I immediately felt nauseous when I drew up close to the counter. The Outworlders parted before me, like the Red Sea, obviously keeping their distance. I didn't miss the wariness and even borderline hostile skepticism in their eyes.

And who could blame them? There was an arduous divide between Outworlders and humans, now prominent more than ever.

When I reached the man on the counter, for a split moment I swore that the he wasn't breathing. Then I caught sight of the shallowest rise and fall of his chest. Blood oozed from his bronze Marks.

Jimin immediately took the bowl of water from my hands. "Everyone grab a towel." He tossed around the towels I'd brought to the other Outworlders. "Start wiping off this ghastly stuff. I don't know why you didn't think of that already."

"Maybe because we didn't have a convenient faucet and bowl in the back of the car, Jimin," a fiery orange Marked Outworlder snapped, voice tense.

"Sir, how do you know if water will even help?" An Outworlder with soft, Champagne-yellow Marks leaned forward, hesitant to press the damp cloth onto his injured companion's skin.

"Because I've seen this before," Jimin said grimly. He glanced pointedly at me and it clicked.

The way the blood was oozing out from the Marks... it was similar to Jimin's injury from when the superglue had covered his Marks. Except the injuries covering the bronze Marked alien's body were ten times worse.

"Namjoon, do you want to try and take a sample of this substance so we can figure out what the hell it is?" The black Marked extraterrestrial turned to a tall mauve Marked figure beside him.

"I already took a sample from his room the moment we found him," the tall Outworlder replied grimly. "Let's just try and get as much off him as possible."

Silence fell as everyone slowly worked their damp cloths all over his body, starting first where the yellow substance was attached to his actual skin.

A soft groan of agony escaped the bronze Marked Outworlder— I guess his name was Hoseok— though his eyes remained tightly shuttered.

"When was the last time he morphed?" Jimin glanced up at the others.

They all shook their heads, foreheads creased with worry.

"Probably right before he went to bed," one of them muttered.

Jimin cursed. It was already a little after noon. That had to mean the Outworlder hadn't morphed for at least ten hours, maybe more. If the extraterrestrials morphed an average of eight times a day, that meant they morphed about once every three hours.

And that was if they weren't 'exclusively classified'.

"Jimin you need to tell your father about what happened," the cerise Marked Outworlder leaned forward. "He should know what happened."

Jimin didn't answer, however I didn't miss the tick that appeared in his jaw.

Twenty long minutes after everyone had begun attempting to wipe off some of the blood and damaging substance most of Hoseok's skin was cleaned.

"Alright." Jimin stepped back. "Let's get him upstairs into the shower. Yoongi, Jin, you need to help him morph as soon as possible."

I stepped back to allow the others have room to lift Hoseok back in their arms and slowly made their way to the stairs.

I busied myself in the kitchen, trying to ignore the loud clattering and low murmur of worried voices that floated down from the second level of the Sharehouse. I tossed the disgusting towels in the trash and began cleaning up the mess around the house.

Jimin came back down just as I'd finished cleaning the counters. My breath caught at the weariness in his face. He suddenly looked years older than he really was— his shoulders sagged as if someone had plunked a heavy burden between his shoulders.

Before I realized what I was doing, I'd extended my hands towards him. "Come here."

He immediately crossed over and I embraced him tightly in my arms. He rested his head on my shoulder and we stood like that for a few moments in silence.

I was curious of who the Outworlders were and how Jimin knew them all. But one glance at him told me he probably wasn't in the mood to get into detailed introductions. Instead, I opted with a simple, "Is that Outworlder, Hoseok, going to be alright?"

Jimin nodded once against my shoulder. With this proximity I could smell the enticing scent he wore of jasmine and spice. The perfect blend of sweet floral and a sharp kick. Sort of like him, I thought with detached amusement.

"We finally got him to morph temporarily," Jimin murmured against me, clinging tightly to me like a koala. "The boys are planning to take him to the next hospital across town after this since the local hospital turned them down."

I grimaced. I didn't even think hospitals could reject their services. They were a hospital for crying out loud!

"Are you going to go with them?"

Jimin hesitated.

"You should go," I urged gently. "He's your friend."

Jimin exhaled. "I have to go to talk to my father," he replied. "He's in the North City."

I realized I had no clue about Jimin's family. Whether he had siblings. If he got along with his parents. The tension in his shoulders told me enough that he was dreading to meet with his father, whoever this man was.

"You can't... text him?" I frowned.

He slowly shook his head. "He's too busy to just check his phone. Plus, he'll want to talk more than about what happened with Hoseok. I need to give him a full report."

"Full report?" I echoed, confused.

Jimin sighed heavily and pulled away from my shoulder. His arms still remained wrapped tightly around me. "I don't think I've been completely honest with you about myself, partner. There's a lot of things you don't know about me."

I didn't know much about him at all. Even in the weeks we'd literally been living together, Jimin was still an enigma to me. All I really knew was: he was taking a few basic college courses online though he wasn't enrolled full time because he had... 'business' to take care of during the day. And whatever 'business' he took care of during the day kept him away from early morning to early evening.

I'd never questioned what he did. I'd just figured that if he wanted to tell me, he would.

"General Konu."

I blinked at the enigma. "What?"

What did the Infinity Council General of warfare have anything to do with this?

"General Konu," Jimin repeated. "That's my father. And me? I'm one of the military recruiters and trainers of this region."

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