"So, you're a ?"

Jimin spit out his tea.

"E-excuse me?" he spluttered, hurriedly wiping down his shirt, "I'm not-"

"Yes, he is."

Oh my god, this kid. As his best friend gaped at his excessive honesty, Taehyung just continued munching on the cookies in front of him.

"Well, that explains why your aura's so pure," the guest didn't even seemed fazed; he gave the red Jimin a look of amusement instead, "tell me, why is that? You seem old enough."

"Wait, wait, wait - not to mention the fact that my...lack of experience has nothing to do with you, you haven't completely explained to us who you are yet. All we know is that you're a friend of Seokjin-hyung and I'd appreciate some more information, Jung Hoseok-sshi."

"My apologies," he gave them a smile, "I'm a shaman, shoe size 11, height 178cm - oh, and I'm here to protect you guys from whatever took Seokjin."

An unnatural chill invaded their apartment. They'd lost contact with the elder Kim brother during his research trip to the Vatican, but it was a private matter. As far as anyone else knew, Kim Seokjin was still in Europe, safe and sound.

"Let me rephrase that question," Jimin's voice wavered, "what are you?"

Taehyung's hand inched closer to his friend's as he braced himself for an attack. Hoseok merely laughed; he rested his chin on his palm nonchalantly.

"I'm human, don't worry. More human than the both of you, actually." He certainly looked like one, but experience taught them better than to trust appearances. Silently, Jimin pressed his palm against the back of Taehyung's hand. Nothing happened.

"See?" the shaman was still there, smirking happily, "harmless as can be. And if you still can't trust me, maybe this'll help."

From his jacket pocket, he revealed an envelope addressed to himself; it was in Seokjin's handwriting.

"He wrote to me a few weeks ago, asking me to go to Seoul so I can look after you guys for a while. He said that there wasn't a lot of time and that more and more demons would catch on your scents now that he wasn't around. I was supposed to get here the day after I received the letter, but - " as Hoseok passed the envelope to Taehyung, he caught a glimpse of the gauze wrapped around the other man's arms, "the seal was broken. Some gumihos* ended up tracking me down and I had to take care of them."

"And my brother? Have you heard anything else from him?"

Hoseok's expression was regretful, speaking the volumes that Taehyung wasn't willing to hear. Jimin looked away.

"I don't understand. If Seokjin-hyung knew what would happen if he left, why would he leave in the first place?"

"I don't know either. What I do know is that - " the shaman pointed between them, "the soul that you guys share - needs to be split or else you're both going to end up dead."

"Is it possible? It's not like we're conjoined twins - we can't just have a surgery to split us apart." Jimin was speaking faster, it was obvious how distressed he was. The ever-looming presence of death felt all the more real with Seokjin's disappearance and the anxiety was starting to sink in. He wasn't sure if it was his own terror choking him, or Taehyung's.

"Why you?" the other boy finally spoke up, "why would my brother send a friend he's never talked about? How do you know so much about us?"

Hoseok's smile seemed more cryptic now than ever.

"Twelve years ago, I was the one that joined your souls."

~~~

It'd been a long day and for once, Jimin was looking forward to going grocery shopping. Locking the apartment door behind him, he stopped in the hallway to breathe in deeply. Being apart from Taehyung was literally like a part of his soul was missing; he felt empty.

"Good evening, Jimin-sshi."

Distracted, he ended up stumbling into the owner of the voice, one very hot Jeon Jungkook. Jimin immediately reddened, coughing out an apology before detangling himself with the younger man. It was a shame he couldn't stay like that for a little longer, but he didn't want to make his crush (even more) obvious.

...He sounded like a school girl.

"On your way to work?" Jimin choked out.

Jungkook gave him an amused chuckle and honestly, he felt like he was going to faint.

"Yeah, I closed shop a little early today," his collarbones were just barely visible underneath the black T-shirt and Jimin had to physically look away to stop salivating, "where are you headed?"

"The supermarket."

'Damn it, Kim Taehyung!' was the only thought seething from Jimin's brain as he glared at the man approaching them. Taehyung gave him an innocent smile, slyly slinking his arm around Jimin's shoulders.

"I won't hold you then; have a good night!" the neighbor gave them a friendly smile and wave them goodbye. Soon, the pair turned the corner and, in a few moments, their footsteps were gone.

Jungkook looked down at his left arm, which Jimin had brushed past. A furious blister had burned into his skin and the smirk that stretched his lips no longer seemed so handsome. It was the sneer of a villain.

"How troublesome," he murmurred quietly as the wound began to heal itself, "but it's only a matter of time."

Shrouded by midnight shadows, his golden eyes glowed ominously. Something clattered onto the hall floor before Jungkook's door softly clicked shut.