HI EVERYONE, I'M BACK!!!
I'M SO SORRY FOR LEAVING FOR SO LONG!!
I'LL EXPLAIN LATER, PLEASE ENJOY THE NEW CHAPTER, FINALLY!!!
******
"The phone number you are trying to reach is not available-"
"Ughhh, goddammit, Park Jimin, pick up your phone," grumbled a tired Chaeyoung, that was the fourth time. "I wanna go hooomeee." She pouted at her phone as if it'll suddenly take pity on her and ring with Jimin calling back... but things don't work like that.
She was currently sitting in her private booth in her favorite cafe, already having finished her tea and evening dessert after a long day of running errands for her mother. Jimin had been with her all day, of course, but when arrived at the cafe, he strangely told her to go on ahead without him.
Jimin parked behind the cafe but didn't turn off the engine. "Hey, umm is it okay if I leave you here for a few hours?"
She looked at him surprised, "Why? You're my bodyguard, you're supposed to be with me at all times."
"I know, I'm sorry, Chaeyoung, but something just came up at home that I have to attend to real quick. I'll be back in a couple of hours. Is that okay with you? You're done with your errands now, right?"
The anxious look on his usually cool face made her worry a little. Her eyes caught his grip on the steering wheel, so tight that his knuckles were turning white. His knee was also bouncing really slightly but she could tell he was trying to suppress the restless urge.
Her parents had forbidden her to go anywhere without a bodyguard, a strict policy that everyone in the security department knew better than to make an excuse to leave early, it was practically a fireable excuse! Therefore, she was more surprised than suspicious that Jimin would even have the guts to ask that question when he's only been working this job for a couple of weeks.
Something about his pleading eyes got her to agree though. "Umm... alright. It's not like I'm gonna get into trouble at the cafe anyway haha. Go, text me when you come back?"
Jimin visibly relaxed, "I will, I'll be back to take you home for dinner. Don't go anywhere without me. And pleeeasseee don't tell your parents about this."
"Hmm depends," she teased. "Fine, fine. I hope everything is okay at home. Thanks for driving me, Jimin."
"I'll see you, Chaeyoung."
Thinking back, she was confused as to why she had agreed so easily. Maybe it was the shock of the question. Maybe she truly wasn't worried about her safety in this cafe that she regularly went to. Maybe she wanted to rebel against her parents a bit, she had always wanted her own freedom.
Or maybe she had seen the troubled look in his eyes. Now that she thought about it, she had noticed that he had been antsy throughout the whole day. He wasn't engaged in their conversations as usual. In fact, he seemed pretty spaced out and ignored her for most of the day.
Chaeyoung sighed, whatever the reason why she agreed, she was really worried now that three hours had already passed. The sun had already set on this late fall day, if she didn't get home in two hours before dinner, her over-protective parents would start getting frantic.
She thought about maybe going out to look for him, but that was a dumb idea. She knew where his apartment was because of the information he had to give when he got the job, but she didn't know if that was where he went or maybe another family member's home. Besides, it was much riskier for someone like her to wander the streets when it was getting dark.
Maybe she should call another security guard to come pick her up. But would they snitch on Jimin? They would report to her parents before going out to get her, and she had a nagging feeling that it would get Jimin fired. She definitely didn't want that.
She glared at her phone, something didn't feel right. He would never go unanswered for this long. Despite having a friendly relationship with her, he did his job exceptionally well. Her parents praised him for being so professional at a young age. What would they think of him if they found out about this situation though?
"Stupid Jimin," Chaeyoung grumbled, "that's it." In a slip of a frustrated fit, her hand accidentally knocked her teacup off the table, sending a shattering blast through the serene of the cafe.
The staff ran towards the noise immediately.
"Oh my God, I'm so sorry!" Flustered, Chaeyoung bent down to help them but one of the waitresses stopped her.
"It's alright, Miss Park, it was just a small accident." The older woman smiled at her reassuringly. "Just stay in your seat while I clean this up. Don't you move or you may get cut." With that, she scurried off, leaving Chaeyoung red-faced.
Princess Park Chaeyoung... clumsy? Unheard of! Was she that worried that she didn't take care of her surroundings for just a second?
Peony, Peony, Peony, something is definitely wrong. She kept chanting it in her head, feeling her little moth soul fluttering around in a fit that reflected her growing anxiety. Her instincts were just telling her that something is definitely wrong.
The waitress came back with a broom and quickly cleaned up the broken shards. "It's past sunset, Miss Park. Shouldn't you be getting home by now?" Since Chaeyoung was a regular customer, some of the staff got to know her.
The red-haired young lady simply smiled while clasping her shaky hands under the table. "I don't feel like going back yet. It's very calming here."
"Ah, I see," the waitress didn't want to pry and had work to get back to, "well, I'll let you relax. Do you want me to get you another cup of tea?"
"Umm I'm alright for now, thank you."
"Yes, Miss. Call me if you need anything."
When the waitress went out of her private booth, Chaeyoung's smile disappeared into a frown. Now she was too restless, she had to do something.
First, she needed to let her parents know she'll be home late. The decision was quick, but when her fingers typed out the message with the excuse that she saw some friends she wanted to hang out with, they were shaking.
She felt slightly pathetic. As a young adult, she shouldn't feel guilty about lying to her parents about not being home by curfew, but she was! Heck, she shouldn't be even having a curfew at this age!
All for the safety of the princess, she said in a sarcastic mock in her head. Now to think of how to find Jimin. She stared at her phone, wondering if spam calling and texting him would work.
Then the idea hit her like a flying dunce cone and landed perfectly on her head.
"I'm such an idiot!!" Chaeyoung burst out loud. She grabbed her phone and opened the phone tracking app. Every one of the security guards and important staff members could be tracked with this app her parents gave her. It allowed her to find anyone she wanted within a ten-mile radius of her location, just in case anything happened.
Frankly, Chaeyoung felt so spoiled being given this app and rarely used it because it felt selfish, like just a click on her phone and the people she needs would come ASAP. But in this case, Jimin needed to be found!
"I can't believe I didn't think of this before," she scoffed herself while she looked up Jimin's ID in the system. "Huh... he's only a block away." She felt her shoulders lighten from the worry. In that case, she should just stay put for a while longer.
She stared at the unmoving red dot on her phone... stared at it for so long and hard that the surrounding image started to fade to black and all her eyes saw was the red dot.
Its crisp outline seemed to fade away, the color expanding out into a glowing halo. Then her eyes picked up the slightest movement of the color of the dot, like how a lick of a small flame would move.
Chaeyoung blinked rapidly... and the dot was just as normal and ordinary as before on her phone screen.
Peony, it happened again. By now, she knew the dot on her phone didn't actually change. It's weird, but sometimes when she concentrates on something that indicates a person, her inner eye would see a glow. These kinds of visions happened occasionally since her teenage years but she was never able to figure out what it meant. All she knew was that if she followed her instincts, it led her to some kind of danger.
She called it her glow sense.
Chaeyoung stared out the window in the direction of where Jimin was located. She started to space out again, just like a mere moments ago...
The surroundings in her view gradually faded black, and in the distance, a tiny dot of a low of the same shade can be seen.
Chaeyeong startled out of her daze this time and was on her feet in a heartbeat. Peony was fluttering wildly, her gut instincts driving her body while her eyes stared straight ahead.
She didn't know how she knew... but she felt it. Something's wrong with Jimin.
All the occasional times where this has happened, she knew what her body was doing. Her spatial awareness was only conscious enough to get through the city streets safely. Meanwhile, her inner mind was concentrating on this unexplainable pull of a nonexistent glow that only she seems to be able to sense.
Chaeyoung trusted Peony, her moth, and like any other moth, they're drawn to the light of a flame, not knowing how that flame burns.
***
"This is such a nice surprise after ending my shift. Being a security guard can be so boring, ya know?" When the burly man emphasized his word, he squeezed his grip on his victim's neck even more.
"You bastard, let him go!" Yeonjun couldn't stand it. He was already running out of time for Yeji and there was no way he was going to let another one of these humans get in his way! He shifted and in a flash, he chomped down on the arm that was suffocating his comrade.
The human immediately let go with an agonizing scream, trying to fling the Tasmanian Devil off. Meanwhile, their comrade coughed tiredly but pointed to his car, "Get Yeji in! Hurry!"
Jimin rushed over to carefully settle Yeji in. Beomgyu went to help the fellow Shifter, "Hyung, will you be okay to drive?"
"I'll be fine," he said despite his coughing, "I've been through worse. Who else is coming, or am I just rushing Yeji home?"
Jimin answered firmly, "All of you are going home. I'll distract the human to get Yeonjun out." With a pivot of his heel, the Master sprinted towards the fighting duo with a flying kick to the human's face, knocking him far away. "Yeonjun, go with them! I got this!"
The Tasmanian Devil nodded and ran towards the car, driving away instantly.
The man slowly got up on his feet, nursing his bitten arm. "Rabid beasts! I'll kill you first and then I'll find ways to find that van."
Unfazed by the towering man who was twice the size of Jimin, the Fox Shifter only rolled his eyes, "Okay, good luck getting past me first."
"Come here, you dwarf!"
The man charged and Jimin shifted into his fox form. As a nimble creature and martial arts master, he effortlessly dodged all the heavy punches and scratched up the man. They weren't deep enough to bleed, but enough of a searing sting to get the man angrier.
With that accomplished, Jimin was sure the man would follow him. So he turned tail and headed back into the alleyways, needing to get this fight away from the main streets.
"Get back here!!" Enraged, the man pursued.
The fox made sure to stay a safe distance but not lose the man. He'll finish this off within the privacy of these alleys.
But four turns in, Jimin noticed that the loud footsteps and breathing behind him faded out. He sneaked a glance back and skidded to a stop when he saw that the man was no longer behind him. He cautiously retraced his steps, his ears swiveling for any noise.
It became dead silent all of a sudden, not even the whistle of a breeze... like everything stopped breathing...
Then as suddenly as everything became static, everything fell back into action again. Jimin's claws dug into the concrete to spring him forward into a fast sprint. The danger of the situation intensified... because he picked up the sound of someone struggling to breathe.
And when he arrived at the right alley, it was his own breath that stopped at the sight.
The evil human had not one arm, but both of his arms wrapped around the necks of two children. "I knew I could depend on those foxy ears of yours to hear this," the man grinned sadistically.
If there was one thing that Jimin hated the most in this world, it is the harm done to children. Doesn't matter if they're human, Shapeshifter, or hybrid, children were innocent and young and should always be protected.
Jimin shifted back and raised his hands in front of him and mustered up a steady voice, "Let the kids go. This is between you and me."
The man only shrugged, "Why try to catch you when I have easier prey right here? Haha, kids shouldn't be playing around after dark, hasn't your mother ever taught you that? Might run into dangerous strangers like me."
Jimin was weighted down in agony. If he made a sudden move, the kids would die in a snap. With the huge difference in all aspects, the human could easily break the kids' necks, but he was prolonging the torture, and Jimin felt utterly useless if he didn't think of something fast.
"Better kill them now before they grow into rabid beasts," The man's crazed eyes stared into Jimin's tauntingly, "am I right?"
Then all movements stopped once more. Blue-faced and limp, the two little boys slumped lifelessly in the arms of their killer. Satisfied, the man dumped them down and cackled, pumping his fists up in victory, "And that's two more to save the human race!"
Jimin growled back, "It's humans like you who are a danger to all beings!" He didn't even feel the need to shift. He wanted to pummel the human with his own human body, to show this evil psycho exactly what he messed with.
Jimin charged full speed and landed a flying kick. The man was stunned backward and couldn't recover before a flurry of strong punches pounded his face.
"Fox-hyungie, be careful!!"
Jimin's eyes widened in fear when he saw that the boys were still lingering around at the entrance of the alley. They were hugging each other, shaking, but looked worried at him. "Kids, get out of here!!"
The man's vision cleared for a second to see the supposedly dead children were running away. "No.... What the fuck?! I killed them with my own hands!!"
Jimin scoffed, "No, you stupid human. You only imagined that you did. But let me assure you," his eyes flared with a radiant red-orange color, set on his target, "the only one that's going to die today is you."
"Meddling bastard!" As if anger was the only fuel he needed, the man became faster despite his weight. Jimin dodged like before, but one blink had him taking a punch to the stomach that threw him to the floor.
"Haha, you got big talk for a weakling," the man sneered. "What, you're not gonna use your little fox powers on me?"
Jimin turned the tables by suddenly kicking the man behind the knees. He collapsed and now Jimin pinned his head down with his foot. "It'll be a waste of my powers to fight a lumbering amateur like you." He pressed down harder, making the man grunt in pain. "But don't worry, I'll make sure that the last thing you see will be my fox form. So then you can die knowing that you were defeated by the creature you so detest."
Meanwhile, as the two men dueled it out, the Shifter kids were looking for help. They've been in this maze of alleys before, it was a place where they could hang out without getting into trouble with humans. Well... that was usually the case.
"Hyungie," the younger one of age five, looked up at his older brother with tears in his eyes. "W-Where are we going to find help?"
The barely older one of age seven looked down sadly, "I don't think we can find anyone to help us Shifters."
"B-But Fox-hyung is in danger!"
"I know that! But I believe he can beat that human, you saw how strong he was! I need to get you safe, little brother."
The younger continued to cry as he was led along by his brother. They both knew it was useless to find help. They could only escape as far away from here as they could... because they have no home to go back to. They have survived two years out on the streets after their parents were murdered by Slayers. They escaped but only to live alone in this dangerous world as mere prey. Today could've been their last, but they were lucky to be rescued, so they couldn't take a risk to go back.
They turned a corner but immediately skidded to a stop. Staring as if deer in headlights, they came upon another stranger, this one a woman with a nicer demeanor.
"Hey, kids," the red-haired woman slowly approached them to not scare them off. "Are you okay? Are you lost?" They were frozen. She swept her eyes over them and noticed how there were bruises and scratches, new and old, all over their dirty skin. "Oh my God, you're hurt!" When she was only a meter away from them, she crouched down and extended her arm.
The little one unfroze from her tender voice and ran into her arms with a loud cry. He may have been only five, but he still remembered the feeling of his mother holding him. "P-Please... help..."
"Shh, shh," she soothed his hair, "It's okay now. What wrong?" The little one only hiccuped from his sobs, so she looked to the older boy who was still hesitant. She extended an arm to show that she meant no harm. He slowly took it as she pulled him into the hug too.
The older one slowly spoke, "O-Our friend... he was attacked because he tried to save us... but now he's fighting a bad man back there."
"P-Please, noona!" The little boy cried, "Can you please help?"
With a determined nod, she stood up carrying the little one in her arms while taking the other's hand. "Show me the way."
She was not scared, whatsoever. Fights were nothing to her. When she worked on her community-rebuilding projects in other countries, she came across countless thugs that were terrorizing the poor civilians. She is the Rose Princess, it is her job to bring peace wherever she can.
Chaeyoung had been following her glow sense into this alley, expecting to find Jimin in danger but instead, she stumbled upon the children. She forgot about her main objective instantly, Jimin can take care of himself, these children were now her priority.
But as she followed along, the red-orange glow stayed solid in her mind, as if she was still pursuing it. Was it possible... that Jimin was around the area too? Or he's related to this? What was going on?
She began to hear the sounds of a fight as they neared, her arm instinctively holding the child tighter. The older boy slowed down to a stop at a corner, he whispered in fear, "They're in here."
Chaeyoung pushed him behind her as she slowly peaked around the corner. She could've sworn that she heard two voices, but now she was only hearing and seeing one. The other noise was coming from the growls of a fox.
She clapped her hand over her mouth. This wasn't the first time she's seen a Shifter and human fight, but it unnerved her all the same. She never knew exactly which side to root for.
The man had huge, bulky muscles and she found herself pitying the slender fox, but as she watched, the fox was doing perfectly fine, even seeming to have the upper hand.
"Noona," the little one whimpered, "c-can't you call someone?"
Chaeyoung backed away from the corner but it was too late. The tiny voice was heard and the fight paused. The man spotted them and grinned wildly despite the blood running down his face. "Ooh~ more prey?" He took advantage of the surprise to grab onto the fox's tail and threw him against the wall. The fox yelped in great pain.
"Fox-hyungie!!"
"Come here, brats!!"
"Noona, run!!"
Chaeyoung didn't know if it was how the man aggressively threw the fox, or if it was the fact that the little boy cried out for the Shifter that stunned her into a statue state. What the hell is going on?
But when the psychotic man stepped closer to them, her feet moved before her mind told it to. She ran with the boys in her arms, as fast as she could. She didn't dare look back as she heard the man's heavy steps pound after her.
Wait, why am I running away? I'm human, I'm the Rose Princess for God's sake! And these two are only children! She could talk sense into this man, but then she remembered the way his bloodshot eyes stared at her with hunger. If she hadn't seen the Fox Shifter already, she would've thought that the man was one. He was like a demon.
She was broken out of her thoughts when she realized that there was no more sound behind her. That was only more nerve-wracking. Did they lose him?
"Ahhhh!!" The shrill screams of both the boys made her stumble to a stop.
"It's alright, baby," Chaeyoung tried to soothe the little one she was carrying, even though she was terrified herself.
"No, look!" The older one tugged her hand and stopped running. "It's over!"
She snapped her head back to see a bloody mess meters behind her. She hid the boys' faces to her body, not wanting them to see any more of this horrific sight.
The fox had his jaws clamped around the man's neck. When it was sure that there was not even a twitch of a muscle left, it let go of the dead body. Its fiery eyes locked onto Chaeyoung, sending chills down her spine. The intensity, the color... it was the exact shade of the glow.
Was this what her glow sense tracked down? This danger? That must be it. Her glow sense attracted her to this danger zone and rescued the kids.
The fox leaped off the body and disappeared into the shadows of the alley. Now it was her turn to leave. "Let's go, we'll find help once we leave these alleys."
The older boy led the way, and she couldn't help but notice there was a slight bounce in his step now. She frowned at this and was about to ask but the little one stirred, revealing his face that had been buried in her neck the whole time. "I-Is it over?"
"It's over, baby," Chaeyoung said reassuringly.
But she absolutely did not expect his next words, "Awww, where's fox-hyung? I wanted to thank him."
Now Chaeyoung came to a full stop, she was so confused. "What?! What do you mean? You were in danger because of that fox!"
This time the older boy shouted, "We only asked for your help because we thought you could stop the fight! But I see now that you would have sided with that evil man." He tugged on Chaeyoung's arm that was carrying the little boy. "Let my little brother go!"
She couldn't do anything but put the boy down. She watched as the boys scrambled away from her. "Stay away from us!"
But she couldn't just leave them in the dark like this. She was so worried about them. "Kids, it doesn't matter which side I would take, the fight was dangerous! That fox was dangerous! He killed that man in front of you! Oh my God, was that your father? Someone you knew? I'll go call someone right away to help you guys-"
"Tsk," the older one cut her off with a glare, "all you humans do is jump to conclusions. My brother and I are shifters."
Now everything made a lot more sense, but it didn't help the complicated turmoil she was having in her heart right now. Who exactly was she trying to help?
The little boy wiped his tears and angrily shouted as if betrayed, "We were playing around when that man showed up and wanted to kill us! Luckily fox-hyung was around and saved us!"
"But you wouldn't understand because you're human, Princess-noona." The older boy's voice was laced in mockery. "Yeah, that's right. I thought the Rose Princess was nice to all, but you're a human anyway."
Chaeyoung was taken aback that they recognized her. She saw the sadness and disappointment in their eyes and that killed her. What he said was true, she was supposed to help anyone no matter what, but she failed today.
"Come on," the older boy hugged his little brother close, "let's get out of here before she calls the Slayers or dumps us in a Zoo."
"W-wait! Please... just be careful going home." The kids looked at her skeptically before running away.
Chaeyoung collapsed on her knees and started sobbing. Her head hurt. She saw a human who looked like a predator, wanting to harm innocent children. She saw a Shapeshifter, although it made a bloody kill, it did it to protect the kids. And the kids trusted her as a caring figure to help them, only for her to stupidly think that the human was good.
Now she was alone in the darkening night, the twilight sky frightened her. She called him, desperately praying that he'd answer this time.
"Hello? Chaeyoung?" He sounded out of breath.
"J-Jimin," she whimpered.
"Chaeyoung, where are you?! Are you okay?"
"I... I don't know where I am. I'm lost in some alleyways."
"Turn on your location, I'll track you on my phone. Hang in there, alright? I'll be there in no time."
Hearing his determined voice was all she needed to calm down. "Okay... please hurry." She ended the call and turned on her location. She slumped back against the cold brick wall and curled into a tight ball. Every cricket sound scared her. Her thin coat didn't keep her warm enough. She wasn't used to this feeling.
Then she heard the faint sound of fast footsteps, it made her heart race. Was it another bad guy? Shifter? Human? Good or bad?
"Chaeyoung!"
The said girl stood to her feet, "Jimin!! Jimin!!" She followed his voice and felt amazing relief when she found him. She didn't care that she looked like a weak mess when she tackled him into a hug and cried on his shoulder.
"Shh, shh, it's okay," Jimin hugged her back just as tightly. He rubbed her back, "I'm so sorry I'm late. I'm here now, everything's okay."
"W-Where were you?"
"I went back to the cafe but you weren't there. I'm sorry I missed so many of your calls, but when I called back, you didn't answer. I think your phone lost network connection because your tracker disappeared when I came to this alleyway. It took me some time to find you but I followed the screams, worried that you were caught up in a fight or something."
Chaeyoung only gave a slow small nod after his explanation, still hiding her face in the crook of his neck.
"Chaeyoung... what happened? You're shaking." He tightened the hug to try to comfort her.
She let out a shaky whimper, "Shifter... human fight... the man died... The dead body is still around here somewhere."
With that fact, Jimin pulled her away but kept one arm around her as she still tightly hugged his side. He led the way out. "I'll report this to the police and have them deal with it."
Chaeyoung's eyes widened, "No!" She back-tracked when Jimin looked at her confused. "Jimin... there were Shifter kids involved... I don't want to give them any trouble with the police."
His eyes softened understandingly. "I see. I'll make up some fake story about how the man died then. And I'll leave any Shifters and you out of it."
Chaeyoung nodded, "Take care of this quietly. I don't want some Shifter murder incident on the news. And... can you do me a favor?... Don't tell my parents about this. What happened today will just be between us."
Seeing how trauma-filled her eyes were, Jimin didn't question it. "If you're sure... I'll follow your orders. I'll take care of everything, don't worry."
Soon, they made it out onto the main streets where Jimin's car was parked. As soon as Chaeyoung's body hit the chair, she fell asleep. Jimin laid an extra blanket over her, seeing her shiver from the cold... or maybe from what she witnessed.
Now that she was asleep, Jimin could let his true tired expression show. Today's events did not go exactly how he planned or hoped for it to be. But now the day was over and he could go home.
Looking in the rearview mirror to back up the car, Jimin caught a slight red smear on the corner of his lips.
It was a good thing that it was dark enough outside. Chaeyoung never noticed that blood smear that he missed when he was cleaning up before going to look for her.
******
First of all, THANK YOU FOR 100K+ READS ON MY STORY!!! I am still amazed every time I see the numbers grow even with my lack of updating that I would like to apologize for. I don't want to make any more promises with my updates because that will only upset you guys if I don't end up updating on time :( I'm so sorry for that.
Secondly, DON'T WORRY I am not abandoning any of my stories ever!! I'm taking less classes this semester but I still have a bunch of other responsibilities, that and writer's block is a pain >.< but I will get through all these obstacles to give you guys my best writing!
THANK YOU FOR ALL THE CONTINUOUS LOVE AND SUPPORT FOR THIS STORY 💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗