Chapter Text
"Do you want any more coffee, Hoseok?" Namjoon asked, getting up from his seat. "I think I'll have another."
"No thanks, one is enough for me," Hoseok smiled. "Mark, Yoongi, do you guys want anything?"
Both the cat and wolf hybrids shook their heads, seemingly quite content with their glasses of water.
It had been two years since Mark and Yoongi were adopted by Hoseok, and both hybrids were living very happy lives. The same could be said for Jackson, whom of which had calmed down considerably since Namjoon first adopted him. Even Jin was doing just fine despite losing his sight, and Jackson was proving to be the perfect guide hybrid for him, always making sure he didn't bump into things and to pull him out of danger.
On this particular morning, Namjoon had suggested that he and Hoseok, along with their hybrids, have breakfast at the new café which had opened two weeks ago. It wasn't often that the two friends got to have breakfast together as Namjoon's work schedule was all over the place. Some days he started early, other days he started later but finished late, meaning that he usually slept in during the days where he started later.
Hoseok, on the other hand, had recently found a job as a choreographer. While his job had a neater, well-structured schedule, he was consistently working long hours, usually from 9am until 6pm, sometimes later depending on who he is choreographing for. He usually had a day off every Friday during promotional seasons, but during comeback seasons he barely had time to think, and most of the time he took Yoongi and Mark to work with him so they wouldn't be left alone all day. His boss didn't mind, he enjoyed the extra company. Though when they were left at home, Hoseok made sure that they locked the doors from the inside and didn't answer the door for anyone.
"Alright, back in a minute," Namjoon said before heading off in the direction of the cashier.
The six of them had picked a table by the window as Jackson had insisted on people watching, much to Yoongi's amazement. He wasn't sure how he had so much energy at this time in the morning. With Jackson closest to the window, Jin was positioned next to him. Both of them were wearing harnesses, with a single leash clipped between them; clipped to the front of Jin's harness and to the back of Jackson's.
The hybrid had learned to lead Jin, rather than pull like he had done with Namjoon, making him a very good guide for the blind hybrid. So far Jin hadn't bumped into anything, giving Jackson a little bit of an ego. Though admittedly, Jin was able to walk around the house on his own without the need for Jackson.
Mark was sat opposite Jackson, staring out of the window with his ears on full alert. He hadn't said anything all morning apart from agreeing to a glass of water earlier on. It wasn't unusual for Mark to be silent, he would rather listen than speak, but it was unusual for him to be on full alert, especially when surrounded by people he knows.
It took Hoseok a minute to realise that Yoongi was on full alert too.
"Something the matter, Yoongi? Mark?" Hoseok questioned, looking out of the window to see if he could see what was putting them on edge.
"Something isn't right," Mark replied, nose twitching. "I don't know what it is but something doesn't seem right."
Just as Namjoon returned to the table with his coffee, a fire engine zoomed past the window, sirens blaring and lights flashing. Yoongi and Mark bolted from their seats, heading straight out of the door of the café and off in the same direction in which the fire engine had gone.
Grabbing their leashes, Hoseok was quick to follow them, with Namjoon and his two hybrids trailing behind, his coffee long forgotten. Sprinting after two hybrids wasn't the easiest of tasks, but Hoseok's long legs allowed him to keep up rather well.
As soon as he turned the corner, his eyes lit up in shock at the sight in front of him.
Thick, black smoke was billowing out of the Hybrid Adoption Centre. Three fire engines were blocking off the roads, along with four police cars and two ambulances. There were no hybrids in sight apart from Yoongi and Mark, and there was no sign of Jaemin either.
Reaching the scene, Hoseok spotted Jimin barking out orders to his colleagues, as well as ordering members of the public to move away from the scene.
"Jimin, what's going on?" Hoseok asked while trying to get his breath back.
"Hoseok? What brings you here?" Jimin replied, looking rather surprised at Hoseok's sudden appearance.
"Yoongi and Mark ran after the fire engine," Hoseok explained, nodding his head at his two hybrids who were surveying the scene from behind the police blockade. "Is anyone hurt?"
"Nobody has been brought out of the building, we can't get in, the smoke is too thick." The officer explained, turning to talk to his colleague.
Hoseok's heart dropped at the thought of Jaemin being trapped in the burning building. He hoped that he had got out through the back, or at least turned up to work late.
BamBam and Jungkook were sat on the bonnet of Jimin's van. From the way their tails were moving frantically it was apparent that they were itching to go. BamBam had been trained to sniff out humans and hybrids alike. He and Jungkook made quite a team, but it was very strange seeing Jungkook with a hybrid other than Taehyung.
Turning his attention back to Jimin, Hoseok glanced at the man he was talking to. The man had black hair that covered his forehead but fell just above his dark brown eyes. He was around the same height as Jimin and looked to be a member of the Hybrid Dog Unit as well, but there didn't appear to be a hybrid trailing behind him.
"Hoseok, this is Officer Joonmyun. His hybrid went missing over a month ago during an operation." Jimin said, just as he caught Jungkook defying orders and running into the burning building.
Cursing under his breath, Jimin left Joonmyun alone with Hoseok and ran closer to the building in anticipation of his hybrid returning unharmed.
"Nice to meet you, officer," Hoseok said, bowing. "I'm sorry to hear about your hybrid."
"We're all working hard to find him. There have been far too many hybrid disappearances in the past few months, and Jimin has a suspicion that it's the same person from a couple of years ago." Joonmyun muttered.
"The same person? I thought you caught him?"
Joonmyun shook his head. "We caught his comrades, but we didn't catch him. After the warehouse incident, we thought we'd find a body, but no body was found."
"Oh."
"I'd suggest you keep your hybrids in your sight at all times. I believe I don't need to tell you twice about not leaving your hybrids home alone for long periods of time."
"No, sir."
Joonmyun nodded. "Good. Hybrids have been disappearing from homes, gardens, the Pound, and this time around they've been disappearing from shelters. This isn't the first shelter that has been on fire in the last month. We believe shelters are being targeted, fires set as a distraction. The scumbags even hit our Police Hybrid Training center last week, stole six of our puppies.
"I'm lost without my hybrid. He's very valuable, comes from a line of great police hybrids. The six stolen hybrid puppies are his first and only litter, I'm so worried for them. He won't have another litter, hybrids bred for this purpose only breed once."
It was as if Hoseok was living a nightmare. He had tried to forget about the events that happened two years ago, which left his best friend's hybrid blind and Yoongi needing to wear glasses.
Just as Hoseok was about to ask another question, shouts for a paramedic could be heard coming from the front of the building. Both humans turned their heads to see Jungkook pulling a coughing Jaemin from the burning building.
Joonmyun muttered a 'sorry' to Hoseok before heading off in the direction of the building. Yoongi and Mark appeared at the side of Hoseok, watching the events unfold. So this is what had been catching their attention. They could smell the smoke and hear the sirens.
It appears as though Joonmyun was right about the fire being a distraction. Jaemin told him that he was the only person in the building and that his night staff, along with all the hybrids in the center were gone when he arrived that morning.
Subconsciously, Hoseok found himself grabbing onto the sleeves of Mark and Yoongi's jackets, pulling them close to himself. He lost Yoongi once, he wasn't going to let it happen again.
But who was responsible for this?