After much consideration and research between the eight of you, you determined that Jimin was an Black Panther hybrid. The low, rumbling growl he had released was identical to videos of the panthers you had found online, as was the tremendous roar that had almost shaken the foundations of your house.

Yoongi was a tiger, but it was difficult to determine which species. You personally believed he was mixed with an Indo-Chinese tiger. They were smaller compared to most tigers and reclusive, still a mystery to a lot of scientists.

If anything, that sounded exactly like Yoongi to you.

Jungkook's fluffy tail and long ears explained his cotton-tailed rabbit origin to the tee. He really hadn't change much, considering his cute little smile already made him look like a rabbit. The ears simply fit his personality, perfectly accenting his nose scrunches and teeth.

After breakfast (during which Jungkook had adopted a sudden craving for carrots and eaten all of the orange vegetables that you had) the other boys left, satisfied that Jimin was healthy and you were still sane.

You cleaned the now quiet kitchen while Jimin napped curled up in the window, then the two of you headed back upstairs with the missing school assignments Jin had been sure to deliver to you. You shook your head at Jimin in exasperation when he just collapsed on your bed and went back to sleep.

What was with all of the naps?

You finished up your homework, making some notes for Jimin on the side since he had trouble understanding sometimes. At a loss for what to do, you turned to look at your room. You observed your friend snoozing, curled up in a little ball under the the covers.

You couldn't help but think that a panther was a good animal to reflect Jimin. The way he moved was so smooth and graceful, especially when he danced, and he almost appeared feline at times. He was built slim and toned like a cat, and his chubby cheeks somehow managed to capture the playful side of the animal too. The eyes fit him.

Thinking back to the first time you saw those slitted neon eyes instead of his pretty brown ones, you shivered. Most of the time Jimin tended to smile a lot, but when he did get serious his eyes grew dark and focused, steady gaze locked on whatever made him like that. The slanted black pupils and electric irises only magnified the intensity.

You also loved the stark color contrast between his light hair and dark ears. Although his natural color was black and the ears would probably blend in well, you like seeing the dark ebony of his ears disappear into the soft blonde fluff on his head.

A soft breath huffed out of Jimin's mouth. His chest and shoulders lifted and fell with the rhythm of his sleep.

Lazy.

It was mid-afternoon because the homework had taken you a while, but you had no desire to be productive the rest of the day. You flopped back on the bed, not caring that your movement had disturbed your sleeping friend.

He grumbled and swatted at you.

"What?" you mumbled. "It's not like you need anymore sleep. You've been sleeping all day!"

Jimin rolled over to face you. "Aw. Is my Muffin feeling neglected?"

"Bored," you corrected.

At that moment, you noticed it.

A musky, wonderful smell drifted through the air, catching your attention. You sniffed deeply and inhaled a breath of the gorgeous scent.

What was that?

You sniffed again, tilting your head towards the strongest source of the scent. Was that...Jimin?

You sneakily rolled closer to him, inhaling again. Sure enough, the smell was stronger and radiating off of him.

Jimin noticed your attention. "What is it?"

You blushed. "N-nothing. You stink. Go take a shower."

Frowning, he lifted his arm and sniffed himself. You could see the confusion in his face. "I don't smell anything."

"Well, I do!" You tried to cover up your embarrassment with false bravado, puffing your chest out and giving him a superior look. "Go shower!"

Rolling his eyes, Jimin finally stood and glared at you. "Fine, but only because I didn't take one last night. I do not smell bad." He sulked out of the room without another comment.

You exhaled in relief.

Why on earth were you suddenly reacting like this? You quickly delivered a small slap to your cheek. What am I doing?

Friends. Friends. Friends. Jimin and I are best friends for eternity.

You kept repeating that sentence to yourself, reminding your brain, body, and emotions.

Just friends, only friends, you only think of him as-

A loud yowl interrupted you from your thoughts, making you jump.

Jimin.

You jumped up from your bed, moving almost faster than your legs could carry you down the hall. You busted through the bathroom door, looking for whatever intruder or monster was attacking your friend.

The yell that was about to leave your throat got stuck there. You froze, observing the scene before you with confusion.

Jimin was half-sitting, half-crouching on the toilet, hissing. The shower was running, letting steam out all over the bathroom. A towel was tied around his waist and his chest was bare; his black ears were dripping water. You could see the fading bruise on his abs in plain view, still an ugly purplish-yellow. Pointy white canines were revealed by his lips, which were curled back to bare his teeth in a snarl. He looked like a strange mixture of furious big cat and frightened house cat.

You took a cautious step into the room.

"Chim?"

The sound of your voice pushed Jimin out of his trance. He was instantly up, shooting past you and out of the room like a bullet.

"Chim!" you called in concern, racing after him. You chased him into your bedroom where he dived under the blankets on your bed. He curled up their in a trembling lump.

Slowly, you approached the quivering bump in your bed. You sat next to it.

"Jimin? you said softly, rubbing a comforting hand over what you assumed to be his shoulder.

A pair of drenched black ears peeked out from underneath the covers, swiveling in your direction. I'm listening, they seemed to say.

"What happened?" you said to him. "Are you okay?"

Jimin slowly emerged, looking at you with wide yellow eyes. His expression was so innocent and child-like that you inhaled.

"The water," he whimpered. "I don't wanna take a shower."

Whoa. You think your heart just melted into a pile of mush at the bottom of your ribcage.

Escape.

"One second," you mumbled, leaving him. You hurried back down the hall and turned the shower off, thinking. It made sense that a cat wouldn't like water, but he had to bathe somehow! You were not going to let that boy in your house if he stopped showering, no matter how cute he was.

You stared at the bathtub, considering your options. Maybe a bath? If he used a cup of water to wash his hair...

Was it only his ears and tail getting wet that made him not like it?

You jumped when a chin settled on your shoulder from behind and hands settled on your hips. You turned your head to the side, lips almost meeting Jimin's cheek.

He was glaring at the water in distrust. "I don't like it," he said pitifully.

"No, it's good that we found this phobia." You absently scratched at his ears as you spoke.

"We have to figure out a way for you to bathe. Do you think you could handle a bath?"

His body shuddered against your back. "I don't know..."

Turning to face him, you wrapped your arms around his waist in a comforting hug.

"It's okay, Chim, I'm not making you get in. Okay? We'll figure something out later." When you squeezed his waist, he hissed in pain.

You instantly jumped back. He winced and put a hand to the bruise on his stomach, rubbing a little.

"It still hurts," he whined. "Muffin..."

You leaned closer to inspect the bruise, worried that it might actually be a cracked rib or something worse. You traced around his skin, feeling for any lump of indication.

"I don't think there's anything we can do. I can get you some medicine but that's it," you said. Suddenly, you realized that Jimin was shirtless and the only clothing he had on was a flimsy towel that was loosening and sliding further down his waist by the second.

You also realized that you were basically feeling him up and tracing his abs.

You didn't know why you started blushing- you and Jimin even bathed together when you were young and you had seen him without a shirt billions of times.

But this time, everything seemed new: the new heat drifting in waves off of his skin, the new heavenly smell that radiated from every inch of him, the new tail that, unbeknownst to Jimin, was flicking and rubbing pleasantly against the back of your calf.

It made your head dizzy.

Jimin wasn't helping as he leaned in and wrapped his strong arms around your waist and snuggled his nose into your neck.

"You always take care of me, Muffin," he said. "Thank you."

Out. You had to get out of his embrace before your dysfunctional brain did something crazy like decide to move your body to place your lips against his skin.

You slipped out his arms like an eel, patting his shoulder. "Yeah, you're welcome. Now go put a shirt on and meet me in the kitchen. I have medicine for you."

___________________________

"Sir, you need to see this."

The man's hand was vibrating with excitement as he rushed into the office, placing a file on his boss's desk.

The boss turned his chair slowly to face the man, looking at him with dangerously narrowed eyes.

"You know I don't like to be disturbed without warning," he said in a cold voice.

The man shook his head. "I know sir, but this is very important. I think you'll want to see it."

Still glaring, the boss flipped the file open and glanced at the first page.

His eyes grew marginally wider.

"Does this say what I think it says?"

"Yes sir!" The man pointed with a shaking finger toward the papers. "I looked into those students that were injected, the ones that all reacted. One of them, he's her son."

Shaking his head in disbelief, the boss scoffed, "What are the odds? You found her family by accident?"

"I don't know sir, but this means-"

"I know what it means." The boss cut him off. "If we found her family, we can find her research and finally complete the goal we've been working toward for years."

"What should we do, sir?"

"Keep an eye on that boy. He might cooperate without force."

🙃

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