What?! An ontime update?! Enjoy guys! :D

How does one tell their friend of many years, a friend they’ve never had the pleasure of successfully lying to, that a secret was being kept?

This was the question that buzzed throughout Key’s head like a fly trapped in a room the more they walked on the unsteady soil. The night had indeed captured the sky, meager stars trying to illuminate the dark. Ever since leaving the house, the lot of them had walked in silence. Onew walked a little more ahead of Key while Taemin, Kai, and Minho stayed behind the two as best as possible. They all had questions that couldn’t be answered in a mere introduction. Minho, Kai, and Taemin wondered what those two were while Onew and Key wondered the same, in their own light. Key found himself looking down at his hand, observing his skin, testing its touch.

What mystery beheld him? How could he make those flowers grow? He rubbed his fingers together as if expecting some magical miracle to appear that would answer all of his questions, but of course, nothing happened. He tilted his head up, looking at the back of his best friend.

He wondered what Onew thought of all this, though his views were pretty evident when they were in the house. He observed his friend longer.

Onew walked like a soldier, legs straight and uniformed, staying on beat as they marched forward. Key wasn’t sure if he knew, but his hands had turned into fists long ago and the back of his neck grew beads of sweat. The tresses of his hair stuck to some of the skin and his loose shirt wavered through the air every time the wind blew, which, unexpectedly, wasn’t cold. He’d never seen his friend walk with such stature before; like something was deep on his mind too that he didn’t want to talk about. It was that stubbornness that they had in common.

Key wanted to turn around and ask the little crew behind them more questions and specifically how they were leading the way from being in the back. They never said anything, so perhaps Onew was naturally going the right way and they would object when he wasn’t.

It seemed like they’d been walking the forest for five minutes already and still had a nice way to go before the trees ended and the sidewalk began. How long had Minho and the lot of them carried both him and Onew when they were unconscious? Why, even, were their houses so far away? Whose house were the in? Taemin’s family or Minho’s?

He shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. As if sensing his distress, Onew stopped and turned around. Contrary to his brooding physical demeanor, his facial expressions held an area of concern.

“Key, are you alright?” His voice was low, though, Key was sure it wouldn’t matter seeing as the boys behind them were, well, creatures of the night and all. They could probably hear everything.

“Y-Yeah I’m fine.” He accidently stuttered.

The strain in his voice made Onew look at him twice before continuing to walk again, only with Key by his side. There was a moment of silence before Onew grabbed Key’s wrist ever so slightly, but stayed looking forward as if the gesture was an unconscious commodity.

“I wasn’t going to leave, you know.” His voice was lower than before.

“I know.” Key answered.

And he did. That statement wasn’t a lie. Though their friendship had their ups and downs at some point because of their highly opinionated personalities, one thing he knew that would never happen between them was abandonment. There was a sigh of relief in Onew’s touch when Key said that. And, just for a second, it made the boy want to admit his secret. But his aunt’s words echoed through his head.

Key would give her more time, and if his aunt didn’t tell him anything like promised, he wouldn’t keep his promise either and would tell Onew what happened that night. He nodded his head, agreeing with himself.

“What’re you nodding to?” Onew smirked.

It was almost as if the boy had gone back to his regular personality instead of this overprotective non-trusting Onew he seemed to be getting a lot of.

“Nothing.” Another lie.

“You know,” came a sudden voice; Taemin’s, “your heart beats faster when you lie.”

Onew stopped in his tracks the same as Key. They turned around, almost forgetting that the small little gang was behind them.

Minho sighed.

“Taemin, it was beginning to be a peaceful walk. Do you have to stir up trouble?”

“I’m not stirring up trouble. I’m just making a statement.”

His piercing walnut eyes made their way to the boys in front of him.

“A statement that didn’t need to be stated.” Minho sighed again.

“I don’t really see the problem with it.” Kai egged on. “It’s a true statement and we are still in our territory. Doesn’t that mean we’re free to speak our mind before we walk back into the human world where apparently opinions are threats to society.”

He laughed a little and Taemin too along with him.

Subconsciously Minho wondered why Donghae hadn’t tagged along, evening out this bothersome trip, but there were a lot of questionable aspects hanging around his cousin right now, so he said nothing.

“You know,” Key snapped, “I’ve been being real kind about not saying anything to either of you because well… I wanted to know the truth, but I guess it’s just in your nature to be indefinite s.”

“Us?” Taemin pressed his hand against his chest.

He walked closer and unconsciously Onew stepped up.

“Oh don’t worry, I’m not gonna throw your little boy toy again.” Taemin rolled his eyes. “I’m just wondering what else you two are hiding.”

“We’re not hiding anything.” Onew was the first to say before Key could get to it.

“Oh really.” Kai stepped up. “You think we’re just supposed to believe that neither of you has any inkling of what’s going on. There hasn’t been a time in history where a Tribeless has been found. And after all that strange stuff happened to us once you stepped foot into the forest, we’re supposed to believe that you two are little innocents.”

The boy scoffed.

“You?” Key questioned. “What are you talking about? What did I ever do to you guys?”

Minho stepped up this time.

“It’s nothing.” He stated.

“No.” Key swiftly intercepted. “If I’m being accused of something, I want to know what it is. Now, what the hell has this guy all souped up!”

Taemin turned to Minho.

“Really Minho, what’s the point of hiding anything further if our Uncles are just going to tell them all our damn secrets?”

Minho grabbed Taemin by the arm and sent him a glare.

“Mi-“

“You should be able to walk the rest of the way. In just a couple of feet, you’ll be back on the street.” Minho stated, but Key stood his ground, hand cocked on his hip.

Onew rolled his eyes and turned, grabbing Key by the wrist.

“Let’s just go Key. There’s no point trying to get anything out of these guys. Their world is built on secrets.”

“Our world?!” Taemin yelled. “You say it as if you two aren’t apart of it yourselves.”

“We’re not!” Onew bellowed.

A tone that made Key jump if only for a second.

“I’m tired of hearing all this nonsense. I get it, and I’ll take into unbelievable belief that you two are werewolves-“

“Cerberi.” Minho corrected.

“I. Don’t. Care. But don’t force us into a world that we don’t want to be in.”

Minho’s eyes landed on Key.
“Are you sure the two of you share that exact same opinion?” He asked.

Key fiddled with his fingers.

“You’re right Onew.” He responded, looking up. “Let’s go.”

Without another word but a side glance from Onew, the two of them took Minho’s directions and headed straight, meeting with the sidewalk not long after.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” Taemin retorted when they were completely out of sight.

“Me?!” Minho pressed his hand against his chest, then stepped back.

He breathed, then placed his hands back down to his side.

“Look,” he stated, “I have my doubts about them just like you two do. My doubts are bit different, but they are doubts nonetheless.”

He pressed his lips together. Should he really tell them his suspicions?

Taemin crossed his arms with a smirk.

“Finally having a reality check, are we?”

Minho crossed his arms, the muscles in his biceps pulsating out of his shirt. His eyes sharpened towards Kai who widened at the look.

“You can leave,” Minho stated.

“Excuse me.” He retorted.

Taemin furrowed his brows for his cousin and stepped in front of him.

“I need to talk to Taemin about something. As the next in lines, this is a private matter between the two of us. That means you cannot be in attendance. Am I wrong?” He arched his eyebrow, keeping his arms crossed.

Kai turned to Taemin who now pursed his lips together in a grimace, eyeing Minho for authenticity. The look gathered in the man’s expression displayed a fierceness. Whatever Minho wanted to talk about, he was serious. Taemin turned to his cousin and nodded for him to go. Kai smoothened up his stance.

“Are you sure?” He murmured.

Taemin nodded.

Kai nodded in return and in a few quick strides, he was gone, disappearing into the darkness of the woods.

“To be honest,” Taemin started, “I thought you were going to tell them to wait at the end of the woods for us. You don’t seem to be the one to defy the Uncles and they did advise us to walk them all the way home. Not half- it.”

This time he arched his eyebrow.

Minho loosened up his stiff stance and placed his arms down, letting out a brief sigh.

“I needed to speak with you. I couldn’t have them in the way when we talked.”

“Or you didn’t want me telling Key that the night he came into the woods was the same night we lost control.”

“You know that meant higher suspicion towards us than already needed between those two.” Minho huffed.

“So you admit you didn’t want him to know.”

“Yes. Because-“

“You believe someone did attack him that night.” Taemin finished, another smirk crossing his face.

Minho tilted his head a bit in surprise.

“Minho, you underestimate me. I know I can be attack first, think later-“

“Actually, that is exactly your approach to things.”

“But-“ Taemin pointed his finger in the air, the sound of dead leaves crunching under his feet as he walked back and forth in small strides. “I’m not dumb. I could tell the way you looked at Key. You suspect he’s lying about only hurting his arm.”

“The day you, well, you had a confrontation with him in the cafeteria, I smelled something a little out of the ordinary.”

“Blood.” Taemin finished for him.

Minho moved in closer.

“You smelled it too?”

Taemin’s expression turned from the usual egotistic visionary to serious. This was the side Minho appreciated. When the boy was serious, he was determined and his mind was proactive, not sidetracked by wanting to attack. Taemin frowned a bit, using his pointer finger to rub his bottom lip as he thought.

“At first,” he began, “I thought the smell could’ve come from anyone in the cafeteria, but when I got close to him for that small second-“

“You smelled it.” Minho nodded. “I did too. But at the same time-“

“It smelled as though it wasn’t really there.” Taemin nodded. “Like the smell was trying to be masked.”

“Specifically for our noses.”

“You think someone knows about the boy and wants to protect his identity?” Taemin asked. “But that would only mean that he definitely is a Tribeless.”

“I mean, really Taemin, it’s hard to debate that he isn’t. He did grow nature from the ground. But no Tribe that I know can make those types of flowers to grow, especially on claimed Tribe land. And especially not this land.” This time Minho grimaced, looking up at the stars for a second.

“And if he was really attacked that night, then his healing process would make sense. If he was attacked by one of our own and was human-“

“He should be dead.” Minho nodded.

“We’re kind of digging a little too far into this, aren’t we? I mean, we don’t even have proof that there wasn’t someone else bleeding in the cafeteria room that day and he really did just hurt his arm.”

“But what you said moments ago Taemin. That a heartbeat can tell a lie. I heard it too. His heart beat when he was talking to his friend. He’s lying about something and it could be about that night specifically.”

“If he is,” Taemin sighed, “then that means one of our own attacked him. These are starting to become unreliable.” He lifted up his arm that held the black band they always forgot they were wearing.

It’s hard to remember a black elastic band that morphed into the skin as being there when it never moved. It was like putting a rubber band on your wrist and forgetting about it for the rest of the day until an incident occurs where you realize you need it. That night, the night Key ventured into the forest was the same night that feeling had aroused amongst the group as they argued. Their argument in the forest was getting out of hand, they become angrier than they should have, rage building up in the steam of heat on their skin. Before they knew it, claws were out, eyes were glowing with a white lust for anger, teeth were becoming sharp.

“These bands are supposed to keep us from fully transforming before we become of age, but we still transformed that night.” Taemin shook his head. “It doesn’t make sense. We’ve had these bands too long and they’ve never failed us before. But coincidently on the night Key goes into the forest, we can’t control it and go full blown Cerberi on each other.”

Minho nodded.

“I agree. It was strange.”

“And Minho, if one of our own really did attack Key, who would be so bold? Even if we were out of control and fully transformed, we don’t just go attack humans. The Uncles assured us that doesn’t naturally happen.”

Minho was quiet.

“Be honest,” Taemin started, “I won’t tell the Uncles. Did you or either of your crew attack Key that night?”

Minho opened his mouth in protest but saw the civility and seriousness gathered in Taemin’s features. It was one of the rare instances he got Taemin to have a civil conversation. He wasn’t going to ruin it now.

“No.” He answered. “You?”

Taemin looked down and shook his head.

“No. Me nor the others attacked.”

Neither of their hearts beat fast when they spoke, just like the night they had to explain to their Uncles what happened.

They weren’t lying. Not then, and not now.

“If Key is hiding a further injury and there was someone that attack him that night, then we have a rouge,” Minho stated.

“In our territory.” Taemin finished. “I hate to say this, but we have to tell the Uncles.”

He turned around to leave, but Minho quickly caught his arms.

He shook his head.

“Remember Taemin, this is a small theory between the two of us. We don’t even know if anyone attacked Key. And if someone did, we don’t truly know if it was one of Cerberi descent or if it was another human being stalking the woods.”

“Minho, no one’s as secretive as Key is if it was just a human attack. Someone was masking his injury to us. You agreed.” He turned back around but again Minho caught his arm.

“Yes, I agreed, but I also agreed that we have no idea if it was just someone in the cafeteria who had a small wound or something and our noses were just catching a whiff of it. Taemin, there’s so much we don’t know. And if there is a rouge, we don’t know who it is. Or who to trust.”

The last sentence caught Taemin off guard. Since when did Minho have trust issues when it came to their kind? He brushed Minho’s grasp off and turned to face the man.

“So you’re saying we should keep vital theories away from the Uncles?” He smirked.

Minho rolled his eyes.

“Oh don’t get so excited.”

“It’s just,” he chuckled a little, “I never thought I’d see Minho playing outside of the rules.”

“It’s not playing outside of the rules,” He pointed his finger towards the boy’s nose. “I’m just saying that as the next in lines, we should try to figure this out for ourselves instead of confiding in the Uncles.”

Taemin nodded but kept the smile curving across his lips.

“I guess.” He replied. “I mean, Onew is quite a mystery now too. As Donghae said, he was able to see when he shouldn’t have and he did outrun us which is really a supernatural alert if you ask me.”

Donghae. Minho dared not say anything about his suspicion of his own cousin to Taemin. That would only give the boy a reason to stir up more problems.

“See.” Minho nodded.

“Sooooo,” Taemin yawned, “how do you advise we go about these secret plans?”

“We do exactly what the Uncles wanted us to do. We become friends with them.”

“I don’t think that’s going to smooth over so well. I mean, Key might be a little easier but the Onew boy is stubborn as hell.”

“He is, but something tells me he’s just as curious about what Donghae said just as we are. And if these two are Tribeless then without us, they could get themselves into more trouble.”

“Then we are on neutral terms?” Minho asked.

“Hmm.” Taemin grimaced but stuck out his hand just as the night wind blew.

Minho stuck his hand out in response and they shook on it.

“For the first time in our natural born lives,” Taemin smirked.