“Well, it’s the moment of truth” Jinyoung says, “we’re going to know if Namjoon is dead or not”.

The seven persons around him nod. This time Jinyoung not only counts with Youngjae’s and Bonnie’s support; he has with him Mark, Shura, Yugyeom, Jungkook and Seokjin who also wanted to help after Yugyeom told them what Shura did.

Much to Yugyeom’s dismay, Jungkook didn’t scold her after. He only approached her and hugged her tightly, telling her how proud he was of being her brother. Seokjin also hugged both of them, making Yugyeom wonder is he should stop being mad with the girl.

“We have to do it quickly” Seokjin says. “If they discover what we’re doing here we’re going to lose our only chance”.

Jinyoung nods firmly before placing both hands above Namjoon’s chest. Youngjae and Bonnie put their hands on Jinyoung’s shoulder; meanwhile Mark hugs him from the back. Shura places her hand above Youngjae’s and Jungkook and Seokjin do the same with Bonnie’s hand. Surprisingly, Yugyeom places his hand above Shura’s. The girl flinches and smiles to him but he doesn’t return it.

“I’m starting” Jinyoung says.

All of them close their eyes, focusing only in Namjoon. Jinyoung feels the energy of his friends flowing through his body. He applies a bit of pressure on Namjoon’s chest, focusing on reanimating his heart.

C’mon leader, he thinks, you have to come back to us.

He redirects all the energy towards Namjoon’s heart. He doesn’t hear the machine indicating that it’s working, so he applies more pressure.

“You’re doing well, Jinyoung” Bonnie mutters by his side.

“You’ve got this babe” Mark whispers behind him.

Jinyoung smiles as his friends continue showing him their support. Instead of making him more nervous, it is calming him, helping him redirect the energy more smoothly. He presses his hands against Namjoon’s chest more, taking out all his own energy to make Namjoon’s heart beat again.

He starts sweating as his energy keeps being drained to reanimate his leader’s heart. Mark notices his boyfriend losing balance so he hugs him tighter, making sure Jinyoung doesn’t fall to the floor, to what Jinyoung is very glad.

With a loud groan Jinyoung leads the remaining energy straight to Namjoon’s heart. He’s aware he’s going to faint soon if he continues like that, but he has to do it. His friends trust him, and he owes Namjoon for taking care of Mark when he couldn’t.

Jinyoung opens his eyes as he feels the first beat of Namjoon’s heart. He lets his hands rest on the other’s chest for a few seconds, just to make sure it wasn’t a hallucination. But it wasn’t; Jinyoung can feel his heartbeats one behind the other.

“He’s alive” Jinyoung says.

The machine attached to Namjoon’s heart also starts making noises, signaling that their leader is alive and kicking.

The room erupts in cheers and congratulations. Mark raises Jinyoung in the air before kissing him. The others quickly start hugging Jinyoung too, who tries his best to stand still after all the effort he did earlier.

“I can’t believe you did this, Jinyoungie” Mark says, pulling Jinyoung again into his embrace. “You’re amazing”.

“It wasn’t just me who did this,” Jinyoung says, “it was all of us. I wouldn’t have made it without you guys, especially Shura. If she hadn’t believed in me to make it work on her we wouldn’t be here right now”.

All the gazes fall now on Shura. The girl flinches and starts playing with a strand of her hair nervously. Yugyeom bites his lip, now fully regretting having snapped at her when she only did well.

“I did nothing, Jinyoung” she says, “without you we wouldn’t have anything”.

“You’re both amazing” Youngjae says, noticing that Jinyoung was about to continue arguing with her.

“But why isn’t he waking up?” Jungkook asks, worried about Namjoon.

“Maybe his body needs a bit of time to start working again” Bonnie says, “I’ll stay here to check on him. You should probably go before we start raising suspicions”.

“I need a rest” Jinyoung says, leaning onto Mark for support.

“Hop on, I’ll take you home” Mark commands him while offering his back to him.

Jinyoung smiles and jumps on Mark’s back, hugging him tightly. Mark smiles to him before walking away. Jinyoung waves at their friends as they leave.

Yugyeom silently leaves too without sparing a glance at Shura, feeling ashamed of his behavior towards the girl. Shura rubs on her arm, feeling a bit disappointed towards Yugyeom. Seokjin notices and quickly takes her hand on his.

“Why don’t you hang out with us for a while?” he suggests with a smile.

Shura turns to look at his brother, who smiles and nods to her. Then she looks at Youngjae, who smiles to her too.

“I’ll stay here with Bonnie”, he says.

Shura gives him a small smile before nodding to Seokjin, who smiles and bids farewell to Bonnie and Youngjae. Jungkook takes Shura’s other hand in his and follows them out.

“What are you going to do now?” Youngjae asks Bonnie then.

“I’m going to disconnect this machine” Bonnie answers, “if someone from Sewon’s pack comes here and finds out that Namjoon is alive we’ll be in trouble”.

Youngjae agrees to her before helping her unplugging the cables.

Minhyuk is trying to get Kihyun to eat something more when he hears Jooheon calling his name and turns to look at him. Kihyun takes the opportunity to sneak out of his hold and goes to his previous spot in front of the board.

Minhyuk sighs as he sees Kihyun getting all focused again with finding a right formula to make the antidote for the silver bomb. He understands that Kihyun wants to help his friends, but he needs to eat and rest or else he’s going to faint.

“Someone is looking for you” Jooheon tells him.

Minhyuk takes a glance to Hyunwoo, who is at his private office still scolding Hyungwon and Changkyun. Even though he’s very much bothered with their behavior, his face remains gentle as usual. Minhyuk smiles slightly to him before following Jooheon towards the visiting area where his visitor is waiting for him.

“Who is it?” Minhyuk asks.

“He said his name is Woohyun and that he’s from Junmyeon’s pack” Jooheon answers, surprising Minhyuk. “He said he has some information he wants to share with you”.

Minhyuk frowns. Is there something Junmyeon didn’t tell them when they were at his house? But why? Weren’t they allies of Namjoon’s pack?

Jooheon opens the door for him but he doesn’t come in. As the door closes behind him, Minhyuk approaches Woohyun, who is staring curiously at his surroundings, and takes a seat in front of him.

“Hi, Woohyun” Minhyuk greets him with a smile, “did you want to speak with me?”

“Hi. Yes, I have something to tell you” Woohyun says.

Minhyuk squirms in his seat nervously meanwhile Woohyun takes out an envelope and hands it to Minhyuk, who stares at it suspiciously.

“What is it?” Minhyuk asks.

“Hyunwoo asked if we knew something about a girl with the power to change one’s memories” Woohyun asks, placing the envelope on the table. “We hadn’t any idea that there was someone with ability like that. So after you left I contacted one of my friends from the lead pack and asked if he knew something. He told me they were aware of her existence but they hadn’t much information about her, but I still asked him to give it to me. My friend sent me all the information he had about her so I came here to give it to you”.

Minhyuk takes then the envelope and opens it, inspecting its content.

“I’m sure this will help us” he says as he reads it. “Thank you, Woohyun”.

“It’s nothing. Hyunwoo mentioned that you lost your memories because of her so I thought it was the right thing to give it to you. You would want your memories back”.

“Yes, I want them back as soon as possible” Minhyuk says, saving the information again at the envelope. “Thank you for coming here, Woohyun. This is really kind by your side”.

“We’re allies, aren’t we?” Woohyun says with a smile. “We have to help each other. If you need something else tell me”.

“Can I ask you something a bit private?” Minhyuk asks curiously.

Woohyun is taken aback for a moment but then nods.

“I couldn’t help but notice the tension between you and Myungsoo” Minhyuk says, “and since I’m a bit curious I was wondering what’s going on with you two”.

Woohyun bites his lip, staring at the floor in discomfort. Minhyuk realizes then that he shouldn’t have asked something so personal, and it’s about to apologize when Woohyun finally looks at him again.

“You probably know about how our pack works” Woohyun says, and Minhyuk nods to him. “Well, I’m an omega and Myungsoo is a beta. My status is lower than Myungsoo. You maybe don’t understand this, but it’s a huge deal for werewolf packs. So even though Myungsoo and I have been friends since childhood and I’m now assigned as his partner it’s impossible for us to develop anything more than just a friendship”.

“You’re right, I don’t understand why” Minhyuk asks confused. “Do I have to suppose that if you and Myungsoo can’t be together because you have different statuses you have to be with another omega and he with another beta?”

“Not necessarily. But this system is not only a status, it’s a lifestyle too. Through time, the betas have built something like a closed society, and they barely mate omegas now. We’re left to mate other omegas or if you’re lucky you get to mate a beta or even an alpha. But they are remote situations. Myungsoo would never mate me”.

“But I still don’t understand. If that isn’t forbidden at all why can’t you and Myungsoo mate?”

“To begin with, I don’t even know if Myungsoo reciprocates my feelings. I know how he feels because he’s very expressive, but I can’t feel him” Woohyun says sadly. “And even if he did, his family has made it clear to me that I can’t have him. Myungsoo is fated to marry a beta woman who could provide him with offspring that will have their same status. They wouldn’t allow him to marry an omega who could lower Myungsoo’s status and that on top of all is a male”.

“I’m sorry, Woohyun” Minhyuk says, feeling really awful for having asked such a painful question for Woohyun. “I shouldn’t have asked”.

“No, it’s okay” Woohyun answers with a sad smile. “I’m already accustomed to it, so it’s fine. I really wish we were like Namjoon’s pack. They don’t have that kind of boundaries. They’re free to love who they want”.

Minhyuk smiles to him. He wishes there would be something he could say to make Woohyun feel better, but it’s hard knowing the truth of his situation.

“I wish we could be like you, humans” Woohyun speaks again. “You don’t need to mate. You just love freely, without having to give your life to other person. I’m really envious of you”.

“Loving as humans isn’t easy either” Minhyuk assures him. “There’s also a chance your feelings aren’t requited. And you can’t know because we don’t feel each other like you do”.

“Aren’t your feelings requited either, Minhyuk?” Woohyun asks him curiously.

“Before I forgot my friends they were” Minhyuk answers sincerely. “Now… I don’t know. I forgot my feelings too. I don’t know if my feelings are requited or not because they changed. I need my memories back to have them”.

“Can I tell you my honest opinion, Minhyuk?”

“Of course. After I made that uncomfortable question, you’re allowed to do whatever you want”.

“Don’t be like that, I’ve told you it’s okay” Woohyun says, standing up from his chair to place his hand above Minhyuk’s shoulder, giving it a squeeze. “If I had learnt something from years and years of loving the same person, is that feelings can’t be forgotten. Do you think I haven’t tried forgetting my feelings for Myungsoo? Of course I have; it’s just it wouldn’t work. I have even tried distancing myself from him, but I couldn’t forget him. When you love someone deeply, your heart can’t forget about it. And it hurts, because I can’t have what I want. But I’m sure that inside your heart your feelings remain the same. You just have to allow them to surface”.

Minhyuk looks at Woohyun and smiles widely. Woohyun’s words have all the meaning for him: he feels different when he’s with Hyunwoo. It’s like his body was reacting instinctively towards who it recognizes as his beloved one without having in consideration his mind. So maybe it’s true after all: his feelings remain the same even if he doesn’t remember Hyunwoo.

“Thank you, Woohyun” Minhyuk says, also standing up and giving Woohyun’s hand a squeeze. “For everything. You’ve helped me so much”.

“I’ve done nothing” Woohyun says before taking out a piece of paper from his pocket. “Here you have my personal number. I would want to know how your research goes, so keep me informed”.

“Of course” Minhyuk says, gladly taking the paper. “Again, thank you for coming. Have a safe trip to the pack!”

Woohyun smiles and waves at him before going out. Minhyuk stays there staring at Woohyun’s number before saving it on his phone. Then he picks up the envelope and returns to Kihyun’s side, who is now scribbling in a notebook.

“How did it go?” Kihyun asks him without looking at him.

“Better tha