GD stood in the corridor as he watched shock, horror and understanding flash across your face all in one shot. He slowly put his clothes back on, finally shielding his bare body, he guessed that was one reason you were speechless.

“~~~~~ ah?” GD waved a hand in front of you, but you were dazed and your eyes looked lost and far away.  “I know this a lot to take in, but there is a lot more.”

That got a response out of you.

You let out a nervous laugh and stared up at your cousin, with watery eyes that touched his heart. Damn, she was not ready to listen to all of this. GD thought.

“More than anyone can take in one night, but you have to remember this ~~~~~ ah…once you know you cannot go back…at least not without consequences,” he added quietly.

You gaped at him. “I didn’t want to know any of this, I was quite happy living my perfectly NORMAL and BORING life I’ll have you know! I didn’t ask to be a part of this,” you screamed at him standing up. You were shaking and scared, but most of all you were angry. “You’ve been lying to me our entire life?”

You saw GD open his mouth then shut it as a crease formed on his forehead.

“It’s not exactly lying ~~~~~ ah…it was more like keeping you safe. I’ve been protecting you, keeping you safe.”

You gave a very un lady like snort. “Safe my . A Lycanthrope tried to kill me tonight! I can't believe this is happening, oh my god, this can't be real. I'm hallucinating.”

GD shot up and glared at you. “That was one, more will be coming. And I assure you, this is very real.”

You began to hyperventilate. “What? More Lycanthropes?” you gasped, you leant your hand against the wall holding yourself up and keeping yourself from fainting.

GD paused for a moment, and then looked up at you with serious eyes. “Where did you learn that term from?”

You looked at him in irritated confusion. “What term? I don’t know if you haven’t noticed, but I’m not in the mood to play games. You're a freaking...LYCANTHROPE!”

As fast as a heartbeat, GD was in front of you. God, the books were not joking about the speed.

“Lycanthrope…where did you learn that term from?”

“Why does it matter?” you asked him suspicious, GD pulled out his phone. “Who are you texting?”

He ignored you, but once he was finished he looked at you again. “Because…most people do not know the proper term for our kind. They’d been brain washed by bad movies, calling us werewolves when really the proper term is Lycanthrope. ~~~~~ ah, where did you learn it?”

You’d never seen him look so worried and serious before. Swallowing the large lump building in your throat, you had to tell him something.

“I took out a book from the library earlier after you were sent out. It was called ‘Monsters throughout the Ages’, it had information in their about…well the Lycanthrope legend,” you lied. Actually, you found information on Witches and Taeyang told you about the Lycanthropes. You felt your heart break a little more as you thought his name, god you’re so stupid. “I guess it’s not really a legend now is it?” you continued in disbelief. God, what had you gotten yourself into.

GD’s features were still hard, the humour in his eyes did not return.

“What did you learn?” he continued to interrogate you. You tried to shrug as calmly as you could, but your shoulders were so stiff and painful it didn’t really work.

“Nothing much, just about the war between the Lycanthropes and the Witches,” you said as you recounted some of what Taeyang said. Ouch…there goes another piece, you thought as your chest gave a light throb.

GD didn’t say anything, you watched him study your face. Finally you saw his eyes narrow.

“You’re lying,” he stated.

“W-What? How do you know?” you spluttered.

GD’s body was rigid, and you thought he was going to…change again. You prayed he wouldn’t.

“Because, it has been a very long time since anybody knew about the ancient war between the Witches and Lycanthropes. All the humans know is that we Lycanthropes change into wolf form on a full moon and Witches are people who studied healing remedies. Both beings only mythical to the human mind,” GD explained in a hard voice, you’d never been so scared of your cousin till now.  You didn’t even find him frightening till now.

“Who told you about the Lycanthrope race ~~~~~ ah?” GD asked you again, you didn’t day anything. For a reason you couldn’t explain, you couldn’t betray Taeyang. No matter what he was or what he did, no one deserves the hurt and betrayal he carries. And you wouldn’t hurt him again…even if he hurt you.

“No one.”

GD scowled annoyed you wouldn’t say. Then it clicked, and it finally came to him. And the moment he did, he wanted to rip his head from his body.

“Taeyang told you…that’s why they sent someone to kill you.”

“No he-…” you stopped mid sentence, when you saw the deadly glower GD gave you. “Fine, he did but so what? It’s not like anyone would believe me. Wait…who are ‘they’?” you asked in a slow and trembling voice.

A loud knock echoed through your house, and you let out a squeal of terror and hurried to the far end of the hallway. GD’s face softened.

“It’s fine ~~~~~ ah, it’s just Remi and the guys.”

You looked doubtful. “And you know this how? For all you know it could the people who want me dead.”

GD shook his head. “No it’s definitely Remi and the guys, I can smell them.”

“Really? As in their own personal scent?”

GD nodded. “Yes, everyone was their own personal scent. Once a Lycanthrope has your scent it’s for life…so I tend to suggest to people not to piss me off,” he grinned as if he enjoyed the idea of hunting people.

“Can you smell me at the moment?” you asked him curiously. GD looked at you.

“I could smell you from a mile away. We were given heightened senses to efficiently track Witches; it gave us a head start before they could kill us with a spell.”

You bit your lip nervously, gnawing at them with your teeth. You wanted to trust GD and believe that it was who he said it was, but you found it extremely difficult to do so. You didn’t know what to believe or what not to believe, what was simply a bedtime story or reality.

GD swung open the door and you found yourself covering your eyes just in case.

“Is she okay?” you heard Remi ask GD softly. Relieved, you looked up. Seung Ri and Daesung were wet from the rain, their hair plastered onto their faces. TOP and Remi were dry as an umbrella swung from Remi’s wrist.

“I take it she didn’t handle it very well?” TOP lowered his voice as he talked to GD; it was so low it was barely audible. You had to strain your ears to make you heard him correctly.

GD didn’t answer; instead he just gave everyone a look. It was serious and emphatic, as if he was communicating with them all. That was impossible…but then after what you had just witnessed tonight, you were beginning to believe that what you previously thought was impossible…is actually well, possible.

They all gathered in the living room, and you slowly heaved yourself up off the floor and followed after them, you frowned a little as you saw them all sitting comfortably and serenely on the sofas. As if this was a social gathering and they were waiting for you to put a film on.

You eyed them all from the doorway, your eyes on GD. Waiting for him to…change. From a normal human to a furry beast that roamed the night.

Seung Ri grinned at you. “Woof. “ The pathetic thing was…you jumped.

GD hit him with a pillow. “Shut you up .”

Well, you were glad to see that your breakdown didn’t affect their usual banter.

“~~~~~ ah sit down, you’re making me anxious,” Daesung said, moving up to make room for you. You didn’t know why but you obeyed him, you thought that if you disobeyed it wouldn’t go down very well with any of them.

Remi looked at you with apologetic eyes. “First, I’d like to say…I’m sorry. We didn’t intend for you find out about us like this, it’s a…fragile subject that should be approached with care,” Remi finished.

“So are you all…Lycanthropes?” you whispered the word out. They nodded in unison.

You let your furious gaze linger on each of their faces.

“And you all thought I wasn’t strong enough to know the turth? You know, I can handle more than what you guys think,” you defended yourself. GD let out a tired laugh.

“Trust me. You were not ready…besides you already have had a lot to handle.”

You narrowed your eyes. “What do you mean?”

GD didn’t say anything for a moment, but finally said something. “You were stressed with university…we figured we’d tell you when you had graduated and were old enough and well…strong enough to deal and cope with the real world. Besides, we all took an oath to protect you. I was already tied to protecting you, since we are blood related, but these guys…they wanted to help me keep you from harm.”

You felt your cheeks redden and heat up. If what GD said was true, they dedicated their lives into saving you. But one phrase caught your attention.

“The real world?” you asked with a brow raised. TOP nodded.

“He means our world,” TOP corrected. GD gave him a sarcastic smile.

“Thank you for elaborating. What I mean was…through the ages, Witches and Lycanthropes have put a lot of work into keeping our existence hidden,” GD explained, you watched him take Remi’s hand into his own. Holding onto them tightly, so much protection and love was in that one single, simple touch.

Your mind instantly conjured an image of Taeyang. God…will this pain ever subside? You wanted to run outside and find him, tell him you’re sorry but that was only one half of you. The other half refused to even go near the door, that half of you wanted a safe haven. Where no one or nothing can harm you…even if the one thing that was sent to harm you was Taeyang.

“But the Witches and Lycanthropes are much stronger than humans surely? Couldn’t you over power them? You’re strong and fast with heightened senses, and the Witches can obliterate humans and force them under their command with one incantation can’t they?” you asked the crucial question. GD shook his head.

“It’s not as easy as it sounds. For one…there are very few Witches left. Lycanthropes hunted them down almost to extinction…if Taeyang was the one who told you about our existence…he can’t have forgotten that little detail,” GD added with a hard voice.

Remi nudged him, her eyes begging him to stay civil and calm. That was easier said than done.

GD took a deep breath to calm himself. It seemed to be working.

“What I’m trying to say is, with all the power and extra abilities Witches and Lycanthropes possess, we are not able to overpower the human race because there is not enough of us to do so. Humans have gotten clever, they have learnt to use electricity, make bombs…without the right numbers, Lycanthropes and Witches would be truly nothing more than myths.”

As much as you hated to admit it, it was a scary thought. Once exposed to the true reality, it’s almost impossible to forget about it and return to your normal life. Without the Lycanthropes or Witches…would the world be boring?

Daesung glanced at you wryly. “You want to ask why we don’t turn humans into one of us, don’t you? So there would be more of us.”

 You cursed silently. How did they know what you were thinking? You guessed that it was because you were an easy person to read, practically an open book.

TOP laughed. “A true original Lycanthrope would never commit such a lowly act of turning a human into their own superior race. Lycanthropes believe in keeping bloodlines pure, and tainting family ancestors over a pointless war was a concept they refuse to understand.”

Seung Ri later added. “Lycanthropes breed rather than turn…breeding in our world is more out of necessity rather than starting a family like humans do.”

You stared at all of them in horror. “So Lycanthropes abandon their own children?”

Remi’s brows furrowed. It was hard to explain. “You see…Lycanthropes see their ‘children’ as nothing more than off spring. If the child is strong and healthy it will live…if it is weak and useless…” Remi didn’t finish.

You gulped. “I felt better when I didn’t know that.”

GD gave a bleak look. “It’s too late to back out now.”

You watched GD like a hawk, you kept on expecting him to turn. He looked so agitated compared to the others it was bugging you, you looked at his face. Some people always said that you and him had identical noses and cheekbones, you disagreed. You couldn’t find anything in common with your cousin…then a disturbing thought drifted into your mind.

“Am I…a Lycanthrope?” you asked quietly. You saw the pained look on GD’s face as he struggled to answer.

“I don’t know,” he finally confessed. You gaped at him in fury.

“What do you mean you don’t know? Does it happen when you’re a certain age? Is that what you meant by I was too young?”

GD’s face contorted painfully at your questions, he had to conceal the truth a little longer. It wasn’t the right time yet. He was afraid that the one piece of vital information he kept to himself would push you over the edge.

“We knew from the very beginning,” GD indicated his head to the others. “And the beginning of our life was a long time ago.”

Your mind processed his last words. “What do you mean?”

“How old do I look?”

You sighed at his ridiculous question. “Oppa, you’re 20. What does this have to do with what I might be?”

GD smiled at you. “20 huh? Wow, that’s the first compliment I think I’ve ever received from you.”

You didn’t look amused. “Are you telling me that…you’re older?” you squeaked. GD grinned.

“My physical age is 20, but my actual age is 678 years. I was born in 1332, the most bloody time of the war between the Witches and the Lycanthropes,” GD explained. He watched as you took it all in, he found it amusing almost.

“So…are you the oldest one here?”

He hesitated. “Not exactly…but like your question on if you are one of us…it’s best for another time.”

You frowned, and just when you were about to say something the windows shattered and the glass flew everywhere.

Screaming and shielding yourself, you saw two matching grey Lycanthropes jump in through the broken windows. Their eyes were that strange eerie yellow and their teeth were bared.

“Remi…get ~~~~~ ah out of here,” GD shouted as he shook, the veins in his neck becoming more and more prominent as he arched his back.

“But…” Remi began but GD cut her off.

“Now!”

And at that moment, GD shifted into a black and white wolf. A large white patch ran from his nose all the way to the mid of his back. He wasn’t pure black like Taeyang.

Remi grabbed your arm.

“We have to go now.”

“We can’t leave them!” you squealed frantically, as you watched Daesung, TOP and Seung Ri all shift into Lycanthropes. Smaller in size than GD, but equally as ferocious and deadly looking. Their furs were brown, but the shades of brown was different.

Remi glared at you. “~~~~~ ah they are here to kill you, now run!” she shoved you lightly but firmly out of the door. And you ran again.

You were surprised you had enough energy to run again, but your adrenaline was up to the max and it fuelled your stamina.

You heard a loud crash which was shortly followed by a car alarm loudly blaring in the night, the rain was cold and it slashed across your entire body. You stopped and looked back to check on Remi.

“~~~~~~ ah keep ru-…” but she was attacked by yet another Lycanthrope. Where were they coming from?!

“REMI!” you shrieked as the human Remi and the Lycanthrope tumbled onto the ground in a heap.

“Keep running. ~~~~~ ah, run!” she shouted. And pushed the Lycanthrope away with astounding strength but it wasn’t over, the Lycanthrope sprinted towards Remi and she ran towards it. And with one graceful leap Remi shot into the sky and her clothes shredded as she turned into a russet furred Lycanthrope. Her limbs looked much more nimble and lean compared to the guys, but she was equally as strong and powerful.

The Lycanthrope Remi bit into the other’s leg and savagely shook it, then with one powerful swipe of her head she threw the other Lycanthrope away…giving you time. Remi growled and indicated with her for you to keep running.

You wanted to stay, but you knew that if you did…you’d get her killed. You were too much of a liability. And with all the strength you had, you powered your legs to move you faster and faster through the night.

A deep snarl came from behind you and you dared to look back, a Lycanthrope was chasing you. Its legs practically a blur at the speed, your heart thumping wildly, you carried on running. You turned a corner…and it was the biggest mistake of your life.

“No!” you wailed, as you thumped your fists on the hard brick wall that was a barrier to your safety. You cried and angrily punched it, ignoring the throbbing pain.

Footsteps emerged from behind you, and then a raspy growl.

You turned and pressed your back on the wall, as the Lycanthrope edged nearer to you. It’s breath was putrid, and it made you want to vomit.

A howl sounded in the night, and a chill ran down your spine. The Lycanthrope bared it’s teeth, as if it were enjoying the cries of pain and suffering.

“Please,” you sobbed. “Please, take me…but don’t kill my friends,” you choked out. The Lycanthrope took a step back and raised one lethal and sharp claw in the air.

You braced yourself and shut your eyes, as you waited for your end to come.

Nothing happened, you opened your eyes to peek but powerful arms circled around your waist. Cradling your head with soft protective hands. The way you were cradled, held, made you feel safe and secure. You never wanted to leave, and the moment the scent hit you, you knew who it was.

“Don’t look,” Taeyang whispered softly in your ear, and you clung onto him like a life line. You allowed him to lead you out of the alley, his arms around you all the time. Never letting you go, always keeping you safe.

Once Taeyang decided was safe for you to open your eyes, he let go of you. It ripped his heart as he watched you back away from him.

“Please, don’t kill them,” you begged. “Kill me, but not my friends…not my cousin,” you wept.

Taeyang wanted to hold you in his arms again, his need for you was so strong it was impossible to deny it or disregard it.

“I would never hurt you…or anyone you loved,” he promised with so much sincerity in his voice and the genuineness of his promise was evident in his eyes…no one…not even the best actress or actor could fake that emotion.

And then you realised, ever since earlier this night. Taeyang has done nothing but save you, nothing but protect you and keep you safe. He has been nothing but kind and gentle to you. And a part of you wanted to walk away from him, the part that was frightened of him, but that part was already whittling away.

Taeyang watched as you cautiously walked towards him, and when you stood before him he expected you to slap him, curse him and say you never wanted to see him again. But he couldn’t trace any hate or anger in your beautiful green eyes. Instead he saw a kindness he didn’t think it existed.

And when you reached up to gently press your lips against his, he felt his will break. He wound his arms around you, and deepened the kiss. His tongue smoothly gliding alongside yours.

You moaned at how good he felt and tasted, to feel his hard muscles ripple as he tensed to hold you closer to him. He was nothing like the Lycanthrope you saw at the park, right now he was a man. He was gentle and thoughtful, and his lips were demanding but soft. Your head spun at how wonderful he felt in your arms, this guy…you could never get enough of.

Taeyang ran his hand along your soft skin, as he relished your soft lips against his. He couldn’t have dreamt of a more perfect moment, and he felt a fire in his heart light as you awoke something in him he thought had died a long time ago. Hope. Hope that somehow he could be with you, to wake up and find you in his arms. To kiss your lips every day, to have you hold him like you did now…he hoped for you to hold him like this forever. And as the rain soaked your bodies, he slowly began to realise that here with you, kissing you like there was no tomorrow. This was his heaven.

=========

Sorry for the late update. I would like to say Thank you to eternalhappiness and bangbangVIP for making my poster. If you want one, I recommened their site!!! Anyway hope you liked the update. Please let me know what you think!!!!