“Excuse me?” Jimin squeaked. “What do you mean I’m ‘friends with one?’”

“Sorry to ruin the surprise,” shrugged Hoseok awkwardly. “I kind of assumed you knew.”

Jimin’s mind was racing, and he couldn’t make sense of anything the older man was saying. He didn’t think he knew any monsters - although wouldn’t they look pretty obviously non-human if he did? The young man mentally scrolled through his contact list, and tried to figure out who it could possibly be. He supposed if there was someone he was friends with who was a cryptid, he wouldn’t have known until very recently anyway - seeing as he had only just begun to tap into his Sensor abilities.

Hoseok must have seen the utterly confused look on Jimin’s frantic face, and he sighed somewhat annoyedly as he spelled it out for the younger man.

“Your friend, Jin. The one I met right before we left to find the nymphs?” Hoseok raised an eyebrow as he looked at Jimin skeptically. “He’s not human.”

“What-? I- that’s impossible,” rebuttled Jimin. “I’ve known Jin since we were kids. Yoongi and I both have, and-… Wait; don’t tell me Yoongi’s a Sensor, too?”

“That’s a question for somebody other than me,” dodged Hoseok. “I’ve never met any Yoongi, and I haven’t ever heard of a Sensor by that name. But that might not matter, because Jin could be perfectly visible to humans.”

That, at least, was something that made sense. Jimin had been friends with Jin all through their school years, and he was sure that he’d seen all of Jin’s teachers and same-aged peers interact with the other man. Though, apparently, the latter wasn’t a man at all, which was something that Jimin still couldn’t wrap his head around.

“Uh, Hoseok? I think you broke Jimin,” Taehyung declared as he poked the frozen man with his finer. “Anyone know how to fix him?”

Jimin didn’t think that there was anything anyone could say to help him work through the mental gymnastics that his brain was tumbling through as he stood, shell-shocked, at the edge of the forrest. He had so many questions, and no one who could answer them. Just when the young man had dared to believe he was finally beginning to get a handle on everything, Hoseok had thrown a wrench into Jimin’s perception of his entire world.

“I think all there’s left to do is to hope he gets better on his own,” theorized Jungkook solemnly.

Jimin silently cursed the younger man. He was right, of course - as always. Accepting that there was simply nothing any of them could do until Jimin was able to talk to Jin in person, the four young men left the cabin and adjacent well, listening to the unintelligible complaints of the water sprite as they made their retreat.

✧✧✧

“So you’re saying that gremlins are real?” buzzed Jungkook. “Have you ever seen one?”

“Nope,” replied Taehyung. “They’re very sneaky. I’m pretty sure one broke my camera once, though; that was a pain in the to fix.”

“What about faeries?” questioned the younger man.

“Yep; they’re real, too. Pretty much any legend or myth you can think of has some actual, real-life counterpart that can fall under cryptozoology.”

Jimin would have loved to participate in the two younger men’s delightful exploration of mythical creatures, but he was still wholly preoccupied by the revelation that Jin was apparently one of the things himself. The young man stared blankly into the distance as Hoseok slowed down to walk next to him.

“Are faeries nice?” asked Jungkook, his enthusiasm undampened by Jimin’s detached, listless state.

“Hell no,” laughed Taehyung. “You do not wanna with faerie people. I knew a Sensor who…”

“How are you holding up?” asked Hoseok quietly, breaking Jimin’s drifting concentration.

Jimin wasn’t sure how to respond. He decided to pose a question of his own, knowing that Hoseok was more likely than Taehyung to give him some straight answers.

“Why didn’t you tell me that Jin was… not human?”

“Well, like I said, I assumed that you knew.” Hoseok kicked at the leaves on the ground as he walked, sending them falling through the still, nippy air. “Either that or Jin really didn’t want you to know… which it seems like he didn’t.”

“If Jin isn’t human, then what… what is he?” pried Jimin.

He tugged at the cuffs of his sweater while Hoseok stared up at the sky, hiding his face from view as he formulated an answer.

“I don’t know,” admitted the taller man at last. “There was a tether attached to him - that much I’m certain of. But as for what Jin actually is…” Hoseok threw his arms up, and Jimin felt his spirits sink even farther. “I’ve never come across anything like him.”

✧✧✧

Jimin frowned at the needle-and-leaf-covered ground. That wasn’t helpful to him at all, and although Hoseok was doing his best to comfort the younger man, Jimin was thoroughly frustrated by just how little the former could offer him. He felt utterly lost as the four of them trudged through the chilly woods, though they were almost back to the meadow where they’d parked.

“I don’t believe that Jin means you any harm, if that’s comforting,” continued Hoseok. “If you two have known each other for years, I can’t really imagine he’d have waited this long to make a move to hurt you if he was harboring any ill-will.”

Jimin hadn’t even considered that possibility. Jin was one of the kindest, most benevolent people that Jimin knew, and the older man had been that way from the day the younger had met him. Even as a child, Jin had seemed to possess the guidance and foresight of a fully grown adult, and the elder had pulled Jimin out of a whole host of dangerous situations that were typically characteristic of youth. Jimin was sure that Yoongi would vouch for Jin, too, as even the sometimes-grumpy, reserved young man was unable to stay immune to Jin’s constant politeness and good mood.

“If he’s not trying to hurt me, then why would he lie to me?”

“That’s a question for Jin himself,” stated Hoseok. “I can’t speak for him, but I’m sure he has his reasons.”

Jimin was mostly offended and confused; too worked up to be comforted by the other man’s words. Pain was definitely prominent in the mix of emotions, as Jimin’s heart ached with the realization that he’d been played with for so many years. Was it possible that Jin didn’t know what Jimin truly was? If he did know, then why had Jin kept his identity unspoken-of for so many years when he should have assumed that Jimin was able to feel the former’s connective tether? It was at least possible that Jin was unaware of Jimin’s Sensorhood, but the younger man would have to wait until he could ask Jin himself if he wanted to get any answers.

“Are you guys throwing a dinner party for the squirrels back there?” called Taehyung. “What’s the hold up?”

“Coming,” Jimin yelled back, picking up his pace as Hoseok did the same.

“Don’t worry, Jimin,” the older man encouraged. “I’m sure everything will end up working itself out.”

✧✧✧

Jimin stared at his cellphone as if it were a dangerous animal. The other three men had left to get lunch, but Jimin refused to tag along, excusing himself on the pretense that he had leftovers going bad in the fridge. It was a lie, and his companions seemed like they recognized it as such, but nobody questioned that Jimin wanted to be left alone. Truthfully, the young man wasn’t hungry at all, and even so much as the thought of food was too much for him to stomach.

Why would you lie to me? What are you really?

The questions did no good when they were mentally projected at the phone instead of spoken or typed into it, so Jimin picked up the device with violently shaking fingers.

Where should he start? Was it even safe to text Jin when Jimin was on his own? The older man could get angry, and if it turned out that Jin was some inhuman beast, then Jimin didn’t want to consider the plethora of possible ways in which he could be mutilated.

“Jin, can we talk?”

That didn’t sound right. Jimin deleted the message before he could dispatch it, not wanting to risk letting his vibrating thumb knock into the “send” button accidentally. He didn’t want it to sound like he was breaking up with Jin; the older man hadn’t even done anything to make Jimin suspicious of him in over a decade of friendship, for goodness’ sake. It didn’t seem fair for Jimin to make any assumptions without at least getting Jin’s side of the story, so the young man continued to struggle to find the right phrasing.

“Why would he hide this from me?” Jimin interrogated the empty house. “Why did he lie to me for so ing long?!”

His voice pierced through the silence in the vacant living room. Jimin hadn’t had a chance to see Jin since awakening his Sensor abilities, so it made sense that he was still oblivious to the older man’s identity. Now, however, he couldn’t get over the hurdle of feeling that his childhood friend was somehow distant and unreachable no matter what he tried, and Jimin was upset that he was capable of thinking of the older man in that way.

He stared at a text message that Yoongi had sent almost a day ago. It was a normal little bulletin; updating Jimin on how his friend’s endeavors at work and school were going, and asking how the former was doing himself. No mentions of monsters, cryptids, or even Jin. Did Yoongi know about their mutual friend’s double life, or was he truly as ignorant as he made himself seem?

The question made Jimin’s head ache, so he put the phone down on the arm of the couch, staring vacantly at it for what must have been the dozenth time that afternoon.

✧✧✧

Jimin’s head snapped up as his front door opened, and he saw Jungkook standing in the entryway, the younger man’s back turned to Jimin as he waved to Hoseok and Taehyung, who were both currently blocked from Jimin’s view.

“Sorry you missed lunch, Jimin,” Jungkook said as he spun to face the older man. “Hoseok’s really fun when he’s not threatening Taehyung, and Tae told us this awesome story about- Hey, what’s wrong?”

Jimin tried to shield the tears that had started to well at the corners of his eyes, but it was no use as Jungkook sat close to him on the spacious couch.

“It’s nothing,” Jimin muttered. “It’s just that one of my best friends is some kind of ing mythical monster, and I didn’t even realize it until today. Not to mention that he and maybe Yoongi, too, have been lying to me for half my life.”

“I don’t think Jin’s a monster,” comforted Jungkook. “I’m not sure exactly what he is, but I think I can feel his string. He’s at the grocery store right now if my assumption is correct, and-”

“You’re not helping,” spat Jimin. “It’s bad enough that I’m blind to my own ing friend’s secret monster identity; I don’t need to be reminded that you’re better at everything than me.”

“S-sorry…” Jungkook trailed off.

Jimin felt bad for putting the younger man in such an awkward situation, but his sense of satisfaction at finally having a bit of power over Jungkook ultimately won out, and he didn’t apologize as he got up from the couch.

“Forget it,” sighed Jimin. “I have to figure out what the heck to say to Jin that won’t freak him out and-or get me killed if he’s dangerous.”

“I could help,” offered Jungkook. “If you want, I can-”

“Thanks, but no thanks,” dismissed Jimin as he vanished into his room.

Stupid kid; trying to be helpful.

Jimin felt certain that there was no help for him as he collapsed backwards onto his mattress, falling asleep instantly instead of coming up with an acceptable text to send to Jin. He didn’t wake up until it was the middle of the night.