xi. Fatal Flaws

Darkness. Pitch black darkness. Restricting darkness. Quiet darkness. Lonely darkness. Painful darkness.

Pain.

Burning pain.

He couldn’t get away. He was trapped. In the darkness. In his pain. He was trapped. Every breath he took echoed around him. In the darkness of this unknown place. A small twinkling came from beside him. A sound that followed the shifting of his limbs. He was trapped. All he remembered were the yells. The tearing of flesh. The small popping sounds that rang in his ears then came back to him. It hit him all at once. It took a moment, only a moment for him to remember what had happened to him. And when he did, his arms lifted, feeling his strength returning.

The sensation of his skin tingling as it melted away surged through him. He was being burnt. Burnt by the things that bind him here. The chains that bind him here. Here in the darkness. Here, where he was trapped.

If he was still himself of the past, he would have roared out. He would have tried to break free from the darkness until he could try no longer. But, he wasn’t that person anymore. He was calmer now. He was more calculating. His eyes shifted, adjusting to the darkness with every second that passed. And he smirked, his teeth shining in the darkness.

Small beeps filled the silence between him and her. Small beeps that represented how fragile her life was. Small beeps that represented how fragile he himself was as the thought of the beeps stopping even for a moment caused his anxiety to grow more and more. Small beeps that taunted him with their consistency when he himself was not. When as time passed, he acted more and more out of his assigned course. He was venturing out of the path he should be walking down. He didn’t know what he should do now. If he should continue going the way he feels is right or if he should return to the way he’s always done things.

If he should be compassionate or without remorse.

If he should do what’s best for others or what’s best for himself.

Would deterring from his path and doing what’s best for others really be “best” for them though? Would his interference prove to be of benefit? Would it only make things worse? Would it change nothing at all?

He was at an impasse and he didn’t know how to face it. As he stared down at her serene face, her peaceful state in which nothing seemed to conflict her as she slept without regrets, he wished she could speak to him. He wished she could tell him how it felt when she took the path less traveled by their kind. When she decided to do what she felt was right instead of what others said was right. When she decided to take action instead of watching from the sidelines and letting nature take its course as they were intended to do.

She hadn’t been the type to go against the rules. Even when they were young, she was the one to line up first, her posture straight, her eyes dead set on the goal those older than they prearranged for her. She was the one who told him to listen, to fall in line. He and his brother both followed her lead. That’s how they became who they were today. By listening to her young, naïve words so long ago. By doing as she did.

But, now, here she was. Here she was lying in front of him, time slipping by endlessly as she slept. And it’s because she was kind. Because that was her fatal flaw. She was compassionate. She was caring. Though she knew her bounds, she saw in front of her a chance to change the fate of their kind. She saw this chance and she took it. She saw this chance he now saw in front of him.

This chance to change everything.

It wasn’t about the mayor anymore. It wasn’t about maintaining the balance that nature dictated anymore. It was about finding a way to ensure the losing side survives in the end.

And this was the confliction that was plaguing him.

Already, half of the work was done. But the half that was left was difficult. It was troublesome. And it required him to step in. For him and his brother to step in.

The small beeping that occupied the space he now sat in, this white room, was drowned out by the sound of his own voice as he spoke. As he spoke slowly and precisely. As he expressed to her unhearing, unresponsive body his confusion. As he used her real name for the first time since they were children.

“Stephanie, what should I do?”

She didn’t answer him. She simply continued to have a faint hint of a smile on her face as her eyes remained closed. As her body remained still except for the moving of her chest up and down. His time with her ended then, as the door of the room slid open and from the other side was a person whose facial features were seemingly identical to his own, his brother.

“Soryong, let’s go.”

She knew what was coming. She didn’t want to hear it. She didn’t want to hear it on this day. This day that was supposed to be a happy one. She was finally leaving, finally getting out of this place, and she didn’t want to face this. This rejection that stood in front of her in the form of the boy she wanted more than anything. That’s what her feeling for him was. She wanted him. She didn’t want him as an object to show off, not at all. Yura had taught her as such. Yura had pointed out to her that she was beginning to care about him. Him in all forms. The him that was silent and listened passively. The him that got irritated and frustrated openly. The him that smiled when she wasn’t around. She wanted him. She liked him. She adored him.

He was not her first crush. He was not the first boy she ever liked. But, he was the first one she wanted to like her back. She was willing to be patient. She was willing to wait whilst staying by his side for him. She wanted to know about him. More than what she saw on the surface and she thought that if she could at least stay by his side then she would be able to see beneath his frown and peak in on the him that smiled.

But, she wouldn’t be able to. She wouldn’t ever be able to understand him. She knew who could. She knew who he was willing to let in. Who always seemed to say the right things without even trying. Who always seemed to do all the right things that got his attention without even trying. She knew who that was. And it wasn’t her. And he came to tell her that. It was an inevitable conversation that she had tried to put off for a long time.

“Why are you crying? I haven’t said anything yet.”

There was a ghost of a smile on his face when he spoke to her. When her crush, the boy she had been thinking about for so long until he became all she knew, Kim Myungsoo, spoke to her. She saw his face blur out as his words turned out to be true. She was crying. She was crying because there was no hope for her.

She couldn’t even begin to understand him even though she wanted to. That was her problem. That was Minah’s problem.

He tapped his fingers incessantly on the leather that covered the steering wheel as the light remained red in front of him. His current feelings were a mystery. He was thinking, that was obvious. But, about what? You could only speculate.

You could only speculate what Nam Woohyun was thinking as he drove you back home after catching you in the parking lot of the school today. He had taken your keys from your hand and gotten into the driver’s seat before you could even say a word. And he himself hadn’t said a single thing yet. Thus, you had to be the one to break the ice.

“You’re mad.”

You were stating the obvious. It was the one thing that could be plainly seen just by looking at him in the current fidgety state he was in. It was as though he were seething in his rage.

His fingers stopped at your words, his head turning as his eyes shifted onto you. And you realized that you were wrong. He didn’t look mad. He looked confused. He looked as though he were at a loss of what he should do.

“You’re not mad?”

You weren’t sure what to think after your words left your mouth. You weren’t sure what he was going to say next, what he was going to do next, but that look on his face wasn’t angry. You only wished it was so that you could anticipate where this was all going. This situation that made you visibly flinch whenever he moved a single centimeter closer to you. And not out of fear.

“I’m not mad.” He clarified and you felt yourself relax a little, only a little. Because he wasn’t done yet. He wasn’t done talking yet, “Are you?” You didn’t fully process his question. You didn’t until he clarified it for you, “Are you mad that you don’t understand what’s going on? That Myungsoo and Hoya did something to you that you can’t grasp the full meaning of? You’re not mad at them for doing that to you?”

It was odd. It was odd that you had such an immediate answer to his question as soon as he finished it. “I’m confused but I’m not mad. It’s frustrating but I’m not mad.” As soon as your words left your mouth, Woohyun took off down the road, the light having turned green while you were talking. Except, he didn’t stay on it for long. He signaled right and stopped on the side of the road. He left the car running as his lips parted, his eyes not turning towards you as he spoke.

“Why?”

Why? Why couldn’t you get mad at it? At the fact that you knew so little? At the fact that so much was being kept from you? Your heart thumped against your chest. Your hands clenching as they held fast onto one another. You knew why. You knew the answer to that question of why that you didn’t want to think about when they were finally back in front of you again.

“Because I’m scared.”

Woohyun turned his body towards you, his eyes wide. He hadn’t expected that answer just as he hadn’t expected you to continue. He hadn’t expected you to continue as you looked up from your lap and locked eyes with him.

“If I get mad, you all might leave again.” 

And his facial features went slack at those words. His leaned back, resting fully on the car seat as he laid his head against it. He was looking at you, looking at you as a smile slowly formed on his face. Not a cheesy smile or a joking smile but something different. Something kinder.

“Hyunjoo.”

The way he said your name frightened you. It frightened you because it wasn’t an answer to your silent question. Your silent question of if they would be leaving again. If you’d be here without them once more. You’d survive. You’d live on. You’d be able to live happily. But, you didn’t want to. You wanted them to stay. You wanted affirmation that they would beyond any doubt.

What Woohyun said next surprised you. It was much different from the affirmation you wanted. It was much different yet it calmed you for some reason.

“If I ever leave again, I’m taking you with me.”

You nodded your head, your body moving before you could even think about what your reciprocating action to his statement meant. His next question shifted your thoughts away from wondering what it meant to a different topic that had been pressing you just moments before.

“Myungsoo and Hoya marked you. What did they tell you about it?” Woohyun was setting out to clarify things for you but first, he had to figure out how much you already knew. When he did, then he could decide what else he should tell you.

Your response was an exact repeat of the words Myungsoo had told you. Marking put their scent on you. It made others able to smell them on you. You left out the “It means you’re mine” part because he said he was joking, despite you still being unsure as to why he would make such a joke in the first place. But, you did tell Woohyun that Myungsoo said his mark would last longer. And that’s where Woohyun began to explain things.

“Hoya touched your arm. Compared to the neck, it's more exposed. The scent fades faster there. Your neck is covered during the day, maintaining it without letting Myungsoo’s scent fade. The strength of it also depends on how long they touched you. Hoya must have lingered for much less time than Myungsoo did.” 

Woohyun spoke in a detached manner, making sure he wasn’t affected by the words he was saying. He watched the expression on your face all the while as you took in his words. It didn’t change. You didn’t seem to have any obvious reaction to it. He wasn’t going to ask because he didn’t want to know. He wasn’t going to but at the current point in time, it seemed as though the blinking billboard that was your feelings was undergoing maintenance. He couldn’t tell what you were thinking and at this point in time, he could only ask.

“How did you feel when Myungsoo did it? When Hoya did it?”

The billboard flashed then, only briefly. Woohyun waited for your answer, anticipating it.

“Nervous.” You spoke that one word. You forced yourself to speak that one word because your voice almost stuttered when you said it. The hot air that blew out of the air vents of the car seemed to be growing hotter by the second. Warming your body that was already growing hot due to the thoughts that invaded your mind. The replay of not just this one single time in which Myungsoo and Hoya touched you but of all the moments in which their fingers grazed against you in even the slightest. Again, Woohyun diverted your attention back to him and all other thoughts left your head.

“Are you nervous right now?”

You nodded again, not waiting a single second to contemplate it. He responded despite the uncertainty you had of what you were doing.

“But I’m not even touching you.”

But all the same, you were nervous. You were nervous even though he wasn’t even touching you. You were nervous because he was so close to you. Because his arm could simply reach out and touch you. Because you weren’t sure if he would or not. You weren’t sure when he would. The simple prospect of it all was nerve-wracking. But, it wasn’t a bad kind of nervous. In fact, the more nervous you felt, the more nervous you wished you were. The trepidation you felt was exhilarating. And you didn’t know why.

“Yeah. You aren’t.” You replied, your voice a small whisper as you continued to look on at him. At Woohyun whose serious expression you hadn’t seen often. You took it in, the look of him when his lips were a straight line. When his eyebrows were furrowed down slightly, a small crease forming between them. The look of him that you burnt into your memory because of how rare it was.

“But still, you’re nervous?”

You nodded once more, seeing a content smile play on his face. There was a hint of something else in it as well. A hint of playfulness. A hint you caught sight of before he could turn back towards the road and pull off down the street again.

“Good.” He murmured as the engine roared to life.

What was going to happen now? Mentally, you were a mess. Physically, you were filled with anxiousness. What was going to happen now? What was going to happen now that you were here, in front of the werewolves’ home, Zico’s pack’s house in particular, the place they all seemed to be staying now. They including Nam Woohyun who yesterday afternoon told you to be here. To be here on this Saturday afternoon. This cold, Saturday afternoon. It was half past twelve now. He didn’t specify what time you had to be here, just that you did. You were going to wait until after four or five but you were restless around the house. Today had to be the one and only day in which Ricky and Niel were busy. Thus, they weren’t there to distract you from thinking about coming here.

You took a deep breath and knocked the door, waiting patiently for someone to open it. A part of you wondered who it would be. Perhaps one of the werewolves who hadn’t returned with the others? That would be a cause for celebration. However, another part of you simply wished it was anyone but Woohyun. That way, you’d have time to gather yourself. To prep yourself to face him; the thing you should have been doing instead of coming here so early. You mentally scolded yourself for that.

Luckily, when the door opened, it wasn’t Woohyun. Unluckily, it wasn’t one of the werewolves who had yet to return. Instead, it was a woman. Namely a black haired, dark eyed, pink tinted lip Jiyeon. B-bomb’s sister. You breathed a sigh of relief you didn’t know you had been holding at the sight of her. Her hair was pulled into a ponytail as she wore a pair of maroon jeans and a scoop neck gray, long sleeve shirt. She was beautiful and reminded you of B-bomb who had yet to return.

Jiyeon in front of you caught your attention, pulling you out of your B-bomb oriented thoughts, as she spoke up. As she spoke up with a tone of disbelief, “What the hell?” She seemed stunned about something. Though you had no idea what it was even when she finished her next words, “Mr. Expressionless and Mr. Muscle?”  Two people came to the forefront of your mind at her words. Mr. Expressionless was Myungsoo. Mr. Muscle was Hoya. Still, you didn’t understand why they caused her to look so surprised. Then, after a single second, it clicked. She was B-bomb’s sister, after all. That made her as much werewolf as him.

Jiyeon didn’t even begin to explain herself before she reached back, pulling from a coat rack by the door a padded green jacket with a furry hood. She slipped it on and put both of her hands forward, forcing you to back away from the doorway before she closed it behind her.

Then, she grabbed your sleeve and began dragging you away from the house in a rush with an exasperated look on her face before the rest of the werewolves could return home.

You placed down a plate with a rather large piece of chocolate cake onto the table. Jiyeon looked up from her lap, smiling from ear to ear in complete and utter satisfaction. The cake was for her. She paid for it herself when the two of you came here, the place she took you after she dragged you away from the werewolves' home, Mambo Juice. When she spotted the double chocolate, chocolate cake behind the glass, she didn't hesitate to buy it, despite its size. You yourself got an apple juice which you took a sip of as you took a seat down across from her.

Jiyeon picked up the fork that rested on the plate and pursed her lips, wondering where she should even begin in her endeavor to eat said cake. She spoke up then, deciding to let you in on her current thoughts, "It's hard to chose where to start." Her fork drifted to the end of the wedge-sized piece of cake, "Should I start with the less sweet filling?" Her fork hovered over to the other side of the cake, where the frosting was, "Or should I start with the sweet outer layer? Decisions, decisions."

You didn't understand why she was narrating to you her thoughts but provided to her your input nevertheless, "The icing is usually too thick so eat it together with the filling." That's what you had always done and you didn't see a reason to laugh. Thus, you didn't. You didn't laugh as Jiyeon did subsequently after you finished your words. She laughed as though she were enjoying her own joke. A joke you didn't understand at the current point in time.

She pointed her fork at you, her eyebrows narrowing downwards and her laughter disappearing in an instant, though a smile still remained on her face, "So, you want it all." She looked back down to the cake and pointed to it with her fork as she leaned forward, "The icing," the fork moved to the left, "and the filling. All of it."

"What are you getting at?" You asked, being straightforward with her. She seemed amused as she leaned back in her seat, deciding on the icing in the end as she stuck in her fork and took a bite of the cake.

"I like them sweet." She said after she swallowed before taking another bite. The look of contentment as she seemed to be thinking of something just then caused you to lose your curiosity about her words. About what she was referring to. Because you felt like you had an inkling about it all but you couldn't grasp it. You couldn't put your finger on it. It was the word that was on the tip of your tongue yet so far out of your reach.

A small beeping noise went off. Both you and Jiyeon looked at each other due to the sound. You knew what it was immediately and went to your bag. Your fingers rested on the zipper, hesitant to open it. Hesitant to open it and produce from it the thing that made that noise. Your phone. Because there was a high possibility it was from the person who told you to be at the werewolves' home today. That probability being a good ninety nine percent unless it's, by some chance, Ricky sending you a picture of what he and Niel are doing and asking if you're jealous and want to join them.

But, you told them you couldn't hang out today. Ricky complained during lunch on Friday over Niel forcing him to study at his house this weekend. Ricky wasn't doing so well in history and you would have helped if not for the promise you made with Woohyun today. The promise you broke. The broken promise he was most likely texting you over right at this moment.

"Don't worry. I'll handle it."

You looked up to Jiyeon. Jiyeon who in her hand held a phone. Your phone. Your phone that despite you having your bag on you when you went to get her cake that the employee warmed up for her, she had in her hand now. You didn't have to ask the most obvious question as she answered it right after your eyes got wide and your jaw went slack.

"Unlike my goody two shoes brother, I've got sticky fingers. It's not something to boast about but it does come in handy in situations such as these." She smiled at the look of confusion that remained on your face before looking down at your phone in her hands and typing away. Typing away to a message that made her laugh once, just once, out of the sheer gag worthiness when she saw it. A message that read, "Where are you? Are you okay? Did something happen? Call me." A message from Nam Woohyun. Nam Woohyun who was attractive, Jiyeon would admit, but not exactly her type. Not completely anyway.

She typed back a message that had a long string of laughter typed out at the end before sending it. Her message read, "This is Jiyeonnie and Hyunjoojoo is mine now :9"

Not even a second after the message went through, your phone began to ring in her hands. Jiyeon stuck her tongue out at it as though the person on the other side was there right in front of her before rejecting the call. When she looked back up, she was surprised to find that you weren't looking at her the way you were before. In fact, you looked on at her patiently, awaiting her explanation of what she was doing.

Jiyeon was puzzled by it. She didn't understand why you didn't yell at her to stop or try to take your phone back but instead simply sat there as she did as she wished. She expressed her thoughts to you and you answered back simply.

"Well, you're B-bomb's sister." She was B-bomb's sister. She was the sister of B-bomb who you trusted. Thus, you decided to trust her. And honestly, you were never protective of your phone. You weren't going to throw a fit over it.

Jiyeon interjected, holding a hand up to you with a smile on her face, "Minhyuk. Call him Minhyuk." She was grinning from ear to ear as she imagined his reaction later on. You continued on, correcting yourself as you did not stop to think about what she was smiling about.

"You're Minhyuk's sister." His name felt foreign on your lips and rolled unnaturally off of your tongue. You weren’t used to saying it but you said it nevertheless. You fought the urge to say it again, to test the waters, because you’d have the chance to do so when you saw him again. A time that hopefully came sooner rather than later.

Jiyeon’s smile faded as she leaned back in her seat, her eyebrows furrowing downwards as she looked at you as though you had told her that because the Earth is round, the water in the ocean should simply slip off of it. "So? That doesn't mean I'm like him."

You nodded, completely aware of the fact that what she was saying was true, "It doesn't, but it makes me think you're not trying to harm me."

Jiyeon raised an eyebrow, her posture unchanging, "And what if I was? What if I was trying to harm you?"

You answered without a hitch in your voice, "Then I'd protect myself."

Jiyeon watched you in silence for a moment. She watched as your expression remained neutral, unfaltering. And then, she laughed. She laughed as she leaned forward, clutching at her stomach as though it were the most hilarious thing she had heard all day. When she was done, she spoke again, her cryptic language becoming even more vague, "I've said it once and I'll say it again, I like you. But, you know what your problem is?” You froze. Your problem? Rather than take offense and protest against the idea, you waited silently for what she would say.

Her lips curved upwards at the look of expectancy on your face, “You're like a speeding bullet with no target. When you come out of the gun with a loud pop,” Jiyeon’s fingers went lifted upwards, forming a pseudo-gun which she jerked upwards before her smile spread across her face and her tone went deeper, seductively annunciating each word that left her lips, “you're stunning, you’re attractive. You’re not aimed at a vital organ, so you're kind. But, you’re dangerous. You're dangerous because you haven't decided on your target. You're dangerous because you're a bullet who wants to hit every target.”

Jiyeon pulled back, leaning back into her seat as her arms spread outwards, gesturing to nothing and to everything, “You want it all."

That was your problem. That was your problem that was obvious to Jiyeon. That was your problem that she allowed you to peek in on for only a moment. Only a moment because she never was the type to give hints. She wanted you to figure it out. To figure out the meaning of her words. You would have begun to right then and there. You would have if not for the ringing of your phone.

Jiyeon told you she would handle everything with Woohyun. That you didn’t have to go and see him today. She told you this right before you walked out of Mambo Juice. And now, she was watching.

Jiyeon was watching you as you walked across the snow fallen ground, walking towards two men. Two men beside your car. One of which had called you earlier. Earlier when Jiyeon was attempting to polish you. To polish the diamond in the rough that her brother had fallen for. That her brother didn’t know how to maintain. That no one seemed to know how nor even try to make shine, to rub away the dirt and grime, but her. She liked you. You were strong. You thought on your feet. You accepted reality when you came face to face with it. You held no delusions about the world around you. You simply had one problem. One problem that caused you to remain as you were,;a diamond yet to be set into its own golden frame. A frame that you had to discover on your own. A frame that fit you. That defined you.

She saw what she was setting out to do now, from the point in which she smelt Myungsoo and Hoya on you until now, as good. Good for her brother. Good for all of them. She would get a thanks from them later, but right now she had to figure out where to go from here. To figure out which way she could polish without scratching the diamond beneath. She was going to return to London after things calmed down but now she had a reason to stay. A reason that required work on her part to accomplish. A reason that was complicated even more by the two men whom you entered your car with as the snow fell softly, the sky dark overhead as a low hum rang in the distance. A storm was coming. There were troublesome events ahead.

Jiyeon whispered as she watched the car drive away. She whispered even though he couldn’t hear her, wherever he was now, “It's getting more complicated by the second. Hurry back, baby bro.”

“I see you’ve made a female friend, Jojo.” Daeryong spoke to you from the passenger seat of the car, adding on one more name to the list of his nicknames for you with the affectionate, “Jojo.”

It would be nice if Jiyeon was your friend, wouldn’t it? “I hope so.” You answered back wistfully. However, your facial expressions did not mirror your tone. You were still confused. You were still trying to think about what she had told you while she sat across from you in Mambo Juice. What she had told you about your problem. Your flaw. You hadn’t poked holes into it. You hadn’t poked holes into it because you couldn’t find a single thing wrong with what she said. Deep down, you felt like you knew what she meant. But, while your subconscious may have already had the answer, your conscious was still struggling to figure it out.

“Oh,” Daeryong cooed from in front of you, halting you from thinking any more about it for now, “you’re at the stage between acquaintance and friend? The “we hang out and we’re comfortable with each other but would I stick my neck out for you? Do I talk to you out of conveniences or because I like to?” phase?” He shifted in his seat, turning around to face you with an impish smile on his face, “Just in case you were wondering, we’re super best friends.”

“Super best friends?” You questioned, the tension in your expression disappearing at his jesting as you stifled a laugh.

“Super best friends.” He repeated back as he threw up a thumbs up and nodded his head like a bobble head. “But,” his smile faded as his tone got serious, “if you become super best friends with someone else, I’ll be jealous. We’ll be jealous. Won’t we Soryong?”

“Yeah, super jealous.” Soryong, who was driving your car because Daeryong insisted it was too dangerous to drive at all today due to the ice on the road, answered back without a hint of playfulness in his voice. He was focused on driving forward, only answering so that Daeryong wouldn’t bother him. It was enough to cause you to smile, a smile that once Daeryong saw, he turned back around and settled into his seat again, satisfied with himself.

But, he wasn’t done. As his eyes caught sight of Soryong who overly immersed in his task of driving you home, he decided he was going to stir up his brother just a little bit, “Soryong went to see Tiffany today.”

Soryong’s eyes went wide and he glanced at Daeryong warily. He hadn’t wanted you to know that. He hadn’t wanted anyone to know but he couldn’t keep it from his brother so he at least wanted to keep it from you. But, Daeryong seemed intent on divulging this information to you as he continued.

“It’s hard for him. Even if he doesn’t show it all too much now.”

It was hard for him but that’s not why he was so out of it lately. Daeryong knew that. Daeryong knew that but made it seem as though the reason he was conflicted was so simple.

Truthfully, he wasn’t looking for comfort. He would figure out things by himself. But, then he felt something grasp onto his upper arm gently. A light squeeze was what he felt. A light squeeze as your fingers wrapped around his upper arm. He glanced at you briefly, tracing your hand to your arm and your arm to your shoulders and your shoulders to your face. And he took it all in. The slight narrowing of your eyes. The soft smile your lips formed. The way you looked at him with your deep eyes that held in them everything you wanted to say that you didn’t. The way your next words sounded so full of sympathy, of misplaced understanding, of compassion.

“Next time, let’s go together.” 

He was being comforted and he didn’t mind it at all.

And Daeryong in the passenger seat closed his eyes, satisfied with his work in keeping the smiles going round.

It was late. It was late and you couldn’t sleep. No matter how many times you attempted to lull yourself into it, your body refused to. Your body refused to rest when you still hadn’t sorted yourself out. When you were still so confused about everything. About how you were feeling around Hoya, Woohyun, Jaehyo, Kyung, Taeil, Sunggyu, and Myungsoo. About the whole marking business. About what your problem was that Jiyeon pointed out. A problem you knew to be real. You couldn’t sleep when you still had yet to resolve these issues. And, on this cold March night, you trekked into the kitchen. It was late now, early Sunday morning.  

The wind hit the windows of the house, causing the glass to vibrate against the paneling and send a low roar through the house whenever the breeze picked up. There was supposedly going to be a snowstorm hitting today. A light one, but one nonetheless. You took a peek outside of the window, feeling the cold from outside seep through it and cool your face as you did so.

Your mother left a little while ago. She was taking the night shift now. With the ice on the roads, she’s had to spend a while at the hospital, tending to those who have ice related incidents. From those that have slipped on ice to those who crashed after swerving on the ice, she’s been there helping all of them. Thankfully, you heard from Ricky and Niel that by the end of March, the ice and snow should be long gone though the cold will stick around until mid-April. You only wished she would stay at the hospital until later in the day. It was getting more dangerous to be on the roads and you didn’t want her to try to come home early in the morning when the storm was just starting to hit.  

You backed away from the window and walked to fridge, your fingers only grazing the handle when you heard a knock on the door. Rather than describe it as a knock, it was more of a series of three thumps. You flinched at the sound. The wind was getting so strong it seemed that even the door was shaking. That was your reasoning. That was your reasoning until you heard it again, along with a soft murmur. A murmur that seemed to be calling out. A haunting murmur that seemed to be calling out to you.

You walked slowly to the door, each step you took took more persuasion to make than the last. You took steps until you were right in front of the door, the thumping ceasing once you arrived. You thought you must have been hearing things. There was no way the wind was calling your name. You took a step back, resigning to go back to sleep due to your ability to imagine things intensifying with each passing second. You took a step back, and halted. You halted because you heard it again. This time, you heard it clearly.

Your name.

Your name from behind the door. It wasn’t the wind. It couldn’t be. Because you knew that voice. And you went to the door, unlocking and opening it so quickly that your hands fumbled the handle twice before you finally got it open. The cold wind hit you like a brick wall, freezing you down to the bone. The wind and something else. Someone else. And he wrapped his arms around you, bringing you down to the floor with him as he collapsed, his feet unable to keep him standing any longer.

And he murmured beside your ear in relief as he pinned you down to the floorboard with his own body, “Hyunjoo.”

And you felt something on your hands. Something wet. Out of the corner of your eye, as you lifted your hands up, you caught sight of what it was. Of what the wet substance that coated his back was.    

It was blood.

Thick, red blood.

Blood was what coated Jang Dongwoo’s back. 

A/N:

This took me forever and a day. Well, a day sounds about right. A few hours? Yeah, that's a day technically right? Alot happened in it so I was excited the whole time. The theme of this chapter was "fatal flaws." (As it says in the chapter title.) I only noticed it was taking this route after the Minah scene but I like how it turned out. I would like to take a moment to thank Jaejoong and CNBLUE for "Mine" and "I'm Sorry" respectively as those were the two songs that inspired this entire chapter to be written as it was. Jaejoong, two thumbs up to you. CNBLUE, since Jaejoong got both of my thumbs I give to you my middle and index fingers, I throw up the "V" to you guys! Sincerely, the writer who gets much too inspired by music videos. 

On another note, I updated all of my ongoing stories today! Can I get some applause for myself? No? Just me clapping for myself? That's more than enough for me~ 

I find it sad I don't have much else to say. Nor do I have much to promise. I mean, there's totally going to be a Dongwoo scene in the next chapter. As for the rest of it, it's a mystery! Ohoho, there lives no trolls here! I hope you enjoyed the chapter! 

Mystery man in chains? Score! Where is he and how can I get to him?

You know, so I can save him. That's all. What were you all thinking?