No, it can't be...

Sehun, standing in the middle of nowhere, kept denying it over and over. 

The moon light shone brightly above his head. Maybe it was a full moon, maybe it was a crescent but that didn't matter for everything he feared of has already happened, unfolded in front of him like how the moon's bright light unexpectedly light up the entire world after dark.

His knees were becoming weak, but he stood there remembering the face he saw probably hours ago. It was the very same face. The striking blue eyes with a twinkle in them each time they blinked, the innocent face covering up the manly strength of the body and the small lips that curled up for the slightest blissful moment was too hard to forget.

Sehun, out of all, was more connected to this person than he was with anyone else.

"It's my father's. He says not to ever underestimate the power of small things," Sehun listened to him jumping around swinging a small sharp object.

"It's a small dagger--"

"No, it's small knife...," he corrected Sehun and walked towards him, "...a hunting knife."

Sehun was sitting outside on the banks of a river with soulless waters forming a clear mirror.

"I decided not to go back home, Luhan hyung," Sehun said lowering his voice while the other turned to him putting his hunting knife away.

"Really?" Luhan asked back sitting beside him.

"Yeah, I left because I wanted to do what I want. I don't want to work for my father."

"Okay then. What do you want to do?"

"I don't know. But I don't want to waste my powers."

Luhan took a deep breadth, "Well, there's this thing at the academy. They select teams to carry out experiments and stuff annually. Maybe you should think of auditioning for one of them..."

But Luhan saw that Sehun was not listening to him. He was having his head bent down and an expression of a very unhappy child who got his candy taken away from him.

"Look Sehun, things may seem like they are not falling into place anymore but you have to keep going. You have to keep trying. What's even the point of you running away from home and coming all the way here? You can't give up now. And I'm always here for you, okay?"

Luhan waited for his response but Sehun said nothing. 

They had known each other for almost a year. Luhan was the one standing next to Sehun all along from the very first time they met at a restaurant when a drunk man tried to attack Sehun for stealing his wallet; Sehun did in fact steal his wallet. And Luhan helped him run away. 

Luhan was now a senior and Sehun was his lost junior.

Luhan knew that he had to leave Sehun alone for him to think. Sehun normally needed to be alone whenever he wanted to think things through.

So Luhan stood up to move away. But Sehun turned around immediately and asked, "Hyung, will you audition with me, please?"

"Oh no, I did it last year and I ended up embarrassing myself. I might as well stay away from those things--"

"Please, hyung? Please..."

Sehun felt enraged at himself. If he hadn't asked Luhan at that time to join him, he wouldn't be standing here regretting life.

He was scared before of his hunter being Luhan. It was like his worst nightmare came to life. The hunter who was trying to cut his throat with cold blood all these days was his beloved friend and brother, Luhan. The doubt he feared to tell Suho before, the tears that flowed out of his eyes when it hit him that it could be Luhan has all ended with his heart aching more than anything, for he knew himself that Luhan was a compassionate, thoughtful person but the hunter who was in front of Sehun was stripped down to pure hatred.

He had lost his brother. 

Sehun couldn't go back to Xiumin's. So he just walked watching the dark sky light up part by part. He couldn't think of telling this to anyone. How could he? He didn't want to see the look on the others' faces if he says it to them. Luhan was probably poisoned but it seemed so different than when the others were poisoned. 

How could he be a hunter? My hunter?

Sehun was already walking up the lane to Seulgi's house when he stopped by a small alley and sat down leaning against the dirty wall unable to catch his breadth again. Seeing a person so close to his heart become a danger to both of them seemed too hard to be absorbed into his brain.

He stayed silent watching the dark alley now lighten up as the sun rays hit on the walls and made it visible. He was listening to himself breathe when he saw Seulgi trot down the lane.

He thought that she must be on her way to deliver milk. And soon he was thinking about how his hyungs were talking last night about how they hoped that Seulgi would keep an eye on poisoned Kai and that how Kai was using his head despite of being poisoned. 

Sehun couldn't help but think whether it could work on Luhan as well. He was thinking of whether he could change Luhan's mind and make him realize that he was poisoned just like how Kai came to control the poison running through his veins.

A silver lining. Sehun sprung up with his idea in his head.

He walked out of the alley and on to the road. The morning dew was still hugging the earth. 

He got in front of Seulgi's house and walked up the stairs leading to the front door.

Will it work? Will it work? Please please let it work...Please...I want to save him...please...

"Oh Sehun, is this the time to be coming home?" Ji Yeon, who had just come out of the house and was locking the door, turned to see Sehun standing in front of her.

Sehun smiled widely squinting his eyes that were too tired. He tried not to look like their was so much going on in his head. He didn't want Ji Yeon to know.

"Sehun, what's wrong? Is everything okay?" But Ji Yeon just saw through him.

Her words made Sehun's invisible mask fall off and soon he was tearing up with his head on Ji Yeon's shoulder. Ji Yeon was confused but she kept caressing him while Sehun silently sobbed. Maybe it was her motherly warmth but Sehun felt incredibly safe in her arms since the roller coaster he went through from the time he found a knife up his throat.

***

Baekhyun twisted his mouth seeing that his staff members weren't so keen in wanting him around for the next events to come.

"So what? Are you firing me or something?" Baekhyun retorted with quite the flare at the head lady.

"I don't want lazy bums swimming around these floors and get paid. If you don't work, you won't get the money," she said while the others on the team were running here and there outside eavesdropping on them.

"I'm sorry, but I did everything I was given, okay? It's also kind of unfair to make me do others' work as well just because I'm the newest one," Baekhyun tried fighting for his spot.

They were back in the head lady's tiny office where arrangements were going on. Their team had got double the work and Baekhyun just wanted to stick around a bit more till he got to his target, but the head lady was not co-operating.

"I'm sorry, Baekhyun. I'm busy, the team is busy and seems like you will be wasting our time yet again. So leave while I'm being nice or the security in front will drag you out and your reputation will definitely be destroyed, more than it has been already."

"This is ridiculous," Beakhyun snorted back.

"Ma'am, we need you," a tiny girl ringed in to which the head lady nodded and gave a final glance at Baekhyun.

"Please leave. I don't want to see you here when I get back."

Baekhyun rolled his eyes listening to her trot away with the annoying sounds of her foot-long heels pissing him off.

Great...Now what?

 Baekhyun thought while letting his eyes swim around the room. The photographs and the old plans for the held event last night caught his attention while they lay a bit messily on the head lady's table.

He spotted the face that was the reason for him to be even putting up with people yelling at him.

Baekhyun then suddenly moved to her desk and started searching for something. He quickly flipped through while having his ear tuned to the frequency of the sound of the heels trotting around outside.

He searched through hoping for something. Maybe he searched in vain but just as his confidence was about to drop he found an entry on the big book the head lady carries about.

Grand Intercontinental

209

If it wasn't obvious enough Baekhyun memorized it and quickly swooshed to the door to run off when the head lady appeared right in front of him.

In a few minutes time he was being dragged out of the building by two guards, one skinny and the other quite buffed up.

"Fine FINE! Jesus christ! I can walk out, you know?" Baekhyun shouted.

But he got pushed out anyways.

He dusted off his shirt as he watched the guards disappear and looked ahead to see the crowded city roads.

"Now I just have to go and find him," Baekhyun said giving an encouraging pat to himself.