What. The. . Before he could turn the page, Howon heard keys jingling. The next sound was the clicking of high heels on the kitchen’s wooden floor boards, and he knew who had just entered the house. Howon made his way to his room’s door and silently locked it. Unfortunately for him, that woman had fantastic hearing.

“Lee Howon, are you home?” an annoying voice screeched. “Guess who’s here? It’s your auntie!”

Howon held his breath. Then, he let out a sigh. There was no use in hiding. She already knew he was home. “Y-yes, Aunt Eunyoon.” He bit his lip. Why is she here? There was only on reason Howon could think of for his aunt’s unexpected appearance. She needed money.

“Well, get out here!”

Howon swallowed his spit and braced himself to face his least favorite family member. He unlocked his door and stepped out. He tip-toed to the kitchen, where he knew she’d be, putting all the food from their fridge and pantry into . He saw her wearing five-inch heels usual, drinking milk from the carton. She left a disgusting, blood red lipstick stain on the carton.

“Aunt Eunyoon,” Howon said to get her attention. “What brings you here?” He sounded a bit too hostile than he intended.

She eyed him strangely. “What? I can’t just visit my dear sister’s home? I can’t just visit my dear nephew?” she said innocently. “People these days, really. So rude.” She put her hands on her skinny hips. Howon wondered how she stayed so thin when she always seemed to be freeloading from other people’s pantries. “Now greet me properly. Say ‘Hi, Auntie!’”

“Hi, Auntie,” Howon said through gritted teeth. “Now seriously, why are you here? We’re going through tough time, too, you know. There’s nothing for you here.”

“Listen, dear nephew,” Aunt Eunyoon said as she set her purse down on the kitchen table. “Family helps family, right? I need a place to stay for now. Just for a little while. I need to find a guy.”

“There’s no room for you to stay.”

“I need to find this guy.”

“So?”

Aunt Eunyoon rolled her eyes. “Lemme explain. I need to find a guy about your age—”

Ew, who cares? Howon thought.

“—who owes me big time—”

Did one of this ’s clients not pay her or something?

“—and I know he’s in this city somewhere. So that’s why I need to stay here, alright? I just gotta find this guy. And you know what, Howon, your mommy already let me have the guest room, so no matter what you say, I’m staying.”

Howon still didn’t say anything. Mom’s too nice. He ignored the rest of his aunt’s words and went back into his room. He slammed the door shut and locked it again. He heard that shrill voice shout at him, but didn’t bother responding in any way. He picked up his book and flashlight and went into his small, walk-in closet, where he hoped his clothes and closet door would help muffle the annoying sounds from her blood red mouth.

Howon his little flashlight, blinding himself for a second. He slid down to the floor and leaned against the wall. He opened Nothing’s Over up to the page he was on and read by the LED light.

“H-Hey, how do you know who I am?” Sungyeol asked in surprise. He gripped Myungsoo’s arm and cowered behind the shorter man.

“I’m a telepathic, like Myungsoo,” Dongwoo said. “Anyway, I need your help. It’s important.” Sadness flickered in his eyes. “Please...”

Myungsoo eyed Dongwoo suspiciously. “You’re like me, huh? I don’t think so. Your eyes aren’t like mine. There’s color in your irises. Don’t lie when it’s so obvious.” Sungyeol realized what Myungsoo meant. That’s why Myungsoo’s eye color was pitch black. It must be a trait all mindreaders have. On the other hand, Dongwoo had dark brown eyes.

“W-wait. That’s only because I’m not a purebred!” Dongwoo said, trying to defend himself. Myungsoo still wasn’t convinced. “I swear it’s true. Please believe me! I really need your help.”

Sungyeol was about to say something, but Myungsoo sent in a message telepathically. ‘Don’t be an idiot who trusts everyone. Even if you have a feeling, you can never be sure. Instincts are for creatures who can’t reason.’ So Sungyeol stayed silent and let Myungsoo do the talking.

“Listen, we’d love to help if we knew you were on out side, but we don’t. And that’s a problem,” he said, his voice as calm as ever, his eyes emotionless as always. “Also, you’re blocking your mind from me, which doesn’t really help you at all. You could be with Woohyun for all we know.”

Dongwoo gasped. “Woohyun? Is that who took Hoya?”

“You know Hoya?” Sungyeol asked, surprised at the mention of the canine creature. “You’re looking for him, too? How did you know him? Are you hunting him? Who are you?”

“Hey!” Myungsoo shouted. “Shut up, will you? And calm the down. Your thoughts are giving me a headache.”

“Do you have to listen to me thinking all the time?”

“For your safety, yes,” Myungsoo said matter-of-factly. “Now, calm down. He’s a good guy.”

“So you believe me?” Dongwoo said hopefully.

Myungsoo waited a while before saying, “Yeah. I think I do. For a split second there, I read your mind...so I think I trust you. It’d help a lot if you’d stop blocking me, though.”

“Oh, about that...I’m not trying to block my mind. I can’t control it.” Dongwoo sighed. “See, that was my Dad’s ability, except he could choose who could and couldn’t enter his mind. I can’t. It just goes on and off, depending on my emotions, and I don’t really have good control over my emotions,” he explained. Myungsoo nodded, processing the half-blood’s words. He concluded that Dongwoo’s mother must have been some other creature and his father must have been a powerful telepathic. “Anyway, I need your help,” Dongwoo stated again. “I need to find a guy. Well, I need to find Hoya.” Sungyeol smiled, Myungsoo did nothing, and they all agreed in their minds that this was the start of a new alliance.

Then, faintly, a witch’s cackling was heard.

Howon heard his aunt laughing. Creepy coincidences keep happening today. Howon’s phone vibrated in his pocket. The number wasn’t in his contacts. He waited a second before pressing the green “talk” button. The device illuminated the side of Howon’s face as he held it to his ear. “Hello?”

“Hi! Is this Lee Howon?” a friendly, male voice came from the other line.

“Yeah.”

“Um, I don’t know if you remember me, but hello, this is Jang Dongwoo!”

[Sealed in Ink | s-elfish]

a/n: Uh...creepy dino is creepy? Short chapter is short. Totally lame story is totally lame. In the future, the chapters will be longer and the story will [maybe] get better. I’m trying not to let too much happen at once, but I’m scared that you guys won’t like my y updates. >_< I’m sorry. This chapter’s events seem so random! Getting frustrated at myself...
Even though your comments give me mini-heart attacks, I appreciate all of them. Love ya~ ^^ Now, before this fail!author ends her note, she'd like to say...

SOME IMPORTANT STUFF: This chapter was posted a couple days ago, but lost due to the AFF database problems or whatever. Luckily, I save everything in the magical realm of Google Docs. Imma tell you guys now, if any of you are writers, YOU ALWAYS NEED TO BACK-UP ALL YOUR STUFF. Google Docs and Microsoft Word are like safe places somewhere in the heavens to store all that is precious to you. Use your resources wisely.