The next morning, Jungkook was feeling a little spooked. He carefully looked out his door into the hallway to make sure the coast was clear. He had no clue who it was that he saw last night. He wasn't really all that sure he wanted to know who it was. He had a hunch that Onew did know, though. Did he really want to ask him?
No, he didn't. He just wanted to leave it alone and hope it would go away. If he didn't talk to the spirit anymore, then it wasn't his problem.
"Hello!" the ghostly voice said in his ear causing him to jump nearly out of his skin. His yelp of surprise was high-pitched and caused the ghost to double over laughing. Jungkook just glared and tried to ignore that he had just screamed like a little girl.
"Sorry," the puppy said when he finally stopped laughing. He proceeded to wipe phantom tears from his eyes from laughing so hard.
"Why would you do that?" Jungkook took deep breaths trying to calm down his heart. His skin raised with goosebumps due to the proximity of the canine specter.
"You said to leave your room, so I did. I never said I would stop talking to you." the ghost said. And true to his word, the ghost was standing out in the hallway.
'That's not exactly what I meant," Jungkook said sarcastically.
'I know, but it's not often people can see or hear me," The dog took a deep breath, "It can get lonely."
"Oh," Jungkook didn't know what to say to that. "Um...Do you have a name?" he asked.
The ghost smiled a little sadly and with that, he disappeared.
The panther kept staring at the place the dog had been, waiting to see if he was really gone or if he was going to come back and answer his question. When he didn't reappear, he shook his head and headed off to breakfast muttering about stupid dogs.
*******
Jungkook's entrance into the dining area was observed by Onew and his mates as they ate breakfast from a corner table.
"There he is," Onew nodded as the panther came in.
The others raised their heads and watched as the nervous cat checked out the whole room, pausing a moment when their eyes met his and he gave a small shudder and then headed over to the breakfast bar. They watched the panther move around the dining hall, avoiding others. Jungkook pushed his long-sleeve t-shirt up to his elbows before taking a plate revealing a tattoo sleeve on one arm.
"You think he's seeing him?" Minho asked quietly.
"Pretty sure," Onew nodded. "He's the only resident ghost we've got."
"Not possible." the fox growled.
"Key, I know it's hard." The bunny said, putting his arm out to calm his upset mate.
"No." The fox said in a hard voice. "He left us and instead of trying to contact us he talks to everyone else? I don't buy it." Key got up and dumped his dishes in the bin for washing. He stalked out, ignoring everyone who watched him leave the busy dining area.
The cat, Taemin, sighed at his vanishing mate, "We miss him, too." he whispered. Onew and Minho each took a hand of the sad kitty and squeezed, letting him know they felt the same. It was hard losing a mate. Someone, you had sworn your whole life to protect. What hurt was that they didn't even know how their mate had died. Some thought suicide, some thought foul-play. Nobody knew for sure. They continued their breakfast in silence, consumed with their thoughts.
********
Jungkook finally found a table to sit at once the upset fox had left the room. He was on edge and didn't know what to make of his morning visitor. Before he could think too much of it, another plate was put down on the table and he looked up to see Felix's happy smile. The wolf was right behind him with an indulgent smile, while the angry ferret was scowling behind him.
He raised an eyebrow at the new arrivals.
"Good Morning. Do you mind if we eat here?" Felix said, sitting down before Jungkook could answer, the others following suit.
"Do I have a choice?" the panther chuckled.
"Not really?" Felix grinned.
"Consider this our apology" Bangchan explained before digging into his food.
"Who said I was sorry?" Hyunjin huffed, jealousy written clear on his face.
"Hyunjin!" Felix chastised his mate. "Be nice."
Hyunjin looked at his new mate and kept his mouth shut. He didn't particularly like the new arrival, afraid that he would try to take their newest member. He had no interest in competition, but he didn't want to upset the newest love of his life either.
"Don't worry, ferret. I have no interest in your mate group." Jungkook smirked at the worried hybrid.
"All hybrids want a mate," He huffed, his food growing cold while he was preoccupied with warning off this cat.
"Not me. Mate groups are for the gullible." Jungkook growled stabbing his food.
Felix frowned at his words. "You mentioned that mate groups were traps. I still find that hard to believe."
"What's hard to believe? That humans and hybrids try to get the best of each other?" He smirks at the trio. "Claiming mate connections is an easy in. Tell the gullible that you are their mate and show some affection, give them a cuddle or two, and many hybrids will follow you anywhere. Next thing you know, you're stuck as a sex slave in a brothel nobody cares to rescue you from." The three mates looked at each other while Jungkook continued eating.
"Did that happen to you?" Felix asked.
"They tried." Jungkook watched their eyebrows rise into their hair. Innocent hybrids. "I caught on young. Scammers all talk the same. Learn how they talk and you can avoid a lot of the traps."
"Surely not everyone was lying?" Felix asked, shocked. While he knew he had been sheltered in the home he'd grown up in, even he had gotten kicked out when he was no longer "cute and cuddly" by his owner. He knew the world wasn't nice, but even he wasn't as jaded as this tattooed panther.
"Take my advice, if anyone on the streets starts talking about being your mate, run." With that, Jungkook stood up, dumped his plate in the food bin, and left the room.
Felix looked at his two mates in shock. He could see troubled looks on both of their faces. "He really doesn't know, does he?"
"Whoever his real mates are, they are going to have an interesting time getting him to believe them," BangChan replied.
"Maybe they'll change their minds and think they are better off without him." Hyunjin spits out without thinking.
"Knock it off, Hyunjin. Maybe you're the one who should be forgotten." Felix growls before storming off. Hyunjin watched his mate storm off in surprise.
BangChan pats Hyunjin on the shoulder, "You really have to watch your mouth, mate."
Hyunjin sighed and got up, "Yeah, I stick my foot in it too often." He left the table to go find his irate mate and apologize.
***********
Jungkook moved around the hybrid center, exploring the massive building in an effort to get his mind off the disturbing conversation he had at breakfast. He hated the fact that growing up, affection was a trap. As humans that were part animals, hybrids held a deep need for comfort and connection. Herds, packs, however, you wanted to call them, it was one of the primal needs for those born with an animal connection. Even hybrids whose animals were solitary by nature weren't spared this facet of hybrid life. The need to form bonds and families was stronger than in normal humans.
On the streets, you needed allies. People to keep you safe, help you eat. The betrayal of those bonds for money made it all the more horrible.
"You really don't trust the idea of mates?" A voice asks. Jungkook jumps and spins around only to find himself face to face with his ghost.
"Will you stop that?" Jungkook yells, clutching his chest, taking deep breaths.
The dog gives him a big smile, "And miss your reaction?"
Jungkook just glared.
"You didn't answer my question." The dog said.
Jungkook lets out a long sigh. "I don't trust people to not try and take advantage of me."
"Pretty cynical coming from someone who destroyed his room because he couldn't eat lunch with new friends." The dog pointed out.
Jungkook gave a low growl, "that's different." He kept walking, trying to leave the ghost behind, but it followed anyway.
"How is it different?" The dog asked.
"It just is,"
"Why?"
"It just is," Jungkook growled.
"I don't think so," The dog commented.
Jungkook spun around to face the annoying ghost, "Look, it's different. On the streets, you have 3 types of people. Marks. Allies. Enemies." He held up a finger with each point. Flashing thee fingers at the dog and then making a fist. "It took me a month to decide who could be potential allies and when I approach them, I got burned. I had hoped this place was different from what Miss Kay promised. Then they started talking mates." He scoffed, "Nothing has changed."
"They say every hybrid has a mate." the dog remarked.
The panther turned toward the dog and looked him dead in the face, "Not me," he then spun around and kept walking away.
The dog tilted his head and watched the direction the panther walked away. He chuckled, "Wanna bet?" then he disappeared.
A/N: Hey lovers! How are you all doing?
Happy 9th Anniversary, BTS!!
I hope your summer is going well. The last couple of months has been busy on my end. Not only did I get lost watching the Heard/Depp trial (That was just craziness) but I had to figure out what my ghost wanted in this story. Why was he here? He totally threw me for a loop and its taken me a lot of conversations with this character to figure out what he wanted. I'm still not sure why he showed up though. I had no intention of including him even though I was including Shinee in this FF, but he had no intention of being left behind.
Dear Jonghyun, where are you taking us?