Got my claws in you

Chapter 28- webs untangle, things unfold

KOOK POV:

(Y/N) doesn't return at her normal time. Doesn't come entering through the apartment door with Jimin hyung in tow, no waft of sweet mint wafting in with them. There's no doe greeting us wide-eyed and smiling as she greets us, as she hurries to change and freshen up before joining us in the kitchen.

Hobi hyung returns but it's with Tae hyung, it's through the partition that they come, searching for (Y/N) themselves and eyes flashing with meaning, with a silent look of concern and worry and knowledge exchanged between them.

"She's not back yet then." Tae hyung remarks as he peeks into the kitchen, having gone a hunt through the flat, the sound of doors opening and closing, of the padding of footsteps and stripey ears twitching as narrowed eyes scan the kitchen before stepping in. Disappointed and wilting.

"Did something happen?" I ask, fingers brushing down my apron, fiddling with the pockets as I turn to look at the two of them.

See the way Hobi hyung's ears curl and twist, see the hesitance flash across his face.

There was something I'd learnt about Hobi hyung. Had seen that he seemed physically incapable of lying. There was always one tell or another. Whether it was the way his pheromones so abruptly, so blatantly changed. Whether it was the way his ears curled and his eyes flashed, turning away from meeting a gaze head-on. Hobi hyung was just a terrible liar.

And there was something he wasn't telling with the way he shook his head, so blatantly lying or withholding something.

"No...I just...thought she would be back." He mumbles.

Tae hyung's stripey tail curls, slowly and silently swishing as he steps forward into the kitchen, busies himself with peering over my shoulder, giving a greeting nuzzle to my cheek before darting off to Jin hyung, melting into his side when hyung easily lifts an arm to scoop him close.

But hyung's eyes are narrowed, alert and on edge and scrutinising in a way that I know too well. And I know it's just me picking up on it.

And even if  a restlessness fills me, worms away at me from the inside with that need to know, to make sure (Y/N) is okay, that she's fine, I manage to force the questions down, silence them as I mindlessly pluck pieces of cut vegetables to nibble at. Hands unconsciously reaching for something to gnaw at, picked up on immediately by Jin hyung who's wings brush past me in a silent show of comfort, who's hand squeezes mine.

And yet (Y/N) doesn't appear.

She doesn't appear even as dinner finishes cooking, despite the fact I'd seen Jin hyung turn the flame down extremely low to let it 'simmer' and boil away. She didn't appear even as Yoongi hyung came padding down searching for everyone had vanished to.

And it was then that I learnt that neither Joon hyung nor Jiminie hyung had come home either. Past their usual timings. And there hadn't been any call, any message to say they'd be late either.

It made Yoongi hyung's tail turn slower, predatory with the way he silently stalked to the other felines, to the way he examined their telling postures.

It took one murmur of 'cub look at me' and Tae was wringing his hands, sweet berry scent sharp and taking on a bitter decaying tinge, like rotting fruit and foliage as he looked at him with wide eyes.

"(Y/N) was worried about something today. She was really stiff and fidgety and Hobi hyung said it was something to do with work. That Joon hyung and Jiminie had come to pick her up." he says in a rush, scent sharp with worry and concern, unease on his features.

The attention drifts to Hobi hyung, who's shooting an exasperated but resigned expression at Tae, standing up taller when Yoongi hyung's attention turns to him. Almost prickly and defensive.