Jimin stepped out onto the gravel, which crunched loudly beneath his feet as he looked up at the imposing trees in front of him. Taehyung got noisily out of the passenger’s side, and marched around the car to stand beside the shorter man, who didn’t take his eyes off the rustling pines.

“It’s time you learned how to tap into your Sensor abilities,” announced Taehyung cheerily. “Now, obviously I’m not the best person to teach you this, but since we kind of have limited options at the moment, I’m going to do my best.”

The younger man rubbed his hands together and wiggled his fingers as he prepared to start.

“Close your eyes,” he commanded.

Jimin did, and the image of tall trees was replaced with total blackness.

“Okay. Now picture the monster you saw last night. Really visualize it! Imagine it’s right here in front of us.”

Jimin thought that Taehyung sounded a little too excited about the prospect of being faced by a supernatural dog with eerie, bloodshot eyes, but he followed the latter’s directions and pictured the hellhound in his mind as clearly as he could.

“Are you doing it?”

“Yes,” muttered Jimin, his focus absorbed by creating the image of the large, slightly distorted canine.

“Good,” praised Taehyung. “According to my sources, the portal that the hellhounds in this area are getting through is most likely located somewhere in this forest. To find it, you’re going to need to concentrate on picturing the monster you saw, and allow it to lead you to where in the world it is.”

The whole concept sounded pretty far-fetched to Jimin, but at this point he was almost ready to believe that anything was possible. He opened his eyes when Taehyung instructed him to do so, and tried to visualize the hellhound pointing him in the direction they needed to go.

“Mature Sensors can supposedly just ‘feel’ where the monster is located and lead themselves right to it,” resumed Taehyung. “But hopefully this little exercise will help you to stretch your Sensor muscles until you can learn to do it like that.”

Jimin didn’t respond, as he was too busy trying to get the hellhound in his imagination to do anything at all besides float motionlessly in place. The terrifying image refused to cooperate, and Jimin’s strained expression told Taehyung that the younger man’s proposed tactic had failed. The latter crossed his arms in disappointment, and furrowed his brow while scratching his elbow, trying to think of something else to help Jimin start sensing the monsters.

“This is useless,” grunted Jimin. “I can’t do it.”

“Hmm… I was afraid this would happen,” murmured Taehyung. “Alright; back in the car. I have another plan.”

✧✧✧

It had taken the two men about fifteen minutes to reach the gravel parking lot where Jimin had failed to pick up the trail that should have been sent out by the hellhounds, and Taehyung instructed the older man to start driving back toward town while he made a phone call. Jimin was surprised and intrigued when the other man put his cellphone on speaker mode, filling the interior of the car with several loud rings before someone on the other end picked up.

“Y’ello?” crackled a husky voice.

“Hey, Namjoon,” Taehyung greeted the man on the phone. “It’s me. Taehyung.”

“Tae! Hey, how’s it going?” The man called Namjoon perked up, and sounded genuinely excited when Taehyung mentioned his name. “You find anything worthwhile yet?”

“Not exactly,” muttered Taehyung. “You know the guy whose name you gave me - Park Jimin? Turns out he doesn’t even in’ know he’s a Sensor. Can you believe that?”

Jimin’s face started burning up at the reminder of his own cluelessness, and he felt the embarrassment of his most recent failure at tracking all over again as Taehyung and Namjoon continued to speak.

“No way,” marveled Namjoon. “Park’s supposed to be a member of one of the strongest bloodlines. Hell, how does anyone not realize that they can see monsters for Christ’s sake? Is this kid stupid or just really ing dense?”

Jimin had to strangle the steering wheel to keep himself from lashing out physically at the phone, which he realized would have been worthless considering Namjoon was all the way in Seoul - not to mention that doing so would probably cause Jimin to crash the car.

“I think he was just in pretty heavy denial about some stuff,” theorized Taehyung awkwardly. “And, also, he can hear you right now, so you might want to watch your mouth.”

The phone was silent for a moment before Namjoon spoke, a bit more softly this time.

“Sorry…” he mumbled. “Anyway, what can I do for you guys?”

“Well, like I said, Jiminnie has been having some pretty life-altering realizations lately, and I think they may be impacting his ability to tap into his monster sensing, uh… senses.” Taehyung laughed at the alliteration before getting to his point. “He can’t follow the hellhounds’ trail, so we’re kind of at a loss for how to go about finding the portal and collecting some evidence.”

“Did you have him try to visualize the monster?” interrupted Namjoon. “Show him some drawings or something? Help him really picture it?”

“I didn’t have to,” Taehyung laughed. “Poor guy saw one of the goddamn things standing on the edge of his bed last night.”

“!” Namjoon breathed. “Tae, that’s really dangerous. Did he look in its eyes when he saw it? You know what’s supposed to happen if-”

“Yeah, yeah; don’t worry about that right now,” Taehyung cut him off. “I know the risks - and Jimin does, too.”

Jimin wasn’t entirely sure that he did, but he kept his mouth shut as he listened in on the other men’s conversation.

“What we need now is another Sensor to teach Jimin how to use his gift,” finished Taehyung. “Preferably one who’s close by and easily persuaded to work with a newbie Sensor.”

✧✧✧

“Well, what do you want me to do about that?” scoffed Namjoon.

“, Joonie; I dunno,” groaned Taehyung in mock ignorance. “I just thought that maybe since you’re the one with the ing database full of available Sensors, you might be able to help us solve this particular issue.”

Jimin had made it back to the younger man’s motel, and he pulled into the parking lot before shutting off the engine. Taehyung was still talking to the reluctant young man on the other end of the phone, so Jimin unbuckled his seatbelt and sat back to continue listening.

“I told you, all the other Sensors in your area are spoken for,” Namjoon sighed. “Nobody else is available. There’s a lot of competition for these people, Taehyung; you know that.”

“Yeah; I know that’s why you stuck me with a Sensor who can’t sense,” snapped Taehyung. He turned toward Jimin as he added, “No offence.”

“None taken, I guess,” mumbled Jimin.

It was true that the young man was unable to perform one of the most basic duties that Taehyung had intended to enlist his help for, so he couldn’t really argue with the younger man’s assessment - even though he felt hurt by it. Taehyung pleaded into the phone as he and Jimin sat idly in the parking lot.

“I’m beggin’ ya, Namjoon. There must be someone who can help us. Someone willing to take a break from their current job to lend a hand? Anyone!”

Silence filled the car for a good twenty seconds, and Jimin wondered if maybe the phone had cut out and Namjoon wasn’t coming back. Eventually, though, the line sputtered back to life as Taehyung’s friend spoke again.

“Tae,” he sighed, "you know there’s one person…”

The man on the phone trailed off, and Jimin saw Taehyung scowling.

“I know,” Taehyung groaned. “But isn’t there anyone else? You and I both know he’s never going to want to help me.”

“That may be so, but my computer’s showing that he’s also the only person close to you guys who’s not currently working on any assignment,” Namjoon reiterated. “You want me to give him a call for you?”

“No, no; it’s best if I do that,” grumbled Taehyung. “Thanks for your help, Namjoon.”

“Hey, I don’t control the Sensors,” Namjoon said apologetically. “I just keep track of ’em.”

“Yeah; I know,” mumbled Taehyung. “Talk to you later.”

✧✧✧

After saying goodbye, Namjoon hung up the phone, and the car was quiet once again. Jimin was afraid to speak, as he didn’t have any idea of what to say next. He looked at Taehyung, hoping that the pouting young man would tell him what was going on - although the way things had operated thus far into their relationship made him seriously doubt that that was ever going to happen.

“Let’s go inside the hotel for a minute,” Taehyung suggested finally. “I have another call to make.”