’s mind…” he let his sentence trail off, looking at Hobi expectantly.
Hoseok looked at Jimin for a long while before sighing another heavy sigh. “Do you remember when Yoongi had pushed me away for my safety, and Jiyong ended up finding me anyway?”
“I remember. Joon had made us all split up to try and find you.” Jungkook answered.
“Well, I had been home with my roommate when he found me.”
“That’s right,” Taehyung spoke up, “I remember hyung saying something about taking your roommate home that night when he called to let us know what had happened.”
“Yeah, Jimin is not only my best friend, but has been my roommate for years now.” Hoseok held out his hand and was reassured when Jimin laced his fingers with his. “He was the one that Jiyong had taken control over and had threatened to harm if I didn’t come with him willingly.”
“Why don’t I remember this?” Jimin asked, unsettled by the notion that he couldn’t remember something like someone controlling him and threatening harm to him.
“Namjoon cloaked your memory that night. He was afraid that the memories of something so horrific would scar you, not to mention the fact that we needed to keep our secret, so he buried the memory deep into your mind. He said that Yoongi and I couldn’t ever speak of that night if we were around you or the memory might resurface,” Hoseok gave Jimin’s hand a small squeeze.
“Is there any way to uncloak the memories?” It wasn’t that Jimin wanted to remember something that was obviously a horrible event, but he really didn’t like the thought of someone messing with his mind.
“I’m not sure,” Hoseok answered with a shrug, “I’m still learning about all this stuff myself.”
“There should be a way,” Jungkook intervened, “Sometimes something as small as talking about the event could trigger the memories to return on their own, or an older immortal can lift the cloak off the memories,” He turned to his mortal life mate, “Is that something you want?”
“I…. I’m not sure. I just don’t like the thought that I have memories, a chunk of time in my life, that are missing.” Jimin answered.
“Let's take it one step at a time,” Hoseok offered, “first we have to prove Tae’s innocence, and then we can talk about restoring your memories later. Cause I’ll be honest with you, It's not a time that I like to reminisce about.”
Jimin took a few moments to digest that and realized that Hobi was right. Priority number one was taking care of proving Taehyung’s innocence and making sure he wasn’t going to be put to death. Only then could they talk more about his missing memories.
“Ok. You’re right,” He nodded at his best friend. “So how do we get this ball rolling?”
“First, I’m going to go find Yoongi, cause if anyone will hear me out and not rage at the fact that I know where you guys are, it’s him. He’ll probably know what to do from there. I think it might be best for you guys to lay low and wait here for my call.” Hoseok got up and quickly walked towards the door. He had a mission now and he was keen to see it through as quickly as possible.
Jimin stood up to follow him with a quick, “I’ll see you to your car.”
Hoseok let out a heavy sigh when he reached his car door and then turned and simply opened his arms waiting for his best friend to fall into them. He didn’t have to wait long. He hugged Jimin as tightly as he could. It was good to be able to hug him like this again. He had been so worried when he didn’t come home.
“I missed you Jiminie.” He whispered against the blonde's hair, “Let’s promise to stop scaring each other like this, huh?”
Jimin let out a giggle before letting Hoseok go, “Yeah. Deal.”
“Listen,” Hoseok said after a moment, “I know having a chunk of your memories gone can be confusing, and frustrating. I promise, if you still really want to have those memories back, then we can talk more about it after we have this whole mess figured out. Okay?”
“Ok, hyung.” Jimin gave Hoseok one last hard hug before pushing him towards the car. “Now go. The sooner we get this over with, the better.”
Jimin watched as Hoseok got into the car and drove away. He stood there in the driveway for a good few minutes contemplating what their next moves would be. As he thought of what it would mean for them to stop hiding, an eerie feeling crept up the back of his neck. Like he was being watched.
Jimin looked around, but couldn’t see anything past the tree lines. When a twig snapped off to his right, his heart doubled in speed. He was about to yell for Taehyung and Jungkook, when a brown bunny hopped through the brush and darted across the open patch of grass.
Jimin let out a relieved sigh. All this running had him paranoid. Of all the things to get scared of. But still, as Jimin re-entered the house, the feeling of being watched didn’t leave him. He prayed to whatever god was out there, that Hoseok was able to get to Yoongi and the council quick. He was more than ready to be done with the hiding, running, and paranoia.