“I wouldn’t be surprised if once we arrived at our own homes, we get slaughtered by them!” Taemin screamed at the man with a quiet force.

After all, it was the best he could do to display his anger, seeing the circumstances they were in. The two of them stood in the principal’s office, waiting for their cousins to finish being registered in their class. Taemin turned and eyed the tall dark haired man. He stood with such statuesque, firm and withholding. Both legs were straightened down to the ‘t’ but his back leaned back a little trying to hold his weight together. His dark amber hair curled in layers and swept towards the right side of his face casting shadows over his eyes.

“I know you hear me…Minho.” Taemin growled, hatred apparent in the tone of his voice.

Arms crossed over his chest, forcing his muscles to bugle outward and form on the short sleeves of his black shirt, veins that popped out of his skin displaying a sense of authority; Minho turned to look at the slender man he despised. Taemin’s legs were lengthy, a bit of difference between them if not the form of their torso. Taemin’s was skinnier but still held a hefty build, muscles showing off by the form in his gray, long sleeved shirt. His hair was a silvery-white, brighter in the roots than towards the ends. The ends ombréd into a dark gray that always astonished Minho if only for a little while. Unlike Minho, however, the man’s hair was straighter and shinier. It bounced with every single movement Taemin made but sometimes naturally parted in the middle without warning.

“Oh, I hear you. Doesn’t mean I need to acknowledge you.” He answered, a scoff piercing through his throat.

“Neither one of them said anything when they found us. Have either one ever just said nothing.? Taemin balled up his fists in defiance.

It was a trait that always annoyed Minho. His anger streaks. The boy and the rest of his family had that in common. They always got angry too fast, always fidgety for a fight. Whereas Minho, along with the rest of his family, were calm and strategic thinking. He made a squinting, death glare towards the man and pursed his lips.

“Oh don’t give me that look.” Taemin scoffed. “Like you’re some goddamn angel. You weren’t calm last night when we were fighting. Were you-“

“Shhh!” Minho blew, pushing his own finger up to his mouth. “What the hell are you trying to do, get us in trouble?”

“As far as I’m concerned, we already are. Tell me, when you got home, did Shindong say anything to you, because I know like hell Heechul didn’t say anything to me.”

Minho remained silent.

“That’s what I thought. They’ve never not reacted before. I mean they reacted when they saw  us covered in b-“

“Taemin shut up. Do you know your words on public grounds could get us into further trouble, or is your mouth just too ahead of your thinking?” Minho snapped.

“You-“

“Alright, boys.” A teacher announced.

With him came Kai, a Taemin look-a-like. The only difference between the pair was that Kai had raven hair, a complete opposite of Taemin’s. The two were the same height, same lengthy lean, same build, to some degree. But Kai always wore a smug smile on his face. Even now as he walked with the teacher, one corner of his mouth lifted up towards his left cheek in a smug smirk. Beside him, walking on the opposite side of the teacher was Donghae, shorter than Minho but the two, like Taemin and Kai, were built the same. They both were bulky beyond their clothes, their muscles defining everything they wore. Donghae’s hair was shorter and a bit spiked towards the ends. It curved away from his forehead, layers upon layers creating their own style.

“Show your cousins to the new classroom.” The teacher announced, slapping each of them on their backs before releasing them to their family.

“And hey-!” He suddenly exclaimed, catching the lot of them off guard. He pointed his finger towards every one of them before continuing. “Just because you were on break doesn’t mean break the rules. Your cousins are new, so they’re an exception. But all of you, uniforms tomorrow.”

Donghae smiled awkwardly and the four of them bowed their heads before retreating to their cousins’.

“Uncle Heechul didn’t talk to us before we left this morning.” Kai’s dark voice announced as he walked up to Taemin. “I think he’s still upset.”

“I’m not damned surprised. Someone got hurt.” Taemin realized what he said and looked over Kai’s shoulder only to find the teacher had completely walked away and other teachers were steadily concentrated on their work before classes officially began.

“Uncle Shindong didn’t say anything to us either when we left this morning,” Donghae said to Minho.

“Because we’re in deep .” Kai bluntly stated. “After all, someone did get hurt.”

“We think someone got hurt.” Minho interrupted, eyeing the two of them. “There was no evidence that anyone was even there.”

“There was a scream.” Taemin retorted.

“And a yelp.” Kai finished. “I guess only the night wind does that.”

“Actually-“Donghae interrupted. “I’m kind of with the others on this one.” He looked up towards Minho with an apologetic expression.

“Wind doesn’t make that sound cousin. I really think someone was there, whether we found evidence or not. One of us hit that person in the woods, and one of us needs to confess. Now.”

He stared at the lot of them. Eyes switched around the other as each of the men stared down one another in question. Silence permeated throughout their tiny circle they made at the entryway of the office door. It was to no avail. Neither one of them admitted to causing any harm.

“Did you talk to your little Hyunah.” Taemin retorted, glaring back at Donghae and Minho.

“Hardly little.” Donghae retorted back. “Did you speak to your Amber?”

“Nothing to speak about. Amber would never harm anyone.” Kai replied.

“Yeah because she isn’t just as hot headed as you and the rest of your family,” Minho said.

“And Hyunah is any better? If anything she has more of a loose temper than Amber. That was pretty evident last night, don’t ya think?”

“Hyunah would never-“

“Boys?” The same teacher came back around, eyebrow arched higher than his curiosity. “To the classroom. All of you. Get out of the office. Class should be starting in a little while.”

The four of them grimaced towards each other but ultimately did as they were told.

****

Loud chatter clamored from the classroom area as the four boys moved their way towards it. Minho turned towards Donghae and arched his eyebrow in question.

“Probably talking about last night,” Taemin muttered. “That loud mouth Luna girl finds out too many things too fast, even for her own good.”

“It could be something else.” Minho immediately snapped back.

The clear windows clinging to the walls of their classroom displayed their presence before they could even be fully recognized. Like a volume switch slowly turning, the chatter went from loud to medium, to nothing at all. Luna stood in the middle of the classroom, her hands wide in the air, perhaps telling another dramatic tale made through her imagination. But when the classroom began to quiet down, her expression scrunched up and, placing her arms down to her side, she turned around.

Her eyes gawked. Not at Minho and Taemin, though she was still very much into her weird theories about the two, but at the two new additions that stood by their sides. You could almost tell which family member belonged to who. The short but muscular man had the same build as Minho and the same could be said for the tall skinny boy who stood next to Taemin. Their demeanor, stance, and expression were almost identical. It was uncanny. The only main aspect that could truly separate them was the shiny silver strands that was Taemin’s hair. The four looked into the classroom, questionable, but other than that, not much expression on their face. Minho’s left eyebrow did arch up as if questioning the motives of the classmates but as they walked in, the students slid back to their seats, making room for the small crew entering familiar ground.

Luna watched every last one of them, her arms crossed, foot lightly tapping on the floor, and lips pursed. She wasn’t like the other students. There was no way she was just going to stand by while the others coward back to their seats. No. Her curiosity was too intense for that. Even for herself sometimes.

“Luna.” She heard her sister whisper. V grabbed her sister’s wrist ever so slightly and shook her head while she sat down in her seat. “No need to be causing trouble again.” She whispered.

Luna rolled her eyes and wiggled her wrist from her sister’s grasp and back to her side.

“No one’s causing trouble. Just looking for answers.”

Before her sister could stop her, Luna went sauntering down the aisle, past the people that stuffed their bodies back into their desk. Her eyes and mind had a straight target. Minho and Taemin. They showed their family members to their seats and sat down next to them.

“I know,” she sighed out, letting her voice echo across the classroom, “you two have had a nice little vacation, but did either of you hear that Key is in the hospital?”

She tilted her head towards them. Both of the men looked up, staring into her eyes, but that’s all they did. Neither said anything in response. Taemin even rolled his eyes. Luna scoffed, throwing her head back in a dramatic manner and cocking her hip to the side.

“Of course, neither one of you would answer. Nothing ever phases or matters to the two of you. I hope you told your little family members that they’re in for a treat being in this town. You woul-“

“Luna, come sit down and stop trying to cause trouble!” V stood up from her desk, head sharply turned in her sister’s direction, but Luna ignored.

“You know, you two always act all high and mighty, like you’re better than the rest of us. Both just as secretive. Meanwhile, I’m the only one that seems to see through your little façade. First there’s a weird yell in the woods over the weekend and afterward, oh joy, you two aren’t here. And then last night, rumor goes around that a student got attacked in the woods. Mostly likely by a monster of some kind no doubt, just like I’ve been trying to tell you guys!” She raised her voice for the last sentence, turning around to her fellow classmates.

Minho silently looked at everyone one of them. In their own little way, they thought Luna was crazy, yes, but they were still willing to listen. It was her stance and her outburst that made her notable to them. Attentive. The stories she told, where her imagination would lead her. He could see it all through their eyes, the way they watched her as she confronted the two of them.

“Just so happens that Key isn’t here which means he’s the student that got attacked. And the same day he doesn’t show up to school, you guys actually do. What. A. Coincidence. Even Onew thinks it’s weird, don’t ya?” She turned her body to the silent boy who sat in his front seat, as usual, writing away in his notebook.

When she said his name, Onew stopped writing altogether, but he didn’t turn around. His pause only lasted a second before he decided to start writing again.

“Fine,” she continued, “stay quiet. I guess without Key here you don’t like to stand out. As for the rest of you guys, I’ve been trying to tell you that something was weird about those woods. Lightening doesn’t strike twice so I find it very odd that only days after me and my sister heard the screaming in the woods, something happens to Key. There has to be a monster of some sort. Or large animals at least. The police didn’t find anything when me and my sister asked them to look but maybe nowthat we have an actual present victim they can.”

Unconsciously, Minho and Taemin both narrowed their eyes together.

“There’s not going to be a need for that.” Came a sudden voice.

With all the commotion of Luna herself, no one saw him enter the doorway and stay there. Even Onew stopped what he was doing and looked up at him with shock.

“Key?” Luna questioned.

Everyone stared, because it wasn’t just Key. There was a cast wrapped around his left arm, blue medical tape coating the outside. Uniform on like everyone else in the class, he looked around, arched his eyebrow and sighed. But looking towards the back, he was surprised to see them. Minho and Taemin along with two others accompanied by their sides. Definitely family without a doubt. Same bone structure in the cheeks and jaws. Even the way they stared back at him was the same. But before he could become distracted, he continued.

“Because there weren’t any damn monsters in those damn woods.”

Some muttering went around before they all stopped.

“K-Key, are you alright?” Luna’s voice was almost that of a whisper as she spoke. Definitely something that surprised him. Actual concern covered her tone other than curiosity, an aspect he wasn’t used to from her. Unfortunately, as quickly as the concern came, it left. She grimaced and straightened her back.

“Explain the arm then?” She requested.

“While I was taking photos in the woods I wasn’t paying attention. Fell forward and sprang my arm pretty bad, along with a lot of scratches. Damn thick branch was in front of me too, making the pain of my falling worse…” he paused for a moment. “I’ll admit, I screamed for a second.”

He shrugged his shoulders.

“But I’m fine now. Doctors said in about a couple of weeks I’ll only need the medical wraps to keep my scratches healing but the cast can come off.”

“Right, but Key-“

“Key,” Onew stood up, his eyebrows narrowing at his best friend. “Can I talk to you outside for a moment?”

He grabbed his friend with his good arm and led him into the hallway, away from the classroom’s windows so that no one could see them. When he knew he was from earshot and checked for spying Luna, he let his friend go.

“Are you really okay? I tried to call you guys like a dozen times. You were freaking me out.” His voice was stern and filled with worry on top of worry.

“I know,” Key answered woefully, “Auntie felt bad too, but she was in so much of a panic that she turned her phone off and mines was in my book bag. I felt so awful when I saw all the texts and calls you left. It’s really not a big deal.”

“You said I was going with you. Why the hell did you go yesterday?!”

“Trust me,” he laughed, “you aren’t the only one pissed. Once she found out I was alright, Auntie almost blew her head off. Told me that I must just like stepping into trouble. And I was mad at myself because it was instant karma for not listening.” He wiggled his little cast as best he could in the hallway light.

“Key,” Onew said sternly.

The boy sighed.

“Okay, Onew, I’m sorry. I knew you really didn’t want to go and I didn’t want to be the one to put you in an uncomfortable situation.”

“Key, you’re my best friend. If you wanted to go, I was willing to go.”

“That’s why.” But then he smiled. With his free hand, he slapped it on Onew’s shoulder. “But I’m okay. Nothing to worry about, just a bad sprang with a LOT of scratches. Plus, there was nothing out there.”

“Key,” he sighed, gripping the palm of his friend’s hand. His fingers squeezed into his skin. “Are you sure you’re okay? You’re not lying are you?”

“Onew,” he laughed, “seriously, I’m fine. Why would Auntie let me back if I wasn’t?”

“True…” He nodded.

“Plus, you can always tell when I’m lying.”

“True again.”

“Now don’t let Luna get to your head. Nothing was out there. Just me being dumb and not watching where I was going.”

After a short moment of silence between the two, Onew nodded his head again.

“Okay.” He spoke in a low whisper. He grabbed Key’s free hand and held it while making them turn and go back towards the classroom. “Don’t ever do that again. If you need a best friend to go somewhere, I’m right here. So don’t lie to me again.” He sighed, eyes straightforward.

“Never in a million years.” He answered, his smile, slowly fading from his face as he watched the back of Onew’s head and let the boy lead the way.