The best view comes after the hardest climb - Unknown

 

May 14

 

     Seokjin didn't emerge from his room for four days straight, everyone left him be, felt he needed time to be alone and grieve. Jungkook moved his out the first night and took occupancy in the small guest quarters on the far end of the property. Not that he was actually staying in it, Jungkook spent his time at the town bar, letting people pick him up. Seokjin decided he would busy himself with miscellaneous tasks and anything he could do to help out the new packs at Sapphire Bay, less chance to run into his husband, into Jungkook. Dealing with this was a little easier when he didn't see him, knowing what the younger was doing when he went to the bars, he finally understood why Jungkook was so upset with him over sleeping with Yoongi. Seokjin's heart broke no less than two times daily, it hurt... being apart from the younger hurt his soul, he was physically drained and mentally exhausted... and it probably made it ten times worse knowing that Jungkook was not. Jungkook hated him, it was apparent. Hating your bondmate was the key, that's what made it all easier and less painful... but Seokjin could never hate Jungkook.

 

     Yoongi and Seokjin were mucking out stalls in the old barn on the ranch where Sunghoon and Sunoo decided to settle with their packs. It was on the outskirts of Sapphire Bay surrounded by barren fields. The two princes planned to renovate it, turn it into a functioning farm to grow their own food, and house some animals that could be taken to the butcher to feed the packs. They also wanted to put the empty stalls to good use, so their first order of business would be to purchase some horses.

 

     "This is all my fault," The regret was apparent in Yoongi's voice. He hated that his best friend was suffering.

     "No, it's my fault, Jungkook is right, I knew and I didn't stay away from you." 

     "You'll get him back," Yoongi gave Seokjin's shoulder a squeeze.

     "He deserves better than me," Seokjin knew it in his soul, "Jungkook needs someone to give them their full heart, and right now... right now I can't be that guy."

     "You're giving up?"

     Seokjin shook his head, "I'm going to do what I should have done already, sort my life out," Seokjin hated that he had to lose Jungkook to learn the lesson, "If we never find our way back to each other, at least I improved myself for the next unfortunate soul."

     "You know he's been down at the bar every day this week," Yoongi chose his words carefully, "Not exactly... being faithful."

     Those words broke Seokjin's heart, but if anyone needed to discover themselves at this juncture, it was the younger, "I know." 

     "Didn't he at you for the same thing?" Yoongi asked, "Or is being faithful subjective now?"

     "I am not in the position to be mad here, what do you want me to do?" Seokjin was beside himself, "He broke the bond, he doesn't feel anything for me anymore."

     There were several minutes of silence, each of them mulling over thoughts in their head.

     "If you need me to back off and give you space," Yoongi expressed, "Just say it."

     "Obviously I don't want you to, or I wouldn't be in this predicament," Seokjin gave Yoongi a reassuring smile, "Don't think I'd survive if I lost you too."

     Taehyung brought a bale of hay in and dropped it down by the barn doors, wiping his brow, "We have a pack meeting at three today."

      "How are things going in the field?" Yoongi popped his pitchfork into the ground and removed his gloves.

     "Everyone is telling creepypastas about what happened here, why the town is really abandoned," Taehyung had permanent goosebumps today, "I think Brahms should hire some of these people."

     "Any words on the internship?" Yoongi strode over to the bench and nabbed his water, gulping down some of the refreshing liquid.

     Taehyung shook his head, grabbing the water from him and taking a sip. He leaned into Yoongi, glancing over at Seokjin, "How's he doing?"

     "I think dead inside is an understatement."

 

      Seokjin let the steamy water wash over his face, the water eased his thoughts. In ten minutes he would be in the same room as Jungkook at the pack meeting, the first time since it all went down. It was easier to break down in here, where the water could wash away the tears and drown out the whimpers. It was becoming a ritual of late and the only thing that seemed to ease his mind enough to fall into a stupor so he could slumber. As if he could call it sleep, most of it was just tossing and turning, between missing Jungkook in his bed and replaying the words that Jungkook screamed at him, sleep was not in his vocabulary.

 

     Seokjin slumped into the library, his hair still wet from his shower. He handed off a basket of fresh muffins, that Sunoo had sent along, to Namjoon and then took a seat. He was the second one down, Beomgyu was lying on the couch, napping, muttering in his sleep about gremlins taking over the world.

     "Renovations going well?" Namjoon sniffed the basket, "Ooh blueberry."

     "It's going," Seokjin smoothed down his wet hair, trying to tame it a bit.

     "Sunghoon tells me everyone seems to be getting along well."

     Seokjin nodded. He was not in the mood for small talk.

    Taehyung and Jimin were the next to enter, followed shortly after by Hoseok, who handed off a mug of tea to Taehyung as they all sat. Yoongi sauntered in ten minutes later, finishing off a blood bag. Namjoon handed him several folders and instructed him to pass them around, which he did before handing off a folder to Seokjin and plopping down in the empty seat next to him.

     Seokjin and Yoongi opened their folders and looked over the contents, it was a mix of blueprint copies that explained what Sapphire Bay would be turned into, lists of names of the new packs, and several missions that involved dealing with the nobles.

     "Lot of information here," Yoongi closed the folder and pushed it aside, "want to get dinner after this?"

     "Sure," Seokjin answered, not really paying attention, he was studying the blueprints, there were plans for everything- from a meeting hall to a general store. He found it peculiar they were building a general store, he thought they went out of business with the rise of the supercenters, "you find it odd that a lot of the buildings are not modernized?"

     "Tourist town on the outside," Yoongi had seen it before, in vampire history, it was easy to build tourist attractions to lure feedbags, aka walking blood banks; a neverending supply of people coming in and out of town meant that vampires had fresh necks to bite, "thriving metropolis on the inside."

     Yoongi leaned over and pointed out the underground city on the second set of blueprints as Seokjin turned the page over, "They're bringing back the underground."

     "Madame Hilda's Apothecary?" Seokjin read the name written above squares of what he assumed to be shops, "They've got an occult book store, a fortune teller, and a gem and rock shop planned-"

     "Humans love collecting crystals."

     "The Twelve Hags Tavern?" Seokjin tittered, "My next birthday, we're having a drink there."

     "Noted." Yoongi pointed out a space on the map, "They have an amusement park planned for early next year."

     Seokjin was impressed, "This whole project sounds expensive."

     "You need to spend money to make money philosophy."

     "I thought vampires were loaded?"

     "Sure, with any core family there is old money involved, but vampires are greedy," Yoongi wasn't just talking about the cash.

     "Is Sunghoon's pack like your dad's?"

     Yoongi shook his head, "No, but not the same as me. Be interesting to see how they progress."

     

     Namjoon glanced at his watch, it was now 3:10 and Jungkook was late, he was going to have to start the meeting without him.

     "As you can see we have a good deal of stuff to go over," Namjoon held up a folder, "So, I ordered in some pizza."

     "Did someone say pizza?" Beomgyu sat up, stretching.

     "Yeah, should be here," Namjoon set his folder down, "twenty minutes give or take."

     Jungkook hurried in, slipping a hoody on, "Sorry I'm late, my alarm clock didn't go off."

     Jungkook took a seat on the couch next to Beomgyu, Namjoon handed off a folder to them both and went back to the front of the room.

     "We're getting pizza," Beomgyu smirked, opening his folder.

     "Good, I'm starving."

     Seokjin had to remind himself not to stare, but he couldn't help it, Jungkook was glowing, this new bachelor life seemed to suit him. Seokjin on the other hand had a permanent new companion, the dark circles that accumulated from night after night of missed sleep. Seokjin felt like he could cry, Jungkook was feet away physically, but worlds apart in every other way. He wasn't suffering like Seokjin was. Why would he be, Seokjin, he's obviously in a better place now that you aren't dragging him down.

     Yoongi had never seen that look on his best friend's face before - a mix of anguish and despair, a pitiful vulnerability that seemed at home these last few days.

      "I included the plans for the redesign of Sapphire Bay, it's a four-year plan, with phase two being the completion of the underground city."

     Seokjin's head began to pound, he was trying his hardest to suppress his emotions and it was causing his head to throb. He rested his head in his palm, trying to dull the intense pressure.

     "Do you need some air?' Yoongi whispered and Seokjin just shook his head, fresh air wasn't going to rid him of the sadness.

     "I'm okay," Seokjin leaned back and crossed his arms, trying to warm himself up from the chills that wouldn't stop hounding him.

     Jungkook gave a quick glance over to Seokjin, the elder's appearance was dismal. He pondered if he should still ask for a divorce when the meeting was over. He saw no sense in staying married at this point, nor should he give Seokjin any false expectations. Namjoon could call in a favor with the city and have it annulled by the end of the week if he so chose. No legal recollection of them ever having been married. That was certainly the kind of closure that would shred any hope the elder might still cling to... and then Seokjin could feel free to be with anyone he wanted, like the bastard of a vampire that had his hand on Seokjin's shoulder, trying to comfort him.

     "It's quite grand," Hoseok broke Jungkook's thoughts and he focused back down on his paper, agreeing.

     "How many packs do you anticipate joining the cause?" Taehyung couldn't help but notice, this underground city was enormous, with at least four separate areas for four complete packs.

     "This is like Minecraft gone wild," Beomgyu chimed and several of them chuckled.

     "He's not wrong," Jimin held up one of the copies, "This whole area is inside the mountain."

     "They wanted something safe," Namjoon explained, "but close."

     "And what about the nobles?" Seokjin was concentrating on one of the mission papers, "What's this about snowboarding?"

     "I thought you'd be interested in that," Namjoon perked up, "There are two nobles set up in a cabin on Blue Ridge, at the moment we are not sure why."

     "I haven't been snowboarding in over ten years," Seokjin had a sudden little memory flash from a year ago when he and Jungkook visited North Star, "except for last year when..." his voice trailed off when he noticed Jungkook look over at him, when Jungkook and I were deliriously happy and inseparable. It was an impromptu third honeymoon, although they hadn't actually done much snowboarding that weekend, he still managed to hit the powder at least twice. Point was, he was good at snowboarding, plus the cold climate would numb his brain, "I want this one."

     "Figured you would," Namjoon smiled, "I think you should pop the kid's cherry on this one, he needs a mission."

     "Huh?" Seokjin questioned.

     "Beomgyu skis," Namjoon looked to Beomgyu, who gave a wave.

     "Not gonna be a anymore," Jungkook razzed.

     "I'm not a , what the hell you mean?"

     "You, sir, are a mission ," Jungkook sassed, "and who the hell you been doing?" 

     "Your mom," Beomgyu joked, earning himself a pillow to the face.

     "In other news," Namjoon chimed back in, "Taehyung, starting July 5th, you are officially interning under Brahms."

     "No way?" Taehyung stood, excitement flowing through him, "Forreal?"

     Jimin high-fived him, "Congrats bro."

     "It wasn't just me that vouched for you, Abram also had some nice things to say," Namjoon smiled, "positive he was the reason you got it."

     "I shall send Abram a fruit basket," Taehyung sat, giddy as hell.

 

     Fifty-four minutes later the meeting ended and Jungkook watched as Seokjin left the room and decided to follow him, he needed to talk to him and he didn't want to do it around others. He had to wait ten more minutes for Hoseok to leave the kitchen after some lecture on the best tea for canines and missed the elder leaving when Taehyung and Beomgyu decided to reenact  Brahms' fifth book's death scene of the werewolf and the banshee and made him play the morgue guy. He finally spotted Seokjin heading towards the ridge and was able to catch up and get him alone.

 

     Jungkook stopped behind him, the elder was standing at the railing that overlooked the valley below and the city just beyond. Seokjin had been coming down here a lot to clear his mind.

     "Hey."

     "Jungkook?" Seokjin was surprised to see him.

     "Can we talk?"

     "Yeah, of course," Seokjin wondered if maybe Jungkook was missing him so much, that he had rethought the whole broken bond thing.

     "I didn't want to do this over text," Jungkook leaned his back against the railing staring at the estate gardens, they looked quite serene with the moon's light casting it in its brilliance. Too beautiful for what he was about to say.

    That is not how you start an 'I miss you, Seokjin' announcement. Seokjin's heart skipped several beats, "Do what?"

     "Namjoon can call in a favor with his friend at city hall," Jungkook glanced at Seokjin before refocusing on the moon, "They can annul the marriage in less than a week, no need to go to court."

     Seokjin's stomach dropped, "You want to annul our marriage?"

     "I don't see any point in staying married."

     BAM! It was like being hit with a brick.

     Seokjin focused on the twinkling lights from a building to his left, not wanting Jungkook to see the distress in his expression or the fact that he was trying his hardest not to ugly cry right here and now. He balled up his fists and choked down the lump that formed in his windpipe.

     "Is this really what you want?" Seokjin was sure his voice cracked, he cleared his throat.

     "Why prolong the inevitable," Jungkook expressed, shrugging, "No point in holding on to a worthless title."

     "Yeah, I guess," Seokjin clenched his jaw, trying so hard to drown out the emotions threatening to creep in.

     "I'll have them draw up the papers and send them to you."

     Seokjin blinked away the tears that welled up in his eyes, all he could do was nod... he couldn't even bring himself to look at the younger.

     "I felt like I at least owed you a head's up in person."

     "Yeah, so much less painful this way," he wiped away the tear that escaped, before Jungkook could see it streaming down his cheek.

     Jungkook looked down, "Maybe this wasn't the best idea."

     Seokjin huffed, "Did you think there would be an easy way to kill me?"

     "Yeah," Jungkook pursed his lips as he backed away, turning to leave, "I'm gonna go."

     "Jungkook-"

     Jungkook stopped, glancing over his shoulder, "Hm?"

     Seokjin turned to look at him, composing himself, wishing to the gods this was just a nightmare, praying Jungkook would change his mind. I miss you so much. I miss the way you hold me. I miss the way you would smack me when I told one of my stupid dad jokes. I miss waking up in your arms and feeling like we're the only two people in the world. I miss looking into your big brown eyes and hearing you tell me you love me. I miss that we aren't going to grow old together or tell stories to our future dogs about all the crazy we did. I hate that I will never be able to show you how much you mean to me. The thoughts wouldn't stop swimming through his brain, the thoughts it made no sense to confess out loud, "Take care of yourself."

     Jungkook could feel the turmoil brewing under Seokjin's calm facade, he needed to leave, "I will, you too."

     Jungkook walked off and Seokjin could no longer hold back, the tears stained his face immediately, he clasped his hand over his mouth in some hopes that it would ease the agony of seeing Jungkook walk away, knowing that the younger really was over him. It didn't, it just made him hyperventilate.

     You actually thought he'd forgive you just like that?

     He slumped against the wall, feeling dizzy. He tried resting his hands on his knees but it just made it worse. He plopped down on his , drawing his knees to his chest. He wanted to call Jungkook back, to tell him he was sorry, to tell him how much he loved him, to beg for him to forgive him... but he knew he had to let him go, no matter how much it killed him inside.

     It wasn't just the bond that was broken, it was Seokjin's whole being.

 

June 30

     The last six weeks were pretty routine, Seokjin would wake up, head over to the renovation site, help out until he was too tired to move, then come home and shower and sleep. Repeat, repeat, repeat. Some days Yoongi would tag along, some days he would chill with Hyunjin, and some days he'd just disappear and find a place to stare up at the stars. Anything to block out the storm of emotions he was feeling, that hadn't even begun to lessen. It was too much.

     "Turn off your humanity," Yoongi advised. But Seokjin always opposed, he needed to feel every single ty emotion if he was ever going to grow. He wasn't going to let losing the younger be in vain. He continued to see the therapist because it did more harm than good to keep them bottled up; when he bottled them up, he drank... and when he drank he let his mind wander to places that he wouldn't dare to go, like Yoongi's bed. He may not have been with Jungkook anymore, but he was staying faithful... anything less and it felt like a mockery of his marriage. A marriage that as far as the law was concerned never even existed.

     Summer exploded into a heat wave, the hottest in fifty years according to the weatherman. The heat meant that the pool was popping. The pool being the first place Jungkook would be most days. Seokjin tried to avoid it as much as he could, but sometimes he just needed to cool off and sink to the bottom and worry his best friend, who never dare jump in, because vampires and water were not good friends.

     "No, I don't tan, I burn, and by burn I mean catch on fire," Yoongi complained when Taehyung wouldn't stop asking why he never came out to the pool for more than just to make sure Seokjin hadn't drowned himself.

     Beomgyu had burst into a fit of laughter over that. For some reason, he did not have the same problem as most vampires and Hoseok explained it was probably because he could morph, it ed with his DNA.

    Jungkook was living a much better existence, he hung with Beomgyu, Jimin, or Taehyung on most days, and most nights the four of them raided the bar. Jungkook was quite popular there, for reasons Seokjin wished he didn't have to know about. To look at Jungkook now, no one would ever guess they had been married and in love at one point... and that, that right there made Seokjin feel the worst.

     But, Seokjin pushed on, even on days he had to force himself out of bed and put on a happy smile. When the sadness crept up is when he knew he couldn't waste away in that room. The upsetting part was he didn't even dare to have a conversation with Jungkook, it would never be right between them and he couldn't pretend with small talk... small talk ended with him bawling his eyes out in the shower. For them there was no, 'let's stay friends', all he could do was let Jungkook do his thing, and hope that the younger was happy. 

     "If he's not happy, then he sure is a good actor," Yoongi peered out his kitchen window, watching Jungkook with Taehyung, dunking each other.

     "Yeah, maybe not say that," Seokjin was washing dishes, trying his best not to just stare out the window. Jungkook was in the best shape of his life and Seokjin really missed the too, no one would ever do to him what Jungkook could.

     "I'm sorry, I know this still hurts."

     "It's fine," Seokjin shrugged, "I'm fine."

     "I'm fine turned upside down is save me," Yoongi pointed out, "Don't lie to me, I know this is anything but fine."

     Seokjin grabbed two plates from the counter and stuck them in the soapy water, "Don't want to think about it right now."

     Yoongi pushed his long hair out of his eyes, he had let it grow out over the last six weeks and was thisclose to cutting it all off, but he was lazy and so now he usually just rubberbanded it into a ponytail, "Sorry."

     There was a good five minutes of silence, broken up by Taehyung and Jungkook's yells of joy and obscene splashing of water. Seokjin had about enough.

     "I'm gonna go work out," Seokjin handed him the last cup and threw the sponge down, "Thanks for lunch."

     Yoongi stared after Seokjin, shaking his head as he turned to stare back out at the pool, at Jungkook, "Wish I knew your secret, 'cause I sure the hell can't get over him that easy."

 

 

July 1

 

   "Mayday, Mayday, I'm going down," Soobin's panic-filled voice called over the radio. He had tried to even out the descent of the helicopter only to freefall from the sky. The sounds of crunching metal filled the recording...  then nothing but static.

     Namjoon paused the recording, "This was three days ago, a park ranger found the wreckage but, no body-"

     "Soobin's dead?" Jimin gasped.

     "Until we find a body, this is a rescue mission," Namjoon asserted.

     "Wolves are rampant in that area, the odds we find-" Hoseok stopped himself after looking at the 'WTF' face Jimin was throwing his way, "No, you're right, even if they tore him apart, there will be bones and organs."

     Jimin facepalmed.

     "What?"

     Jimin sighed, "Do you ever just listen to yourself?"

     Taehyung and Jungkook sprinted into the room, a near miss of bumping over the lab table as they slid to a stop.

     "What's the emergency?" Taehyung gulped to catch his breath.

     "Rescue mission, Soobin's in trouble," Jimin filled him in.

     "They have people out searching, but they don't have the same set of skills we do, if you catch my drift," Namjoon insinuated.

     "Humans?" Yoongi called from the doorway and Namjoon nodded.

     "The park is a two-hour drive, I want us all in on this one," Namjoon commanded, "I need everyone to be ready in fifteen minutes."

     "Copy that," Jimin announced as he left the room.

     "Find Seokjin and Beomgyu," Namjoon told Yoongi, "Fill them in."

     "Will do," Yoongi assured, and too was out of the room seconds later.

 

     Namjoon had rented an RV for the trip, he didn't want to split cars, and the RV was big enough that everyone could fit in and bring home an injured Soobin if need be. It was a little cramped, but it was only a small trip, they could spend the night in a hotel if the situation called for it. Namjoon hired a driver and rode shotgun the whole way there, the rest of them split off into their groups; Seokjin and Yoongi occupied the sofa, Hoseok took the bed in the back because he was feeling car sick. Jungkook and Taehyung sat on one side of the dinette while Jimin and Beomgyu sat across from them - directly parallel to the sofa. It was too close for Seokjin's comfort, it made the whole RV extra stuffy, even though the AC was cranked way down. It was also impossible not to hear each other's conversations.

     "You drink two beers and you're past tipsy," Taehyung argued, pointing out that Jimin couldn't handle his alcohol.

    "I think it's more than two-"

     "Nope," Jungkook interrupted, agreeing with Taehyung, "it's how Beomgyu gets you to lose at darts."

     "What?" Jimin looked scandalized, turning to his seatmate.

     Beomgyu raised an eyebrow questioning what Jungkook was talking about, "Nah, bro, that's crazy talk," he shook his head unconvincingly. 

     Yoongi had to laugh to himself, his brother was a hellion and a good one at that.

     "The only person worse with booze is Hoseok, two drinks and he shuts down entirely," Taehyung laughed, "You could sit him in a corner and he'd stare at it until he was sober again."

     They all laughed.

     "And Jungkook, well I think it just makes him ten times more attractive to the public, two beers down and he could leave with a person five seconds later," Taehyung jerked his head toward Jimin who kicked him under the table, "Ow, what?"

     Jimin's eyes were doubled in size and he was motioning toward Seokjin. Everyone went quiet.

     "By all means carry on," Seokjin pretended not to care, but his darkened eyes said otherwise, "Let's make it painfully obvious that I'm the only one who still hasn't gotten over it."

     "Stupid," Jimin scolded his brother.

     "Hey, Namjoon," Beomgyu yelled up to their leader, anything to alleviate the awkwardness in the air, "How much longer?"

     "It's only been thirteen minutes," Namjoon answered back.

     "You don't suppose we'll encounter a lot of wolves up there do you?" Jimin questioned, understanding the assignment; divert attention away from Seokjin and Jungkook's nonexistent relationship.

     "I'm more worried about if Soobin encountered some wolves," Taehyung uttered.

     Yoongi witnessed Seokjin shut his eyes and reopen them to his normal browns, "You okay?"

     "The wolves will either be scared of our scent or take it as a threat," Jimin figured.

     "No," Seokjin gave an involuntary shudder, "Nothing I don't deserve."

     "We're apex predators," Taehyung argued, "No way would they challenge."

     "No one deserves this much torment," Yoongi felt bad for his best friend, mad that everyone was so nonchalant about Jungkook's life.

     "Soobin is human, if he is hurt-"

     "We have to stay positive," Jimin reprimanded.

     "We have to be realistic," Yoongi countered, "We have to prepare ourselves that he might not have been lucky."

     "The rescue party stopped looking as of today, humans aren't as resilient as we are," Taehyung indicated.

     People have made it out of worse," Jimin reminded.

     

     When they arrived at the park, there was a park ranger standing inside the gates, awaiting their arrival. Namjoon got out first and walked over, shaking hands with the man.

    "It's about 2 clicks to the north," The ranger pointed towards the area they would have to be going, it's taped off for about a mile, but there is a trail that leads you within twenty feet of it."

     "Thanks, I appreciate it."

     "I just need you to sign some paperwork in the event of if you do find the body," The ranger held up a clipboard, "As next of kin."

     Namjoon had told them that Soobin was his brother so that they could go bring him back without any legal complications... dead or alive.

 

     The rest of them filed out of the RV and supplied up while Namjoon took care of the red tape.

     Jimin glanced at his watch, "Ten AM, we have about 9 hours left before it gets dark."

     "Plenty of time," Hoseok the ball of his index finger and held it into the air to see which way the wind was blowing, "East."

     "Are we splitting into groups?" Beomgyu asked, adjusting his backpack.

     "It might be a good idea," Hoseok turned his walkie to channel two and walked about fifteen feet away, slipping in an earpiece, "Channel 2."

     "Go ahead," Jimin already had his earpiece in. He faced away from Hoseok.

      Hoseok tapped the button on his wrist apparatus, "Testing... testing, Jimin can you hear me?"

     "It's working," Jimin gave a thumbs up, "we are live."

      Namjoon rejoined them and Jimin handed him a walkie set, "We're on channel two. How do you want to divide the teams?"

     "Two teams of four would probably be the best bet, once we get to the wreckage and assess the area, we can decide better from there."

     "Ok, let's roll out then," Taehyung threw a backpack to Jungkook and started off, down the line of caution tape. One by one they filed after.

     

     It took them around 30 minutes to reach the wreckage spot, the area was a complete mess. Helicopter parts were spread in trees and bushes, the cockpit hung in the branches of a large oak, spewing wires and sheet metal out the back like it had crapped itself from the impact. One of the rotor blades had impaled a tree trunk, and the landing skids were sticking out of the soil a good fifty feet away.

     "Spread out, see if you can pick up a track or anything that might suggest which direction Soobin went," Namjoon yelled.

     "There is no way he lived through this," Jungkook noticed a spot of blood on a bush next to his leg.

      "How did this thing not explode?" Beomgyu peered down at the other half of the helicopter.

     Yoongi bent down to try to pick up some tracks but there were too many footprints for him to be able to make out which ones were Soobin's, "There are too many footprints."

     Hoseok found the fuel tank in the bush next to it, "It's empty."

     "Is that why he crashed?" Beomgyu took it from him and peered inside.

      "Maybe."

     Beomgyu flung it into a bush, "Who is going to clean this all up?"

     "Everyone quiet, do you hear that?" Yoongi called out, turning around in a circle to try to locate the sound of crunching leaves.

     "Is someone out here?" Jimin asked Namjoon, palming the knife that sat in a sheath on his belt.

     "Maybe one of the search party-"

     "Or a wolf."

     Hyunjin stepped out of the brush in front of them, followed by Sunghoon. The two of them stealthed out in hunter's gear, with Sunghoon carrying a rather impressive-looking pistol-sized crossbow.

     "Sunghoon?" Namjoon exclaimed. "Hyunjin?" Seokjin said in unison.

     "Thought you could use our services," Sunghoon turned to Hyunjin, "Do your thing."

     "Where the hell did you come from?" Taehyung wondered aloud.

     "Hyunjin is an expert tracker, felt like he would be more valuable here than pouring concrete slabs back at the ranch," Sunghoon stated.

     Hyunjin bent down sniffing in the air, he did it three more times in different spots, trying to feel for Soobin's energy (or in this case since he didn't know him personally, energy of someone that was scared and/or hurt.)

    "What is he doing," Beomgyu asked Jimin.

     "He's an empath," Seokjin answered.

     "I think he crawled this way," Hyunjin bent down tracing an outline of a set of booted prints and then where he believed someone fell and dragged themselves into the trees.

     Yoongi joined him, "You can feel his vibration?"

     "Yeah, when someone is scared or hurt, it gives off an impression," Hyunjin explained.

     Jimin pulled up a map on his iPad and walked over, to the east there were the mountains, tons of caves, and areas to hide within, "he picked a good way to go, he has a fighting chance if he happened to make it to a cave."

     "He's downwind, that's a plus," Hoseok mentioned.

     "I'm catching the scent of two or three wolves," Taehyung called from the other side of the tree where the cockpit rested, "I think they're hunting."

     "Then we better get this show on the road," Namjoon called out, "We'll split up into teams of five and try to cover as much area as we can."

 

      They split into groups and headed opposite ways, Team A headed the way that Hyunjin suggested and team B headed off to the west. Team A aka Yoongi, Hyunjin, Seokjin, Beomgyu, and Hoseok had been walking a good ten minutes when they came to a fork in the path.

     Yoongi slipped on a beanie, then fastened his gloves, "Which way?" 

     He handed off a pair of gloves to Seokjin who also slipped them on, "do you feel anything, Hyunjin?"

     The north path led deeper into the trees, while the east path went towards the mountains, Hyunjin turned to the mountain path, studying the boot prints imprinted in the dirt, the same that he believed belonged to Soobin, "He was able to get back to his feet here, but he's limping."

     Yoongi studied the prints and the small stick size holes next to them, "He must have fashioned a walking stick."

    Seokjin sniffed the air, "Is that blood?"

    "That is definitely blood, "Beomgyu his lips, "A-positive."

    "So he's hurt," Hoseok fretted.

    Hyunjin bared his fangs, "Judging by the smell, he might only have a few hours."

     "Then we better go quick," Hoseok joined Hyunjin, "lead the way."

 

     Several feet up the path along the mountain base, the foliage was spattered with blood, a good amount of it.

     "There was a tussle," Hyunjin pointed out, several plants were uprooted and there were chunks of grass clumped next to pits of dirt.

     "Pawprints," Hoseok caught his breath, following them for about ten feet when he found a fresh wolf carcass, resting in a pool of coagulated blood... deep gashes in its fur like it was stabbed to death with a really big knife.

     Yoongi bent down to it, examining the wounds, "This is not from an animal."

    Hyunjin spotted the footprints, now stained with blood, leading up the cliff, "This way."

    It took them another twenty-five minutes to scale the terrain to a small road, following broken leaves and blood spots. Just past the road, there was an overgrown trail that ran along the mountain rock.

     "Soobin?" Hoseok called out.

     "Soobin?" Beomgyu repeated as they progressed forward.

     "I smell a campfire?"

     "Soobin." Soobin heard his name, he perked up. Was he hallucinating?

     "H-here," He tried to call back but his voice was too hoarse.

     Hoseok jerked his head to the left, "I think I heard him?"

     "Soobin?" Seokjin and Yoongi called out in unison.

     "I-In he-here," Soobin called back, his voice faint. He tried to stand but the bite wound in his side throbbed, making him recoil from the pain.

      They searched around before Seokjin found a small cave hidden within the foliage, "There's a cave over here-"

     Seokjin went inside, but the cave was empty.

     Yoongi poked his head inside.

     "Not here."

     "," Yoongi left.

     Hyunjin progressed past the cave and down the way a bit, the dirt was riled up like there had been another scuffle. He reached down and picked a tuft of wolf hair off the broken plant. He focused on the ground, walking a few steps.

      "He's close," The words no sooner left Hyunjin's lips when he tripped over another wolf carcass, this one was still warm.

     "You okay?" Seokjin helped him up.

     "Yeah, thanks."    

     "I'm in here," Soobin called out once again, this time fueled by the adrenalin that pumped through him. He scrambled to his feet, using the machete he had in his hands as a makeshift cane, "hello?" He slumped against the wall, grasping his side, he felt like he was on fire. 

      "Soobin?" Hoseok shouted, he swore he heard the thunking of steel on rock just seconds ago.

      Soobin made it several steps to the cave exit before he collapsed, the machete slid out the hole where Hoseok slammed his foot down, catching it.

     "He's in here," Hoseok screamed, going to Soobin. He felt for a pulse, it was faint. He ripped open Soobin's shirt, seeing the scattered bite marks across his stomach and hip. His leg also sported a rather nasty bite that looked infected. He took off his backpack and dug inside for his balm. He uncapped the tin as the rest of them funneled in.

    "Is he alive?" Beomgyu knelt down.

     "Barely," Hoseok rubbed the balm over the wound, "He's not like us though, I don't know if this will help."

     Soobin began to wheeze and Beomgyu backed up, startled.

     "What's happening?"

     "I don't know, this isn't supposed to happen."

     Soobin's body writhed, twisting about... soon after, Soobin stopped moving as he rattled out a breath.

     They all froze, unsure of what just happened, unsure of what to do.

     "He's not breathing," Seokjin pointed out.

     Hoseok could not find a pulse, "No pulse."

     " it," Yoongi pushed Hoseok aside and bared his fangs, sinking them into Soobin's neck.

     "What are you doing?" Hoseok's crisp inhale of breath echoed in the small cav