chapter thirteen: warmth

Jaebum glanced up from his place on the couch with a troubled expression. He watched Jae Ah laugh at something Jackson said and slightly sighed. He didn’t understand why Jinwoo would have a picture of him. And he needed to find out why.

“What’s wrong?” Jin Young asked as he fell back on the couch beside his Alpha.

Jaebum gave him a look, “What do you think?”

“We’ll find out why, hyung.” Jin Young said after a moment. “Don’t worry.”

Jae Ah glanced over again at Jaebum and her brows slightly furrowed. She was sure that he was the one that was in the picture. But he didn’t seem to know why Jinwoo would have a photo like that.

Jinwoo had been acting weird lately though and now it seemed even more suspicious to her. She knew that Jinwoo didn’t get along with the boys in the room with her but that didn’t explain much about the photo.

Jae Ah felt a spark run up her arm as if she’d hit her nerve and startled. Her head snapped to her right and saw Mark looking back at her. She cleared and awkwardly averted her gaze back to the carrots she was chopping.

“You know how to cook?” Mark asked, watching her smooth hand movements.

Jae Ah slightly nodded, “My mom was never that great at it so I cooked a lot ever since I was young.” Her lips pulled up, “Jaehyun at i-” Her eyes widened as her expression changed, “Oh my god! Jaehyun! He’s probably freaking out.” She dropped the knife onto the chopping board and turned to Mark, “Where’s my phone?”

Mark blinked, “Phone?”

“Yes! You use it to talk to people when you press their name?” Jae Ah incredulously explained. “Do you live in a different century? Or is this your medicine too?”

Mark silently cursed at Jackson again, “No. I know what a phone is. But I don’t know where yours is. I didn’t take it.”

Jae Ah patted her jeans pockets again but found nothing there. She groaned loudly in realization, “Does this mean I lost my freaking phone? Now Jaehyun really will kill me.”

Mark’s expression slightly fell at seeing her panicking. His wolf stirred inside him uneasily, not liking the feeling of having an unhappy mate. “You can use… my phone.”

Jae Ah met his eyes with a tired look, “Please?”

Mark nodded before disappearing out of the room to get his phone. Jae Ah’s hand rested on the counter as she looked around the room. Bam Bam and Yugyeom were arguing over something boiling over the pot. Jackson had an almost judging expression on his face while Youngjae’s eyes turned to half moons as he laughed. Jaebum and Jin Young were watching something on the TV while occasionally commenting.

Jae Ah knew nothing about them but something made her feel comfortable in that room with them. Even though she’d known them for less that a few hours, she felt some sort of connection with them that didn’t exactly make sense to her.

Jae Ah had a lot of friends. She was a social person and she loved to make friends. But the 6 boys in that room made her envious of friendship. S