Golden Time

18. Safe and Sound

Namjoon heard the growl come from Jungkook's chest before his stiff arms folded across his body, obviously not wanting any of them to touch him. The sound of his teeth grinding only caused Namjoon to stand from where he sat and leave Jungkook alone, instead allowing Jimin and Taehyung to ease their way into the bunny's vicinity. Which seemed to work well enough after a few minutes, the light chatter coming from Jimin and Taehyung relaxed Jungkook enough to stop grinding his teeth, to simply sit between them, back and ears straight.

By the time Reyna walked back into Namjoon's line of sight, Jungkook had relaxed enough that he nodded along to the conversation the three younger hybrids were having. Namjoon noticed that Jin, Yoongi and Hoseok hadn't come back with her, instead seeming to opt for going for a walk no doubt. The emotional toll it would take out on Jin when he went in to see Yoona, his sister, laying half dead in a hospital bed wouldn't be a kind memory for him.

"Before you ask, Jin is perfectly fine, he convinced Yoongi and Hoseok to go get coffee." Reyna tried not to giggle at how her mate's body seemed to slump, the worry he carried for his pack a hefty weight on his shoulders. "If anything, he was over it the second it happened. He completely understands why Jungkook got defensive and wishes he could change it, but he also knows Yoona."

Namjoon nodded, closing his eyes as he leaned into Reyna's touch, her fingertips dancing along his grey ears atop his head; "I know I would have reacted worse. I wouldn't have left your side."

Reyna could only smile affectionately at Namjoon who had wrapped himself around her, thinking about the trouble he would have caused if it was her that was in this situation. He would have undoubtedly have been more aggressive then Jungkook had, demanded, ordered, right down to clawing his way into the surgery room to watch over her. Both Reyna and Namjoon knew what it was like to have a mate, what neither of them truly knew was what it was like to lose a mate or watch a mate fight for their lives. 

What Jungkook was currently feeling was new to everyone present, even the most experienced of mates. 

Jin had successfully directed Yoongi and Hoseok to the small café they had in the hospital, hoping that maybe caffeine would be what they all needed. Ordering the coffee and standing off to the side, Jin wasn't lost to how Yoongi's tail stayed wrapped around his wrist, no doubt needing to know the comfort that he was safe. After everything with Yoona, Jin knew that the panther hybrids instincts were in full overdrive right now, needing to know they were safe. 

People often forgot, that as a panther hybrid, Yoongi was a solitary hybrid, but with his mixed human DNA he needed other people. Both his animal and human counterparts each had come to love and care for Yoona and Jin, and his panther side of him couldn't quite let go of the fact that he had allowed Yoona to come into harms way. So his instincts were stretched to protect who he could, which was completely his only Hyung, Kim Seokjin.

"Yoongi, I'm okay." Jin's hands ran over the tail that wrapped around his wrist, his other hand in Hoseok's hair, scratching behind his ear.

"He could have hurt you." Hoseok leaned further into Jin's touch, wrapping himself around the older man.

"He's just trying to protect his mate. I think the both of you will understand when you find your own mates." Jin smiled at the pair, one of them completely avoiding eye contact.

"You speak as if you actually know." Yoongi pointed out, his dark eyes scanning around him, around the open café. 

"I've been in love before, Yoongi." Jin smiled softly. "Not as deeply as if I were to have a mate, but in love enough to know that it's a normal reaction to want to protect the one you love."

"You never told us you had a mate, Hyung?" Hoseok moved away enough to meet Jin's eyes.

"It was before you all came into our lives." Jin shrugged at the memory of his college girlfriend. "It was a long time ago. But those feelings, of being in love, you always remember them, and Jungkook is just doing everything he can to protect Yoona."