Hyunsik swallowed down a lump in his throat as he unsteadily made his way to the front door of the log cabin—Ilhoon’s hideout. The plan was for him to just walk in and maybe try to convince Ilhoon to stop all this. Hyunsik had questioned the quality of Sunggyu’s plan but Sunggyu had assured him it would be ok and to trust him.

Years after leaving the gang and even those times when he was with them, Hyunsik knew one thing was for sure. When Sunggyu said to trust him he meant it. Sunggyu was dependable like that. Hyunsik always wondered how he hadn’t overtaken the leader position from Ilhoon. But then again Sunggyu wasn’t the type of person to steal things away from people like that. It was almost as if the leader-like qualities were something he was born with and probably didn’t even realize or acknowledge himself.

♦♦♦

It was five years ago when Sunggyu decided to leave the gang—a year after Hyunsik left and Ilhoon took over. The year Hyunsik left was the year that their current leader had been seriously injured and disappeared. Their previous leader wasn’t just their leader, for a lot of the members he was like a father. After he left, a lot of the members began to drift apart and eventually just not show up anymore. So after their previous leader left, Sunggyu, Hyunsik, Ilhoon and only a few others were left.

Hyunsik never really wanted to be in a gang in the first place, he was always one with a gentle heart. The only reason he had even joined was to watch over Ilhoon—his childhood friend. Though over time he began to treasure each of the members, so to see them get hurt and leave and friendships fall apart kind of broke his heart. He couldn’t take it anymore and he couldn’t handle how the violence of their lifestyles was changing his friends, and affecting their families. His only family was his grandma and her health wasn’t in the best shape. Hyunsik finally decided to leave the group once and for all four months after their gang leader left. He decided that, although maybe he was considered trash in the real world, he had to enter it, for the sake of his grandma and for the sake of himself.

However he didn’t realize what him leaving would mean for the others—mainly Ilhoon.

The day he decided not to come back it was a warm day though the sky was grey, warning of a possible storm later in the day.

Nineteen-year-old Sunggyu was at their usual hangout, a deserted run down lot near a decrepit abandoned shack. The hood of his car was up and he was hovered over it with a wrench trying to figure out what was wrong with the engine.

Ilhoon came wheeling in on his scooter (something all the rest of them mercilessly about since he wasn’t old enough to have a car or motorcycle).

“Morning hyung!” Ilhoon greeted cheerfully. Sunggyu merely snorted in response, refusing to budge and kept his focus on his car. He never understood how a kid like Ilhoon ended up in a gang. But then again it seemed to be the gathering place of people with less than stellar childhoods and home lives or to those who simply had no where else to go.

Ilhoon frowned when Sunggyu ignored him and hastily approached him and slapped him right on his . Sunggyu jumped slightly and instantly turned, grabbing Ilhoon’s wrist, sending the boy a death glare.

“Don’t touch me.”

Ilhoon merely chuckled. He was never scared of Sunggyu’s threats and intimidating expressions because Sunggyu never followed through. Though he had somewhat of a tough exterior, he never willingly became violent with the other gang members or started fights.

“You should pay attention to me next time then~” Ilhoon hummed and looked around. “Where’re the others? Where’s Hyunsik hyung?”

Sunggyu sighed and let go of Ilhoon. “I don’t know…I don’t think he’s coming back.”

Ilhoon laughed lightly, peering into the shack to see if anyone was there. “That’s funny. But seriously when’s he coming I got this new toy and—.”

“He’s not…” Sunggyu cut him off. “He told me he’s not coming back anymore.”

Ilhoon paused, his smile fading slightly. “I don’t like these kinds of jokes hyung. They’re not funny—.”

“I’m not joking. He’s done with this.” Sunggyu gestured to the space around them. “He’s got a job at a grocery store…he needs to help pay the medical bills for his grandma.”

“….N-No. S-Stop lying.” Ilhoon murmured, eyes going dark and empty.

“You know him better than I do Ilhoon-ah.” Sunggyu rubbed the back of his neck. “His grandma…she’s the only one he has—.”

“H-He has me!” Ilhoon stammered. “H-He has us! We all have each other, that’s how its supposed to work! We’re not…we’re not supposed to leave! That’s not how it works—!”

“Its not like he was the first one.” Sunggyu frowned. “Leader…he left too—.”

“Its not fair! They can’t just leave!” Ilhoon screeched, making Sunggyu wince.

“Ilhoon—.”

“Does he think he can just leave like that and everything will be fine? Does he think he can just leave his family?”

“Ilhoon,” Sunggyu grabbed his arm. “We’re not his family…don’t you get it? The others all left. This isn’t…this make believe family circle you’re imagining with all of us. It never existed—.”

“Shut up!” Ilhoon hissed, shoving Sunggyu away. “What? Are you planning on leaving too?! Then go you !”

Sunggyu grabbed the dirty rag that hung over his shoulder and threw it to the ground. “Who said I was leaving jerk?”

Ilhoon froze, some of his aggression fading. “Y-You won’t…leave me right?”

As the months went on Ilhoon took it upon himself to recruit new members and it was never official but he became the leader. Meanwhile Sunggyu found himself drifting away from Ilhoon and the gang. Every time he got in trouble, every time he got in a fight or got injured, he had to come home and see the utter pain and sadness on his mother’s face. It was the worst feeling to him. He felt the guilt pile up, forming an ugly disgusted feeling in his throat every single day—it consumed him enough to want to just end everything.

Ilhoon didn’t make anything any easier. He constantly picked fights with other gangs and purposely got them involved in illegal activities.

Sunggyu realized he didn’t even recognize the kind of person Ilhoon was becoming anymore. The chirpy, somewhat annoying, self assured kid had become twisted, greedy and insecure—on the verge of losing his sanity.

He was a mess and he was making a mess of everyone around him. When members left they were promptly replaced with a new nobody with no where to go, at a loss of what to do with their life.

Sunggyu couldn’t help but find it depressing how it was so easy to find somebody who had no one else—and even easier to rope them in. That people wanted so badly just to belong that they’d do anything, it didn’t matter who or what they were going to be doing if they were accepted that’s all that mattered.

But Sunggyu knew it wasn’t right. He had to get out. He had his mother and his sister and to him those were the only two people in the whole world he knew would never abandon him—that he knew he could never abandon.

It was a year after Hyunsik left and Ilhoon took over the gang that Sunggyu made the decision to leave.

He stormed into the run down shack that the gang used as their meeting place. He headed to a dingy corner with a dust table and grabbed for his things and shoved them in the dark metal bound chest that held his tools and weapons.

“What’re you up to?”

Sunggyu didn’t bother to turn around. He didn’t want to waste his time with Ilhoon’s loyal lapdog, Minwoo.

“Ignoring me are you?” Minwoo sneered, approaching him.

“Leave me alone.” Sunggyu muttered, after placing the last of his weapons in the chest.

“Why’re you putting your stuff away? Going on a trip?”

“I’m leaving.” Sunggyu announced and locked the chest and picked it up. He brushed past Minwoo, but not before Minwoo grabbed his arm to stop him.

“Excuse me? Leaving?” Minwoo raised an eyebrow. “You’re not seriously…”

“Why? You’re gonna miss me?” Sunggyu retorted smugly.

Minwoo glared. “I wish you’d leave sooner you little .”

“Oh?” Sunggyu brushed Minwoo’s grip off. “So much hostility. Could it be a front to hide your true feelings?”

“You should just die.” Minwoo replied darkly.

Sunggyu smiled hazily. “I should, shouldn’t I?”

Minwoo furrowed his brows. “What the hell is wrong with you?”

“Well right now you’re kind of a problem so…”

“You think I won’t tell Ilhoon about this?”

“I don’t care.” Sunggyu shrugged, as he kicked open the rusted door, that hadn’t had a door knob for years.

“He won’t forgive you for this!”

Sunggyu ignored him and kept walking. For some reason he had honestly thought that would be the end of it. He honestly believed he was done with the gang.

But what he failed to realize was that the gang was definitely not done with him.

A few weeks after leaving the gang Sunggyu decided to go back to school. He went to a community college just to take a few classes. Everything was going ok, his mom seemed to smile more and Sunggyu felt like maybe things were looking up. He even volunteered at a community center and helped to teach a singing class for children. At first it was awkward for Sunggyu since he didn’t think he was very good with kids, but with his mother’s insistence he kept going and began to enjoy it.

At the rate things were going, he actually started to believe he had some kind of future.

That is until one afternoon, he walked into the community center classroom for the children’s music lessons to see it was empty. Blood and black paint smeared the walls and the instruments were all damaged beyond repair. Notebooks and music sheets lay torn on the floor.

His eyes widened, and he dropped his bag to the floor. His hands trembled as he knelt down and picked up a note that was lying over the pile of broken instruments.

It was written in messy red scribbles.

You think you can leave the family like this?

You think I’ll forgive you?

Say goodbye to your new family or they’re all going straight to hell.

Stapled to the note was a brown envelope. Sunggyu swallowed down the lump in his throat as he anxiously opened it.

Inside were photos taken of all the children in the class and the teacher as well—a kind lady in her late fifties. All the photos looked like they were taken secretly in an almost stalker-like fashion.

Sunggyu crushed the note in his shaking fist, biting down on his lip as to not let a tear fall.

All those sweet innocent faces, if something happened to any of them he wouldn’t know what to do with himself. He couldn’t live with that kind of guilt. So he left the classroom and he never went back. He ignored the phone calls from the teacher and eventually the calls stopped coming. All he could do was hope they were all ok.

He quietly went to school and minded his own business. He felt somewhat empty without the children and the music, but he at least had his studies to focus on.

That is until one Saturday afternoon a few weeks ago, he and his mother returned from grocery shopping to find that the house had been broken into. Thankfully nothing was taken, however the furniture was sullied with dirt, windows were broken, and the walls tainted with graffiti. And when Sunggyu went into his room, his school books were ripped to shreds, his backpack was burnt and torn and even the pencils were all broken and stepped on. Sunggyu didn’t even need to read the stupid note they had left for him to know what their intention was.

For the next few weeks he couldn’t even look his mother in the eye from shame and guilt. Because of the people he had associated with his mother’s home was so horribly wrecked.

It was all his fault.

For months, all he did as drift from the kitchen to his room, mostly staying in his bedroom, alone, doing absolutely nothing at all besides feeling like a worthless human being.

He was already in his twenties and his mother still took care of his every need. He was too scared to get a job because he knew the gang would just find another way to threaten him out of doing it, and he would be left with nothing again. It was a vicious cycle that he found himself not being able to escape.

Some of his most precious things as a human being were cruelly ripped from his grasp—pride, dignity, dreams, hopes—and he wasn’t sure he could get them back.

He hated waking up everyday feeling like hell, so he stopped waking up in the day. He slept all day and only woke up at night. Sometimes he would go out, wander the dark streets aimlessly. Occasionally he would get into trouble though most of the time it wasn’t his fault and he honestly didn’t care enough anymore to defend himself.

Months turned into years of living in such a way to the point where he wasn’t sure he was living anymore. The only thing that reminded him he was alive was his mother’s tears, every time he did something stupid and upset her or worried her.

That was the only thing that could cut into him so raw like a knife blade to his flesh and remind him that he couldn’t end everything.

Not yet.

♦♦♦

Sunggyu turned to Woohyun who was beside him hiding behind the bush as they watched Hyunsik walk inside.

Sunggyu couldn’t help but think that if not for his mother, he would’ve never met Woohyun. He wouldn’t have got to experience all the amazing things he had with Woohyun.

He never would’ve fallen in love again.

He never would’ve found reasons to live again.

All these seconds chances….he never would’ve gotten them if not for his mother.

Woohyun rubbed the back of his neck when he noticed Sunggyu smiling at him. “What?” He whispered.

“Hm?” Sunggyu blinked. “Ah, I was just thinking that when this is over I need to take my mom out for dinner.”

Woohyun stared at him in confusion for a moment before grinning. “What? Why’re you smiling at me while thinking about your mom?”

Sunggyu nudged him slightly. “I’ll tell you later.”

“Hyung is weird~” Woohyun tilted his head, before focusing his attention on the front door of the cabin.

No one seemed to be around as Hyunsik reached for the door knob. The door was open so he cautiously went in. But not before signaling Sunggyu and Woohyun.

“Ok, there’s the signal!” Sunggyu nudged Woohyun and they both stealthily scaled the side of the house, with Seungchul coming in from the other side until they were all slipping in the front door.

“Is this really your ty plan?” Seungchul snorted once they entered the house. “We all just waltz in like we’re basically begging to be killed?”

Sunggyu shushed him and looked around the entrance way cautiously. It had an open floor plan so even while standing in the entrance way, one could see the spacious living room and the dining room that led to the kitchen. Sunggyu looked up the spiral stair case and pursed his lips.

“I was up there.” Woohyun whispered.

“Up there…? Wait how’d you escape then?” Sunggyu turned to him.

“I jumped from the window.” Woohyun replied nonchalantly.

“Yah!” Sunggyu was about to reprimand him for his stupidity, but realized it wasn’t the time or place for that. “We’ll discuss that later….but for now, we need to find Ilhoon, and the Kenneth guy you were talking about. He’s on our side right?”

Woohyun nodded. “They’re probably upstairs. But…isn’t it strange? There’s no one else around?” He gasped, clutching onto Sunggyu’s arm. “You think it’s a trap? They could be waiting for us, but…” He paused and sniffed the air for a moment. “No wait…I think they’re upstairs.”

Sunggyu shot him an incredulous look. “You can…smell them?”

Woohyun shrugged. “It’s a part of being an SC cop. You just pick up these things.”

“Ok, whatever you say.” Sunggyu patted his head. “Remind me to buy you some doggie treats when we get home—.”

“Hyung!”

“Can you teabags flirt later?” Seungchul hissed. “We’re in the middle of something here.”

“Teabags?” Sunggyu frowned. “Anyways…”

“We should split up.” Woohyun suggested and started heading upstairs, but Sunggyu instantly grabbed his arm to stop him.

“No, we should stick together.” Sunggyu told him. The look in his eyes was really intense and Woohyun almost felt like it could sink through to his bones.

I’m not losing you again.

Sunggyu didn’t need to say it for the message to be clear.

Woohyun wanted to say he would be fine, but at the same time he didn’t want to risk losing Sunggyu either.

Woohyun smiled brightly and reached for his hand, but Sunggyu actually remembered that Hyunsik and Seungchul were still there. He coughed lightly and brushed past Woohyun, making his way up the stairs.

Woohyun blinked stupidly, his hand still in midair. His lips formed a frown as Hyunsik chuckled and followed after Sunggyu with a dryly amused Seungchul right behind Hyunsik.

Suddenly they heard a screech coming from upstairs and immediately went on high alert.

“I think it came from over there!” Hyunsik pointed down the hall as they all raced towards said direction. They turned the corner into the one room with the door open to see Kyungri collapsed on the floor.

“Hey wait…isn’t that the creepy nurse woman?” Sunggyu gasped as they rushed to her side.

There was a wooden stake lodged into her side, and blood pooling from the wound, soaking her shirt red.

“So…she was a vampire…” Woohyun observed the splintered weapon.

“Is that really important right now?!” Sunggyu panicked. “We need to do something. Call someone or—.”

“We can’t.” Woohyun replied, rather dismally. “She’s already gone.”

“What do you mean she’s already gone? She’s still breathing!” Sunggyu argued, grabbing the collar of Woohyun’s shirt. “Yah! She’s still—.”

“Kyungri!” There was a desperate shout, and they all turned to see Myungsoo’s father standing there, eyes wide and red rimmed. Every step he took was shaky as he approached them. Myungsoo and Sungyeol stepped into the doorway, behind him.

Mr. Kim dropped to his knees beside Kyungri’s slain body, hands trembling. He appeared so weak, and without his status as leader of the hunters, it was as if he was stripped bare. He was nothing anymore and really he probably was nothing much to begin with.

The realization came surging into Myungsoo like a gasp of air after being struggling underwater for too long.

Woohyun took Sunggyu’s hand as they left Mr. Kim there to cry over his loss.

“I think…before, those people surrounding the house. They were hunters…” Woohyun spoke in a hushed tone.

“So that means…they’re not dangerous to us?” Sunggyu nodded.

“Probably not. So…we just need to focus on finding Ilhoon.”

“But it doesn’t seem like he’s in this house anymore.” Hyunsik joined them, along with Seungchul.

Woohyun looked around for a moment, as Sunggyu gestured Sungyeol and Myungsoo over.

“What’re you guys doing here?” He asked the two.

Myungsoo stayed silent, so Sungyeol decided to answer. “It was…Myungsoo’s father asked us to help him…he said he got involved with a vampire and the organization found out so they basically all turned against him. I guess this is what he was trying to prevent.” He gestured to the scene behind them—Mr. Kim in tears, clutching onto Kyungri’s pale, lifeless hand.

“Ugh we don’t have time…” Woohyun stepped out of the room, looking both ways in a slightly frazzled state. “Soon, its gonna be too late.”

“Too late for what?” Sunggyu followed after him.

“The…if Ilhoon really is possessed,” Woohyun bit his lip. “I don’t think it’ll be much longer before the spirit overtakes his soul…and we won’t be able to save him.”

Sunggyu folded his arms, in thought for a moment. “If its too late to save him…we’ll have to—?”

Woohyun silently nodded and Sunggyu could only sigh.

“Ok.” He nodded, decisively. “We--.”

Suddenly his phone began to ring, and he hurriedly answered it after seeing that it was Mi Seon.

“Sunggyu-yah! What’re you two doing? Just sitting around? Ilhoon’s on the move and fast!”

“W-What?” Sunggyu choked, turning to Woohyun with wide eyes. “What do you mean he’s on the move? You mean he’s not in the cabin anymore?”

“Forget the cabin, he’s not even in Ecto Wood anymore!”

“What do mean he’s not—?”

“Our tracking signal is showing he’s moving fast…possibly by helicopter?”

“H-Helicopter?!” Sunggyu gasped. “How…where the hell would he get a helicopter from?”

“It looks like he’s heading to the next location we had marked which was the underground cave by the sea. It’s not too far away but you’ll have to take a plane to get there, so I booked the next flight out. Can you get to the airport in an hour?” 

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Next chapter will be the last of the arc I promise for real this time this is dragging out for way too long sorry OTL

Also there might be some rated stuff in the next arc which will also be the last so yeah just a warning lol