Gilded Gambit
Summary: Her whole life, Jamie has been comfortable and well taken care of, the loved hybrid of a well off family. Until the day when she’s taken away from the only family she’s known, beaten and left for dead on the doorstep of a mysterious organization that might as well be the hybrid equivalent of the mob. A crime syndicate that ultimately wants to force revolution onto society. And they go by the name Bangtan Sonyeondan.
(Hybrid AU, Mafia AU, Slowburn, enemies to lovers, strangers to lovers)
Rating: M
Pairings: Hybrid!BTSxBTS, OT7xFem!Hybrid!OC/Reader
Part 1 Part 2
Author’s Note: This is a crosspost from AO3; I am the one who posted it on AO3 and it is my story!
Jimin didn’t bother knocking, poking his head curiously through the heavy oak door. Jin sat resting with his head in his hands, the unconscious patient he had worked on in her human form. She might heal better if she had stayed a ferret, but it was easier and safer to treat her extensive list of injuries when she wasn’t an animal. Seokjin had administered a drug that forced a hybrid to shift into whatever form they weren’t already in. It was useful during interrogations when someone wanted to be stubborn and stay shifted down, knowing their human sides were often more vulnerable.
“You can just set it down,” his hyung said without looking up. “Thank you.”
Jimin stared at what appeared to be an unappetizing mess neatly sectioned off by a cafeteria tray. In order to make it easier on all of them, they had been giving her mushed foods suited to a ferret’s omnivorous diet. Soft fruits, ground beef, eggs. Presentation could be a little neater, but it wasn’t something they had time to think about. The person getting the food wasn’t even conscious anyway. In fact, she had only been moved out of med bay into a spare bedroom yesterday evening.
“Actually, Namjoon wanted to talk to you.” Jin finally picked his head up, and Jimin winced in sympathy over the dark circles under his eyes. Seokjin prided himself on his appearance, rightfully so. His hyung was beautiful. It just wasn’t a good idea to tell him unless you had a few hours to waste hearing him preen over his own looks.
Running his hands down his pants, Jin stood. “Alright, well still just leave the tray. I’ll feed her when I come back.”
The younger man stared over at the comatose woman, her white hair pressed messily against the pillows propping her up, neck and face still sporting bruises. Even after almost a week being cared for by Seokjin and their private medical team, she still looked like she’d been through hell. “I can do it.” He volunteered.
”No you don’t have...well you know what? Fine, it won’t hurt anything.” Jin was too tired to put up much fight. Even while laying around she had to be the most high-maintenance captive they had ever had. Given who she was, having her could provide valuable leverage against a government official. But she was really only good to them alive, and keeping her breathing had been a hassle when she’d shown up on their doorstep half-dead already.
Frankly, Jimin was curious. He couldn’t sate that curiosity when she was unconscious, but, he had the patience to wait. Just like that, they swapped places, Jimin finally able to set down the tray and pull the chair closer to her bedside. “You know to get one of the medics if her heart-rate changes too drastically.”
”Mhm,” he replied absently, vaguely noticing the heart-rate monitor clipped to her finger, the machine stationed on the other side of her bed, out of the way. Seokjin left just as Jimin scooped some of the mushed down fruit onto a spoon. “Hello, we haven’t been formally introduced but I’m Jimin.” Making sure her head stayed properly elevated, the young man guided the blend of strained peaches and mashed watermelon into her mouth, pleased when she swallowed easily.
“You really got the whole country’s attention, disappearing in all that chaos.” Another spoonful of fruit went down her throat. “Well, I guess it was the reward offered for you...” The room was big, furnished by the large bed she convalesced in, a vanity and nightstand set, and a bookshelf of titles only their brainiac leader had any real interest in.
There was no TV, no fine paintings on the walls like in the main foyer or the hallways of their personal quarters. Just a ridiculously expensive oriental carpet under their feet and stillness that felt suffocating after a while, which was why he was determined to fill it with one-sided conversation. “It’s lucky for us that we were the ones who found you, and lucky for you too.” Jimin began giving her the ground beef, watching her pink lips smack lightly. Considering her countenance, he giggled, “You might not think that when you wake up, but we saved your life, so you’ll owe us.”
Jimin leaned in close, brushing a bit of hair from her face. Since no one was around, and she wouldn’t object, he held a few strands between his thumb and index finger, rubbing them like he was feeling the finest quality silk.
Angora fur really was as luxuriously soft as he’d heard. It was so sought after, that it wasn’t uncommon for angora rabbits and ferret hybrids to raised for their pelts, the way their animal counterparts had been for centuries. For a while, it was even more popular to use hybrid pelts, because of rumors it was even finer quality than the average animal’s fur. As if skinning poor bunnies and ferrets and foxes who had only known life in cages wasn’t bad enough.
Laws stopping such atrocities against hybrids had gradually been put in place, but not before hundreds if not thousands had already lost their lives to that trade. And the existence of those laws didn’t stop the high demand on the black market. Just a month ago, they had conducted a sting operation to rescue hybrids kidnapped and destined for slaughter. It had been particularly satisfying not only to destroy that ring and everyone involved—viciously—but to see the final looks on their face that the creatures they exploited were the ones behind their demise.
This little ferret had probably never had to even think of that terror, her life was so far removed from the average wild hybrid’s. Jimin understood why some of the others sneered when Jin and Taehyung brought her back to base, why they watched her limp form get taken to the med bay with a mixture of scorn and pity.
As a hybrid who had also once been exploited by humans, like many in their organization, Jimin supposed he should hate her too. Maybe he resented her, just a little, for having access to such luxury without lifting a paw, but overall he was just intrigued.
The right outfit and more time to heal, she’d be pretty. In the news footage of her all dolled up and standing with the ambassador’s daughter she was beautiful. Not that Namjoon would let him play dress-up with their captive. Sighing, Jimin gave her the rest of her meal, making sure to coax some of the water he brought down her throat as well.
No sooner had he began to wonder if he should wait for Jin-hyung or take the empty tray back to the kitchen than the door swung open, the force bringing a cool breeze. Jimin felt his nose give an involuntary twitch, picking up the fact that it wasn’t Jin coming back.
”What are you doing here?” If he didn’t know the owner of that voice so well, he might have tensed, taking the iciness in the tone as a sign of potential danger. But he knew it wasn’t directed at him, not really.
“I asked Jin-hyung if I could feed the hostage.” He grinned cutely, but the intensity on Taehyung’s face didn’t change at all. One snowy, striped ear twitched, his long tail held to the side, tense. Those blue eyes were as frigid as a winter sky, and they were locked on the hybrid in the bed with startling focus. “I could ask the same thing. What are you doing here? Namjoon wants her alive for a reason, you know.”
The alert, rounded ears lowered slightly, Taehyung averting his gaze as he cracked his knuckles. ”I wasn’t going to kill her.” he grumbled.
Jimin only continued to smile, his own tail swishing gently against the soft carpet. “We both know there are a lot of ways to make a person wish they were dead that come before finishing them off.”
Rolling his eyes, Taehyung came a little closer, radiating grace and power, his footsteps sure and silent. From head to toe, he was the very picture of a beautiful predator. ”I wasn’t going to touch her,” he insisted. “I was looking for Jin-hyung.”
Turning so he straddled the chair, Jimin rested his arms across the back of it and laid his chin on them. ”You just missed him, give or take twenty minutes.”
Taehyung rolled up the pressed sleeve of his semi-translucent Armani button-up, revealing a silver Rolex. “Where would he be now?” he asked himself, brow furrowed as he started to turn around.
”He’s with Namjoon-hyung,” Jimin informed him. “I don’t know what it’s about so who knows how long it’ll take. Going by the kitchen?” In the process of sitting there, talking to Taehyung, he had decided he liked the girl’s silent company, and wouldn’t mind remaining at his post until Seokjin returned.
”What do you want, a snack?” The other man snarked.
“I mean if you’re offering,” Jimin held out the tray. “But I was wondering if you could take this back with you.”
Tae shrugged, leaning over to take it from him, when his eyes locked on a point over Jimin’s shoulder. He stiffened instantly, and the smaller man almost wondered if Tae sensed a danger he couldn’t. Intimidating canines flashed as the tiger hybrid poorly suppressed a snarl. “Where...are her ears?”
Given Taehyung’s normally deep speaking voice, the growl to his words caused a shiver straight up Jimin’s slouched spine. Craning his head around to peek, he noticed for the first time that he couldn’t see the girl’s ears at all. He had assumed they were hidden, pressed against her skull and covered by hair as she slept. Curiously, he skimmed a hand against the top of her head, but all he felt were smooth tresses. Lifting away hair from her pillow revealed what he expected to find: perfectly normal, human ears.
The sight sent Taehyung reeling back. “What the hell?” he hissed. “Do we really need anymore proof she’s beyond out of touch with her inner animal?” His glare had only intensified, and if she knew how much animosity those beautifully chilly eyes were directing at her, she might have tried making herself smaller.
Feeling the tension rise considerably, Jimin tried for an easy explanation. ”Jin-hyung did pump her full of drugs that forced a shift so she’d heal better. It could just be that.”
”Yeah, and it could just be that I actually miss the circus.” The tiger was having none of it. “Even unconscious, no self-respecting hybrid would draw in their animal features unless...”
Jimin knew exactly what he was going to say. Unless they were looking for human approval. Though most humans who owned hybrids liked that they physically appeared to be a mix of man and animal, it wasn’t that long ago that hybrids were considered glorified pets. They still were for some, treated no better than the common house cat or dog, despite having total sentience much closer to humans.
Then there were people who took it a step further, and wanted no trace of hybrids in society. They regarded them as unnatural, freaks of nature. No one truly knew where they had come from generations ago, whether they were a naturally occurring link between man and beast, or, as some conspiracy theorists postulated, the product of secret bioengineering to enhance humans with animal strength that went a bit left and resulted in the first hybrids.
Some of these early experiments, the theories speculated, had revoluted against their human creators and escaped to the wild, where they formed settlements and began to reproduce, leading to “wild” hybrids who weren’t as tame as intended. Whether or not any of it held water, the fact that new hybrids were now artificially conceived in lab environments around the world was well known.
This was especially true if some wealthy socialite wanted an exotic hybrid with an animal side from some critically endangered or long extinct animal. With enough money and the right connections, one could be custom-made and ready for purchase. Over years of selectively breeding, scientists had even perfected picking and choosing the right balance of personality traits so that they wouldn’t be too hard to manage. A snow leopard who had all the exoticism of the graceful big cats in the wild, but all the docility and obedience of a hand-reared house pet.
Hybrids like he and Taehyung who had been born outside labs but still raised at least partially by humans sometimes felt imposed upon by their human-made counterparts. It was considered a sign of total submission to humans, total domestication, to pull in one’s ears and tail and whatever other features marked them as a hybrid. It was painful, but doable, though most felt there was no need to hide their authentic selves, water their appearances down to be more palatable to human eyes.
“Even worse than some pampered pet, she’s lab grown.” Taehyung backed away with a shake of his head.
“We don’t actually know that.” Jimin pointed out lazily. “Yeah it’s easier for them to do it, but technically, so could we if—”
The warning growl building in Taehyung’s throat cut him off, and Jimin sighed. “Just get that to the kitchen and then see if there are any nice treats we can share.” Making sure his ears were tucked down against his head, and his eyes were extra round, Jimin held his tail up under his chin.
“I’ll take this to the kitchen, but then I’m going to go see Gguk. I need him to try digging up whatever he can find out about her.”
There was no use trying to dissuade Taehyung once he’d made up his mind, so Jimin didn’t try. He studied her face—Gwan Jamie. The fingers of one hand suddenly curled atop the sheets before releasing, and the male noticed with anticipation that he could hear her breathing shift.
She was waking up.
🐾
There was nothing really excruciatingly painful that she had been through in life, so Jamie didn’t have much to compare it to. Once she had tried sneaking up on Byungwook, and he had neutralized her without hesitation. She had ended up flat on her back, dazedly staring up at the summer sky while his elbow dug into her windpipe and his full weight pressed on top of her. The minute he saw it was only her, he got up, checking her over and scolding her for startling him.
That was to say, that instance in which she thought she would be choked out before she could explain, was nothing in comparison to the immense ache she woke up to—everywhere. Jamie groaned, noticing her throat wasn’t quite as parched as she was expecting, but her tongue still felt like lead against the roof of her mouth. Attempting to bring a hand up to rub at her eyes revealed something on her finger. Eyes gradually widening, she followed the cord to the heart rate monitor looming across the bed. Then stared down at the downy, unfamiliar sheets, wiggling her toes underneath them. At least she still had those.
Nose twitching, her instincts finally made her aware of the presence oh so close, staring oh so hard. A gasp turned into a half-growl of warning when she noticed the man, no, hybrid at her bedside. His tall, feline ears stood high, his shining cinnamon brown eyes—rimmed in kohl that she couldn’t decipher if it was mascara or not—full of interest and focus, the way only a cat could be. His tail swung from behind him, landing in his lap as he leaned in.
“Who…are you?” She asked, hesitantly. She was definitely not in the manor from what she could tell, but she was also pretty sure this was no hospital. Not even the private ones looked like this. The stranger gave her a small, lopsided grin that revealed a hint of fangs, though he didn’t appear to be trying to intimidate her.
Jamie sucked in a breath, glancing away. Truth be told, he was ethereal. Definitely a hybrid, but with such sweet, angelic features. Humans had cosmetic procedures done to get lips so pretty and full, but it wouldn’t surprise her in the least to learn his were natural. His cheeks were round, squishy.
With the right expression, he would be downright boyish looking, but this was an adult hybrid, someone her age at the least. As he cocked his head, studying her in return, one of his ears moved parallel, and she noticed the jewelry dangling from it. A silver key. A small set of diamond studs rested above that.
Actually, after spending almost her whole life with Ae-Ri, around money, Jamie was sure this hybrid had it. The semi-translucent cotton shirt he wore was Gucci. She didn’t need to see the silver insignia on the collar to recognize the brand. The sleek black suspenders across his slim shoulders were too. His light brown hair looked like it had once been gelled but had started to come loose, falling into his inquisitive gaze.
Jamie had been around attractive hybrids and their attractive owners at many a social function with the Gwans, but she was still getting a little mesmerized. This cat had a disarmingly pretty face, but instincts told her not to consider letting her guard down just yet. He was dressed well enough to be the young CEO of some up-and-coming company. Pretty enough to be plastered on adverts around Seoul modeling the latest trends in high-fashion for hybrids. That combination alone made her wary. It always did.
“Jimin.” he replied, even his voice mellifluous to the ear. “You’re Gwan Jamie, right?”
Slowly, she nodded, her mind still very foggy. She was…in a bed, her body painful, and covered in bandages. What happened? There was a considerable gap in her memory between Ae-Ri leaving for her date that night and how she’d ended up in some unfamiliar house in a roughed up state.
“Hyung’s been watching over you for days, and the first day I come in, you woke up.” The thought seemed to greatly please Jimin, his milky brown eyes disappearing into the crescents of his soft cheeks.
“Stop acting so friendly with her. Now that she’s awake, we need to tell Namjoon so the interrogation can start.”
Somehow, she had completely missed the presence of the second man, until that dark voice spoke up from the shadows. A shaky hand came up to check the side of her neck, where her pulse had started to quicken. Jimin was some kind of cat, and probably at the least an exotic species, by the looks of his ears and tail, but despite him falling on the side of predator, and in spite of Jamie knowing she had to be cautious, he didn’t invoke the same involuntary spike of fear that this second hybrid did.
The low, solitary swish of his long tail and the ears cocked back on his head made his species a dead giveaway. Jamie had never met a real bengal tiger. They were coveted, but didn’t do well in captivity. Most owners found themselves very much in over their heads by the time the hybrid reached maturity. Even when they were raised by humans as cubs, there was no guarantee they would remain docile and obedient.
The best place to procure one was from a state-of-the-art lab, and because they were endangered, it was hard to do that. Something told her he was not from a lab, and he would not hesitate to go for her jugular. The way he stared at her, as if she only existed because he allowed it…instilled a coldness Jamie had never known.
Straightening her spine, despite the pain it caused, she valiantly tried to curb any sign of her mounting anxiety. The last thing she wanted was to release a puff of pheromones and let them know how unsettled she was. She was a predator too, damn it. Granted angora ferrets were more inclined to hunt lizards, small birds, rodents and other little mammals. Maybe the odd, non-venomous snake in the wild, if they could dig one up.
They were no match in any form for bigger predators with powerful paws and superior bite strengths. “Interrogation?” She repeated, not able to meet his blue eyes when he glared. Unlike with Jimin, she held no doubts that the kohl around his eyes was natural. “I just woke up here, bandaged and confused, and I need to be interrogated?”
”She’s got a point, Tae.” Jimin said evenly. “I don’t think she’s ready. Just go tell Namjoon. I’ll keep an eye on her.”
Tae did not take his eyes off her for an uncomfortably long period of time. It felt like the skin of her face would melt off the bone before he decided to stop.
Finally, with a grumble too low for her to make out, Tae made his exit, and Jamie was able to breathe at last. She hated that he exhibited the same lethal grace leaving as he had just standing there.
“Your friend seems very hospitable.” The words were out before she could nip them down. Ae-Ri’s feistiness had rubbed off somewhere along the line. Jimin luckily did not seem offended, only grinning a bit.
”Tae’s got history with humans, and you were raised by them. It’ll take him a while to get use to you.”
“That sounds like we’ll be seeing a lot more of each other,” Jamie mumbled.
Jimin nodded. “I don’t think you’re really healed yet. You were out for almost a week.”
”Almost a week?” Her heart skipped a beat, the room suddenly tilting. “W-Wait, what about Ae-Ri? She’s my…my owner.” Stopping, the ferret tried to determine if she should say more. She hadn’t been kept out of the public spotlight, so if someone had seen Ae-Ri on TV at some point they had probably seen her.
For that reason, she shared a bodyguard detail with her owner. It would be problematic if either of them got taken hostage. She was as much a part of Ambassador Gwan’s family as his own daughter. That’s how it had always been. She ate dinner with them, went on vacations with them. As a kit, when she and Ae-Ri were both small and Ae-Ri got fussy around bedtime, Jamie had spent many nights curled up by her head as a ferret, right there on her pillow.
Jimin blinked. “We just met, and you’re already thinking of leaving?” The question didn’t even register. Jamie was cycling through the mess of thoughts in her head.
Everyone knew Ae-Ri as the independent young socialite who would speak diplomatically about women’s rights at the UN and then be spotted out sassing paparazzi that asked invasive questions. Jamie had been with her on many such occasions. Usually in human form, right at her side, but occasionally riding along in a bag, poking her snout out on occasion.
Jimin’s own features shifted, becoming more serious. Where before his smile had been open, his eyes curious, he regarded her with as much calculation as she was giving him. Crossing his legs at the knee, Jamie caught sight of his wingtip loafers. One of the things Ae-Ri had always told her was, a person’s fashion sense said a lot. Not just about their personality, or that they liked the color pink.
There were codes hidden in a smart business look the average person might miss in favor of gawking at the expensive clothes. One such “code” was that a man in Italian leather shoes was not to be trusted. Great. He was definitely more than a pretty face, and given the company he kept—“Tae”—that probably spelled danger.
It was a ridiculous leap to make, under normal circumstances, but given the unknowns of how she had ended up in this room with him clearly recovering from extensive injury, how Tae had a problem with humans and by extension hybrids who interacted with them, and the fact that Jimin’s footwear was suspicious, according to Ae-Ri’s codes, there was only one conclusion.
”Y-You’re mafia, aren’t you?”
