The Hunt

17

Jimin paused the video on a shot of the man, JiHoon, clutching his midsection after having collapsed to the pavement. The hunter had slit his throat and left him to bleed out in an alley in a seedy part of town.

Still looking at the computer screen, Jimin asked, "Are you ready to see it from a different angle? Or do you need a minute?"

I nodded silently, and Jimin showed me the same scene from a different angle. This time I watched as JiHoon's eyes grew wide with shock and the realization of what was happening to him. I couldn't help it; I cried.

While I never met him, I did still feel a connection to JiHoon, albeit a small one. He didn't deserve to die that way.

I wiped away my tears with the back of my hand, and took a deep breath. "Are there any other cameras that show the back of the car a little closer?"

"The license plate is covered. You can't read it."

"Right, but it looks like there are some stickers. The one in the back window looks like it could be for a university." I leaned in and pointed to the car on the screen. The car was too far away from the camera to see the back window clearly, but there appeared to be a long, skinny line of text along of the top of the rear window.

Jimin tapped a few keys and brought up another camera's feed, this one was much closer to the car. He leaned in and squinted at the screen.

"I think that's for my school," he said, puzzled.

"Look," I pointed to another sticker on the bumper. "That's a Danish Bros. Coffee sticker. I think there's one near campus."

"You think the hunter goes to my school?" Jimin turned to look at me, making sure I could see the skeptical look on his face. "That's a little too convenient don't you think?"

I gave him a blank stare in return. "You're right. Maybe you should just go kidnap some more women and question them. That was working really well for you guys."

Jimin stood up quickly, his desk chair flew backwards toward the bed. Squaring his shoulders and standing up straight, Jimin tried to tower over me in an intimidating manner. With our being roughly the same height, it did not have the desired effect. He glared into my very being, the flames behind his eyes clearly visible.

I sighed, used to this intimidation tactic having been raised by and around wolves. 

"It's possible that isn't even her car. She could have borrowed it, or stolen it. But it won't hurt to look around campus. Unless you have some other, more promising leads?" I took a step closer, my gaze locked on Jimin's eyes. They were fading from dark brown to warm amber indicating he was close to changing into his animal form.

"What's wrong, little fox?" I couldn't help but smirk as he growled in response. "Do I intimidate you?"

Jimin let out a bitter laugh and gave me a tight-lipped smile. 

"No, Waffles," his words were laced with malice as he took a step closer to me, our chests nearly touching. But I refused to step down. I wasn't one to submit so easily. Some would call it wolfish arrogance, but I saw it as a means for survival. 

I'm not sure how long we stood there like that, waiting for the other to back down. Neither of us budged when the bedroom door opened. 

"Umm... I just came down to tell you dinner's ready," Hoseok's raspy voice rang out behind me. 

"Thanks, hyung." 

Hoseok didn't shut the door before leaving us to continue our staring contest. 

"Truce?" I asked. Even to my own ears, I sounded a little too cocky. But I was hungry and the aroma of whatever Jin had cooked up for dinner wafted in through the now open door. 

"For now." Jimin let his shoulders relax and rolled his neck. "Come on. Let's go eat." 

He led the way upstairs to join the others, but stopped at the bottom of the stairs. Jimin turned to face me, a smug look on his face. 

"For the record, I'm not little."