Those piercing snow white irises, the pupils gone from their centers, the black seeping into the corners of their eyes. Onew woke up, surprisingly feeling a lot better than he’d expected. His head wasn’t foggy and the pain that lurched in the corner of his eyes had dissipated. It took a few seconds for his vision to return to normal, though, but when it did, there wasn’t much to see. The room was dark, either thanks to the brooding mahogany wood that surrounded the room, the darkening sky outside, or both. He pushed himself up, using his weakened palms that touched velvet fabric. Velvet? His eyebrows furrowed. Where the hell was he at? And most importantly, where was Key? The boy wasn’t next to him or anywhere in the room from what he could tell, but he did hear voices. Close or far, somewhat in the middle.

He dragged his legs off whatever the hell he was laying on. By the curvature and elongated cushions, he guessed a couch of some fashion. With cautioned footsteps, Onew eased his way over to the what he guessed was the door by the light outlining the frame and its hinges. His hands touched the hardwood and he felt down for a knob. What he touched wasn’t what he expected. It was a knob alright, but curved into a ‘s’ shape that seemed to swirl at its end. He wiggled it, a little unsure of which way it turned until he heard a soft click and with the simplest of motions, opened up the door.

The voices grew louder, but they were still a good distance from what it seemed. And by the abounding voices of multiple persons, it sounded like an argument. The door led to a lighted up hallway, basked in low light setting but great enough to see the detail surrounding the wooden walls. From the old decals carved and embedded into the walls to the dark velvet flooring, Onew wondered just how ancient this house was. If it was a house, he was in. He poked his head through, looking both ways, but there was no sign that anyone was coming.

He could go and look for Key, or he could figure out who the voices belonged to, though he was sure he already knew the answers.

“No…Key first.” He whispered to himself, shaking his head.

So he decided on turning the opposite corner of where the voices were deriving from. The hallway he went down didn’t seem that much of a distance from where the voices were at which only meant that this building’s rooms were closely connected. It did, however, lead him to more doors. About five to be exact. Two on either wall with the last one singling itself out at the very end of the hallway. If Key was still knocked out like he was, then perhaps they would put him in the most obvious place.

He shrugged.

“Doesn’t hurt to try.” He whispered again.

With low dim lights lighting up this end of the hallway as well, he made sure to inch with every step he took and continuously check behind him just in case he bumped into one of those weirdos. He had to find Key and escape from this place. On top of chasing them down, they’ll definitely be charged with kidnapping. He’ll see to that.

He was at the door now, and, just like the room he was in, the knob was curved. A very detailed ‘s’ shape with an old fashioned swirl at the end. He lightly touched its wooden fixture, admiring the detail for only a moment. It was beautiful after all. Almost familiar in a way, but after shaking his head, he brought himself back into the real world.

“Focus.”

He slowly turned the knob, trying to be cautious just in case the enemy was actually inside, but the more he opened the door, the more he realized that the lights were out. There was no one. He widened the door some more to get a better look and whatever kind of room it was meant to be, it definitely wasn’t like the one he was in. Instead, there were thin wooden shelves held up by black poles. The shelves had scrolls stacked upon scrolls. And oddly enough…they were almost…alluring. His feet etched a little towards the inside when something he heard stopped him.

A laugh? A giggle?

Whichever of the two it was, it didn’t matter. What mattered was that it belonged to—

“Key?”

He turned around, forgetting about the door, forgetting about being quiet and gentle. He rushed towards the area of the voices, moving down the hallway he came from and turning left to another one that looked exactly the same. He moved without thinking, without even paying attention to see where he was going.

And there he was.

In the midst of Taemin, Minho, Kai, Donghae, and two other grown men, Key sat on the couch—his hands sitting on his lap and a small smirk on his lips. When he saw Onew…when they all saw Onew, the talking stopped. The skinny grown stranger turned to Taemin.

“I thought I told you to check on our guest to see if he was alright?”

Before Taemin could even reply, Onew burst out.

“Guest?!!” He screamed. “You freakn psychos kidnapped us and you think we’re your damned guests!!”

Taemin straightened his posture and made an attempt to move towards Onew, anger written all over his face, but the stranger stopped him, placing a firm hand on the boy’s chest and staring him down. Taemin’s anger ceased and he idled back.

“We apologize for what you may think of us.” He answered. “I heard of what my nephew did to you.”

He looked towards Taemin.

“And me the same with my nephew.” The more full looking man stepped out and glared at Minho then back at Onew.

“I’m Heechul.” The skinnier one announced.

“And I am Shindong.” The other one answered.

“I don’t give a damn what your names are.” Onew retorted.

He could see the sights of disapproval egging around the room like a bad stench. Taemin looked like he wanted to punch the boy’s brains out—Kai, holding the exact same expression. Even Minho and Donghae looked meekly bothered but seemed to try to maintain their posture much cleaner than the other two. Before anyone could say anything further, Key stood up and made his way over to his best friend, immediately grabbing his right hand. But, like an unwanted reaction, Onew slipped out of his grasp.

“And you were laughing with them?” His eyebrows furrowed.

Key witnessed the sight of betrayal in his friend’s eyes.

“It’s not like that Onew.”

“Key, you do realize that they stalked us, hunted us down, and kidnapped us. Right?”

“Onew, listen-“

“I’m not listening to this crap.” He snapped, taking a step back, but Key grabbed his hand again.

“Onew, they’re not that bad, if you would just listen-“

“Key.” The Shindong one said. “It is alright if your friend wants to leave. We do not want your parents to worry and we are not keeping you two against your will. We just wanted to make sure you two were alright.”

“I’m staying.” Key answered.

Onew looked as if he was about to blow his top.

“You’re what?”

“They said they could tell me about the flowers in the forest.”

Onew rolled his eyes, just now wondering when they’d changed dominant roles in their friendship. Onew was always the listener and follower just because he was nonchalant when around Key while all the same being protectant, but in this spur of the moment, they seemed disconnected.

“Key, you want them to tell you about some stupid flowers in the damn forest. You can search that crap on the internet if you need to.”

“Onew,” he sighed, “it’s not like that.  It’s…it’s hard to explain, but I think they might help me-“

“That one made your arm worse!” He screamed, pointing his finger towards Taemin.

There was a strong aura of emotions that lingered in the room when he said that. And, for a split second when his eyes reached for Taemin he could see, guilt?

Key closed the space between them so that they were a breaths length away, his hand still holding on to Onew’s.

“Onew, I don’t trust the two boys as much as you do.” He whispered. “But I think they’re guardians might have some real answers to questions I’ve been asking myself lately. Aren’t you wondering too? About the flowers?”

He was, but he wouldn’t say it.

He let go of Key’s hand and moved away.

“I’m leaving and when I do, I’m getting our parents to come and arrest them for kidnapping and assault. I don’t care what you say.” He looked at the group behind them with firm eyes and turned to leave, but just as he was about to escape, Donghae opened his mouth.

“Aren’t you wondering why you don’t get any sleep.”

Onew stopped in his tracks, his back to everyone else.

“I have rings around my eyes, that’s obvious to anyone.” He retorted and started to move again.

“You saw that root from the tree that was going to trip Key when he didn’t.” Donghae continued.

Onew stopped once again.

“Aren’t you curious why. You do wear glasses…so just how did you see something in the shadows before Key?”

“I was paying closer attention.” He replied, keeping out the part of his eyesight hurting during their walk through the forest.

“Really? Is that all there is?”

Onew balled up his fists. His demeanor, silent.

Then, with a sigh he turned around to face the group, to face his friend who still stood in the spot where he’d left him, worry gathering amongst his features.  He unballed his fists.

“Fine. I’m listening.”

There was a relief that settled into Key’s eyes and his smile as he looked at his friend, grasping onto his hand harder. The motion made Minho glance over. Taemin as well. There was something “off” about their expressions. About the way, they looked when Key held Onew’s hand.

“Good.” Key sighed.

He strolled his best friend over to the couch where the rest of them stood.

“What exactly can you tell me about my sleeping problems?” Onew waved his hand in the air nonchalantly, playing the I-Don’t-Really-Care part, but-let’s-see-what-you-got.

Donghae snickered, arching his brow up.

“It could be the same reason he can make those flowers appear on the tree when no one else around here can.”

Onew looked around at the unfamiliar faces and the grimacing ones. He wasn’t sure if Key had just placed him in the middle of psych ward family 2.0, but he was definitely starting to get that vibe.  Key noticed, and nudged his friend on the shoulder ever so slightly.

“Onew, come on.” He whispered.

“It’s reasonable that your friend is doubtful. Given the unfortunate circumstances you two were in.” Shindong answered.

“Really now,” Onew replied.

“Before we say anything more.” Taemin interrupted.

He looked towards his Uncle, then at the rest of the people in the room.

“Are we sure we want to tell them everything. Like, our secrets? What if we get in trouble with the elders?”

Minho nodded.

“I actually have to agree with Taemin on this one.”

“Shocker.” Heechul retorted. “But I understand the two of you. We understand your concerns.”

He looked at Shindong.

Key and Onew looked at one another.”

“Elders?” They both mouthed.

“We have no choice. After Key’s little display, not only once but twice, there is cause for concern. Onew’s as well. After all, neither one of them belong to any tribe I know, yet, here they are.” Shindong spoke.

“Tribe?” Both Key and Onew asked.

“We might as well get it out and stop talking cryptic since the two of them are already here right?” Kai retorted.

“He’s right,” Heechul answered.

He cleared his throat, then turned his attention on Key and Onew.

“We want the two of you to keep an open mind when we announce this. Like you did Key when you made those flowers bloom in the forest.”

“Oooookay.” Key stretched out.

Onew crossed his arms.

“We,” Shindong stepped up. “Are Cerberi.”

There was a long pause.

Onew squinted his eyes.

Key stood up.

“Like the hell dog.” He commented.

Taemin huffed. The black veins from the corner of his eyes started to form. They seeped into the whites and swiftly into the irises. And like a chorus playing amongst them, the others’ eyes began to do the same thing until the two of them were surrounded with deep black eyes, their irises glowing a pale snow white.

“If this is what hell looks like.”